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About the Fake News and Misinformation Collection:

The growth of the internet and mobile phones means that you have access to all the information that you could ever want. But there’s also a lot of misinformation out there. It’s up to you to make sense of it all and do your own research and figure out what’s real and what isn't. If you’re not prepared to critically evaluate information, you can be easily fooled by false claims and misleading arguments. Therefore, information literacy is important. Information literacy (also called digital literacy or media literacy) is the ability to locate, evaluate, and use information effectively.

How can you protect yourself from falling for web-based lies, false claims, and fake news? How can you prevent the spread of fake news? What should you look for when you evaluate the credibility of websites? What are some ways to know a website is a hoax? You will explore the answer to these question in this collection of learning tasks.

Task #1 Save the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus (Websites) Can you believe everything you read on the internet? You will evaluate a website about an unusual animal that you can read about on the internet.

Task #2: Dihydrogen Monoxide Hoax (Websites) Did you know that people can actually become convinced that water is an extremely dangerous chemical that should be banned? You will explore several online sources about this hoax.

Task #3: Famous Hoaxes (Research) What are some hoaxes that have been around in the past? You will do some online research to explore the answer to this question.

Task #4: How to Choose Your News (Video) How should you choose which news to read and watch? You will watch a video that explores the answer to this question.

Task #5: How False News Can Spread (Video) What is circular reporting? You will watch a video that explores the answer to this question.

Task #6: Factitious (Online Game) Can you tell real news from fake news? You will play an online game that tests your ability to spot fake news.

Task #7: Resources for Evaluating Information (Webpages) With so much information available online, how do we sift out the misinformation and get to the truth? You will explore some helpful webpages with strategies you can use to evaluate information.

Task #8: Share What You Know about Fake News and Misinformation (Discussion) What did you learn in the other learning tasks in the “Fake News and Misinformation” collection? You will discuss what you learned about fake news and misinformation with your fellow classmates.

What is circular reporting? You will watch a video that explores the answer to this question.

How False News Can Spread Video Task Watch the "How False News Can Spread" video (see link or embedded video below). The video is short, but in some places can be difficult to understand, so you may want to watch it at least two times. While you watch this video, think about how you can avoid falling for false information. Then complete part 1 and part 2 below.

Noah Tavlin sheds light on something called circular reporting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSKGa_7XJkg

Part 1: Answer each of the following questions using complete sentences. 1) In your own words, what is circular reporting? 2) What examples of circular reporting are mentioned in the video? 3) According to the video, what are some ways you can avoid circular reporting?

Part 2: Why is it important for you to be able to distinguish real news from fake news? Write a 1- paragraph answer to this question. Please use your OWN words. Provide substance to your answer. Here are some questions to consider in your answer. (Note: These are just some suggestions to help you out, you do not have to address these if you don’t want to): • What impact has fake news had on you or on people in your life? • Have you seen people sharing fake news on social media pages? Explain. • When have you or someone you know fallen for or shared fake or inaccurate news of some kind? What did you notice when it happened?

The assignment is worth 10 points: 1 point for submitting the assignment 3 points for Part 1 4 points for Part 2 1 point for proper grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling 1 point for proper sentence formation, clarity, and organization

Can you tell real news from fake news? You will play an online game that tests your ability to spot fake news.

Factitious Online Game Task Open the “Factitious” game (see link below). Click the “quick start” mode. After you play all three rounds of the game, complete Part 1 and Part 2 below.

“Factitious” Is an Online Game to Teach About Fake News http://factitious.augamestudio.com/#/

Part 1: Answer each of the following questions using complete sentences. 1) Did you look at the source of each article before deciding whether it was real or fake? Why or why not? 2) Besides looking at the source of the article, how else did you decide whether the article was real or fake? 3) What was your overall score for all three rounds? 4) Compare your scores for each round. Did your ability to spot fake news get better as you played the game? Explain.

Part 2: What is your opinion of the game? What did you learn from playing the game? Did you learn anything about yourself? If so, what did you learn about yourself? Write 1 paragraph and answer these questions within that 1 paragraph.

The assignment is worth 10 points: 1 point for submitting the assignment 4 points for part 1 3 points for part 2 1 point for proper grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling 1 point for proper sentence formation, clarity, and organization

What did you learn in the other learning tasks in the “Fake News and Misinformation” collection? You will discuss what you learned about fake news and misinformation with your fellow classmates.

