Skip to content
Tip #5: Choose a Variety of Sources
Show your children how you get news and information from different places, and explain how you make your choices. Use words like "credible," "trustworthy," "respected," and "fair." Ask them where they get their information, and if they think about those same words when choosing. As kids get older, introduce the ideas of bias, satire, and clickbait.
If a picture's worth a thousand words, do the words always tell a true story? One way to find out is through a reverse image search. Search with an image instead of a keyword and see what you discover!
In observance of Presidents' Day, Olympia will not have school on Monday, February 20, 2023.
Tip #4: Discuss fact vs. opinion
Play around with ideas, deciding which are facts and which are opinions. Ask: How tall are you? What's the best food in the world? Do you like dogs? Point out that both facts and opinions show up in the news, but opinion is usually labeled.
If you want to know if someone is trying to trick you with a headline, think through a few of these five questions each time you read a shocking story. Don't let them pull the wool over your eyes Spartans!
Students in Mrs. Loyer's 2nd grade celebrated Valentine's Day with a fun writing activity. Each student gave a food idea before the activity began. Then they passed a bucket around and drew out one of the foods. After that, they drew out either a full heart or a broken heart.
Students then were told they would be writing either a love letter (full heart) or a break-up letter (broken heart) to the food they drew out.
We've been working on letter writing as well as stating your thoughts and backing it up with evidence! While the evidence was silly, it was a great way to practice!
It's safe to say the students loved this silly activity!
Video: bit.ly/OlyNMV1
Family Activity: bit.ly/OlyNMFR1
Kids find and read news in lots of different ways. But studies show they're not very good at interpreting what they see. How can we help them get better? Teaching your children about the structure of online news articles is an important place to start.
Tip #3: Explore Different Sides of a Story!
Use real-life examples to help kids understand how people can view the same situation with totally different perspectives. One child might experience a game on the playground as fun, while another might feel like the rules are unfair. Sibling conflict can be a great example of how two people can have wildly different opinions about the same event. With older children, talk through controversial subjects and take turns arguing for different sides to help kids understand various viewpoints.
Fake News has been around for a long time. Track its history from 63 B.C. through present day in this infographic. Where do you see Fake News today? How does it impact your life? Does it impact the type of media you consume, or where you consume it?
https://youtu.be/mh1dLvGe06Y - BBC
When we get news from our social media feeds, it often only tells us part of the story. Our friends -- and the website's algorithms -- tend to feed us perspectives we already agree with. Check out these ways to escape the filter bubble and make sure your ideas about the world are being challenged.
This Sunday’s Spartan Swim is cancelled. Thanks to those that came to the other two swims.
Tip #2: Play Spot The Ad
When you see advertising on TV or on a billboard, ask your children to figure out what the ad is selling. Sometimes it's obvious, and sometimes it's not. Help them explore why certain pictures, sounds, or words are used to sell certain products.
Well-crafted headlines benefit everyone. They help readers digest information and publishers sell news stories. But what if the headline is misleading? What if it's crafted just to get clicks and not to inform? "Clickbait" headlines may benefit advertisers and publishers (think $$$), but they don't benefit readers. And when they go viral, they can badly misinform the public. This week, look for clickbait headlines in the media that you consume and discuss them with your family. How many can you find before Sunday rolls around!?
bit.ly/OlyNMV2
All media comes with an author and an agenda. Help kids think critically about any media they view with critical questions that dig below the surface. And to really empower kids, have them create their own media with these same questions in mind.
Tip #1: Encourage Healthy Skepticism. Help your children analyze the info around them, from toy packaging to Instagram posts to news headlines, and question the purpose of the words and images they see. Teach kids how to use fact-checking tools like Snopes and FactCheck.org.
With so much media and information coming at us through the television, phones, social media, and more, it's more important than ever for kids to understand the basics of media literacy. When kids can identify different types of news and media and the methods and meanings behind them, they're on their way to being critical thinkers and smart consumers.
Throughout the month, we will be sharing a set of five tips to help your children become critical thinkers of news and media. Here is a short video to get those conversations started!
bit.ly/OlyNMV5
Today Oly North had a special visitor lead us in some mindful movement!!
Huge thanks to Abby Lyons from the Yoga Lab for helping us take a break from our SEL curriculum to practice being mindful!
The Olympia National Honor Society is hosting a Princess Tea Party on February 12th from 1-3 PM at Olympia High School. Proceeds from the event will benefit the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. RSVP to amanda.hapgood@olympia.org by February 6th to reserve your seat!
We were DREAMING of kindness today! The snowy day was perfect for pajamas❄️
Students celebrated at lunch today with conversation starters and a popsicle for working so hard at spreading kindness this week!
They were also hard at work writing notes to teachers at recess!
Tomorrow we have super hero day to show that we are POWERED by kindness!🦸🏻♂️🦸🏾♀️
Oly North kicked off The Great Kindness Challenge with a whole-school assembly this morning! Each student received a wristband to help celebrate kindness week. Students will be able to participate in these recess centers all week to practice spreading kindness!
Tomorrow is CRAZY for kindness. Help us continue celebrating by wearing mix/match clothes!🤪