Thing 14: News Literacy (updated 2017)

Thing 14: News Literacy (updated 2017)

Wow! What an amazing and timely topic!  I have to admit though, there was SO MUCH information for this "Thing" that it took me a couple of tries to delve in - but boy am I glad that I did!

News Literacy is something I've been thinking a lot about. I teach a 6th grade 10-week Digital Literacy course and have been wrestling with how to teach this topic.  As such, when I saw this was an option for Cool Tools, I knew I had to explore it.  I found SO MUCH highly useful and relevant information that I can't even include it all in this blog post like I did for my last "thing".  I have over NINE pages of notes, quotes, and helpful tips that I gleaned from my readings and explorations. Below I will summarize some of the information I found most helpful.

Article #1: Truth, truthiness, triangulation: A news literacy toolkit for a “post-truth” world

NOVEMBER 26, 2016 BY JOYCE VALENZA - took SEVEN pages of notes on this article alone!

I immediately scanned through this article, saw the value, and promptly Tweeted it out to my followers - what a timely issue! It is definitely a topic students and adults alike are currently struggling with as headlines in the real news often sound so outrageous that “fake news” headlines are beginning to sound more believable! Includes many definitions, types of fake news, data/statistics, and so much more!  The multitude of links and resources that Joyce Valenza shares is astounding!

Teaching “take aways” & ideas”

• Ensure students automatically check the source of information (for bias, authority, etc.)
• Watch for sites (even .org sites) that present only one side to an issue
• Point out that fake news is so prevalent that “Google and Facebook both announced that they would try to eliminate fake news from appearing in their result lists and newsfeeds by blocking fake news sources from using their ad networks.”
• Use this Ted Talk video with students: “How to Choose Your News” http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-choose-your-news-damon-brown

   

My notes from the video above:

• Know how to read the news
• Verify news stories before spreading/sharing in case it’s not valid
• Go directly to the source of information when possible (read the journal, report, use primary sources when possible)
• For current events, follow reporters/journalists on social media
• Keep in mind that second hand accounts are often primary sources MIXED with editing by people who were not really there
• Check for updates on “breaking news” periodically throughout the day - not every few minutes - to allow for facts to be updated w/out false info and speculations begin spread before verification
• Learn to separate fact from opinion. Watch for flag words such as “Think”, “Likely” and “probably”, as well as information coming from anonymous sources (if they don’t want accountability there is a chance the info is not accurate)
• Keep in mind that information can be controlled and censored
• Lack of trust in mainstream news sources has resulted in creation of several alternative news sources

She includes a list "Rules of Thumb" as well as news literacy vocabulary to introduce in talking about credibility with your students and links to many "tool kits" with which teachers can take resources for units. So many resources to explore that I bookmarked many of them to look at later when I get ready to teach this topic to my class.

Article #2 News Literacy: Critical-Thinking Skills for the 21st Century by Peter Adams.

Another great article. I currently teach the terms "digital native" and "digital immigrant" as part of my Digital Literacy course, but I think I will expand that to include the terms this author included:

digital native moments: when a student uses a piece of technology with almost eerie intuitiveness

digital naiveté moments, when a student trusts a source of information that is obviously unreliable even though they know how easy it is to create and distribute information online

Love these!  I also made note of 3 exercises in News Literacy, which include details for actually teaching. The 3 exercises are "Reinvent Current Events", "Explore the Power of Information" and "Fact Checking Challenge". I appreciate that these are pretty much ready to implement into a lesson.

Article #3  Practical Tools for Teaching News Literacy : NYTimes article outlines how one NYC middle school approaches news literacy - this has specific way the school implemented this topic, complete with examples and tools that would be easy to implement. I filed this one for future reference in case I need some ideas for my Middle School.

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I explored several of the other resources listed in this "thing" - some I immediately rules out as not helpful or of interest to me specifically, but some others that I bookmarked and plan to refer back to when developing my new teaching unit on this topic.  Resources I particularly liked include:

1) The link for fake news sources (including lists of sites to have students explore during lessons)

2) “Fake News” Is Hard For Kids To Spot by Joyce Grant http://teachingkidsnews.com/2017/01/08/fake-news-hard-kids-spot/

Actual article written for kids with writing prompts and discussion questions.

3) Youngzine : Another news roundup site aimed at grades K-8. Kids can log in and read news that has been vetted and is trustworthy. Great resource and on AASL Best Websites 2013

4) Kids News - A favorite: I am going to use this site to add links for trustworthy news to the library media center webpage!!  Has links & logos ready to go!
In summary, Thing 14: News Literacy (updated 2017) has been extremely helpful and relevant to my teaching. There are so many links to resources that I can really use - both for my professional development & lesson planning and with lessons ready to go for my students.  Another excellent "thing"!!