Share What You Know about Fake News and Misinformation Discussion Task Write a 1-paragraph discussion post that describes something you learned about fake news and misinformation. Your paragraph should have at least 5 sentences. Here are some questions to consider in your post (Note: These are just some suggestions to help you out, you do not have to address these if you don’t want to): • Share with your classmates how well you did on the “Factitious” online game. • Share with your classmates which topic you decided to research in the famous hoax research assignment, why you chose it, and what you learned from it. • Share with your classmates your thoughts about the tree octopus hoax and the DHMO hoax and what you learned from exploring these hoaxes.

After you have posted your answer, write a 1-paragraph reply to 1 of your classmates’ posts. Do not respond to your classmates simply by saying “I agree.” or “I disagree”. Here are some questions to consider in your reply: • What are some things in their post that you agree with? Explain why you agree. • What are some things in their post that you do not agree with? Explain why you disagree (respectfully). • What are some things you learned from reading their post that you did not know before reading it? • Was there anything in their post that you found surprising? Explain.

This discussion assignment is worth 10 points: 5 points for original post 3 points for reply 1 point for proper grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling 1 point for proper sentence formation, clarity, and organization

SAMPLE ANSWERS

How to Choose Your News Video Task Part 2: Answer each of the following questions using complete sentences. 1) According to the video, when it comes to the news, what is the best way to get the truth? Get the original news unfiltered by middlemen. Find the actual material and judge for yourself. For current events, follow reporters on social media. Check for the latest information at several points in the day, allowing time for complete details to emerge and false reports to be refuted. 2) According to the video, what can you do when you can't get the direct story? Read coverage in multiple outlets which employ different reporters and interview different experts. Tune in to various sources and note the differences to put the pieces together for a more complete picture. 3) According to the video, what should you watch out for when reading or viewing news reports? Words like think, likely, or probably mean that the outlet is being careful or, worse, taking a guess. Watch out for reports that rely on anonymous sources. Try to verify news before spreading it. Do a web search to find any additional information or context you might have missed and what others are saying about it.

How False News Can Spread Video Task Part 1: Answer each of the following questions using complete sentences. 1) In your own words, what is circular reporting? When publication A publishes misinformation, publication B reprints it, and publication A then cites B as the source for the information. When multiple publications report on the same initial piece of false information, which then appears to another author as having been verified by multiple sources. 2) What examples of circular reporting are mentioned in the video? The publication of a pseudoscientific paper arguing that routine vaccination of children causes autism inspired an entire antivaccination movement, despite the fact that the original paper has repeatedly been discredited by the scientific community. A joke article in the reputable British Medical Journal entitled "Energy Expenditure in Adolescents Playing New Generation Computer Games," has been referenced in serious science publications over 400 times. An unverified fact in a wiki page can make its way into a published article that may later be added as a citation for the very same wiki information. 3) According to the video, what are some ways you can avoid circular reporting? Avoiding sensationalist media. Searching for criticisms of suspicious information. Tracing the original source of a report.

RESOURCES FOR CREATING ADDITIONAL LEARNING TASKS ABOUT FAKE NEWS AND MISINFORMATION

Digital Literacies: Lesson Plan This activity asks students to analyze a number of spoof versus authentic websites, and shows them how focusing on content, layout and style can provide clues to the veracity or otherwise of websites http://nortonbcs.weebly.com/uploads/1/6/0/0/16007664/pacificnorthwesttreeoctopus-lessonplan.pdf

Taming the Wild Wiki Students are introduced to Wikipedia and given an overview of its strengths and weaknesses as a research source. http://mediasmarts.ca/sites/mediasmarts/files/lesson-plans/lesson_taming_wild_wiki.pdf

Skills Practice| Distinguishing Between Fact and Opinion Teaching ideas based on New York Times content. Includes a quiz, which uses sentences from Times articles. https://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/13/skills-practice-distinguishing-between-fact-and- opinion/

Supporting Opinions with Facts Read an editorial or op-ed from today’s New York Times. Using this activity sheet, select one opinion and one related fact stated in the article, then, develop a counter-argument that someone could pose in opposition to the opinion expressed in the Times article. https://static01.nyt.com/images/blogs/learning/pdf/activities/SupportingOpinions_NYTLN.pdf