“Fake News”: Tools for Teaching Students to be Informed Citizens Jessica Burgoyne, Librarian, Hermon-DeKalb Central School Kelly Wilson, Director, St. Lawrence-Lewis School Library System

What is Media Literacy?

A Media Literate person can... Access Analyze Evaluate Create -and- Act ...using all forms of media

Stanford: reading like a Historian One of the lessons involves evaluating historical sources to determine which would be more valid and accurate. This is not a clear-cut exercise; some of the examples take some deep thought to figure out. This makes it a good exercise to prepare students for real-world information evaluation. It can be done independently of the rest of the unit. https://sheg.stanford.edu/rlh

Historical Question: Who was present at the signing of the Declaration of Independence? Source 1: Hollywood movie about the American Revolution made in 2001. Source 2: Book written by a famous historian who is an expert on the American Revolution, published in 1999. Which do you trust more? Hold up sign for source 1 or source 2. Why?

Historical Question: What was slavery like in South Carolina? Source 1: Interview with a former slave in 1936. The interviewer is a black man collecting oral histories for the Federal Writers’ Project. Source 2: Interview with a former slave in 1936. The interviewer is a white woman collecting oral histories for the Federal Writers’ Project. Which do you trust more? Hold up sign for source 1 or source 2. Why?

Historical Question: What was the layout of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz? Source 1: Interview with an 80-year-old Holocaust survivor in 1985. Source 2: Map of concentration camp found in Nazi files. Which do you trust more? Hold up sign for source 1 or source 2. Why?

Historical Question: Why were Japanese Americans put in internment camps during World War II? Source 1: Government film explaining internment from 1942. Source 2: Government report on Japanese Internment from 1983 based on declassified government documents. Which do you trust more? Hold up sign for source 1 or source 2. Why?

Historical Question: Did American soldiers commit atrocities during the Vietnam War in 1969? Source 1: Sworn testimony by American Sergeant in Congressional hearings in 1969. Source 2: Speech by American General touring the United States in 1969. Which do you trust more? Hold up sign for source 1 or source 2. Why?

Historical Question: What happened at the Battle of Little Bighorn? Source 1: High school history textbook from 1985. Source 2: Newspaper account from the day after the battle in June 1876. Which do you trust more? Hold up sign for source 1 or source 2. Why?

Confirmation bias Start from the idea “the truth has value”. Keep the conversation as non-judgmental as possible. Force students out of their own comfort zones. Be prepared for pushback.

What about our own Bias? Use judgment neutral language and voice. Ask students to judge the content, not the source Be aware of your own biases. Work harder to defend the point you don’t agree with. Train yourself to be as neutral as possible.

Fact Checking Sources Teaching Resources Snopes Politifact FactCheck Teaching Resources Stanford: Reading Like a Historian Common Sense Media Right Question Institute

Tools for evaluation of content Empire State Information Fluency Continuum Assessment 7.4 Website Evaluation Assessment 11.2 Source Comparison http://slsa-nys.libguides.com/ESIFC

Tools to help students explore perspectives Empire State Information Fluency Continuum Assessment 7.4 Fact vs. Opinion Assessment 10.4 Drawing Conclusions from Multiple Perspectives http://slsa-nys.libguides.com/ESIFC

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