Fake News & Media Messages Tip #4: Discuss Fact vs. Opinion
Play around with ideas and decide which are facts and which are opinions. Ask: How tall are you? What's the best food in the world? Do rocks sink or float? Do you like dogs? Point out that both facts and opinions show up in the news, but opinion is usually labeled.
Pay close attention to those news articles and be a Deceptive Detective!
Fake News & Media Messages 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.
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 students about the structure of online news articles is an important place to start.
Video: bit.ly/OlyNMV1
Family Activity: bit.ly/OlyNMFR1
Fake news is nothing new. Check out this timeline to learn about some ways it has been utilized throughout history to influence society. Ask your family about other examples that you know of and why they were used!
Fake News & Media Messages 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.
Filter Bubble Trouble!
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. Show students ways to escape the filter bubble and make sure their ideas about the world are being challenged.
https://youtu.be/mh1dLvGe06Y - BBC
Fake News & Media Messages Tip #1: Encourage Healthy Skepticism
Help your children analyze the messages 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.
Video: 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.
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
Make sure to check out your Skyward Family Access Wall for the updated return to learn metrics and a letter from Dr. O'Donnell.
Check out this short video for your elementary kiddos around what a digital footprint really means. We already have K-5 students posting and interacting online, so let's start some good habits early!
bit.ly/OlyDFV2
Quick reminder; anything you post online can be searched, copied, and shared. Think about that~
https://d1pmarobgdhgjx.cloudfront.net/education/Digital_Footprint_Animation_2017.mp4
What mark will you leave on the world? What is your “purpose”? How can you foster an online identity for yourself that supports and drives forward this purpose?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRkhkO4fKAg&feature=youtu.be
😲 WOW! Our Virtual Angel Tree is off to an amazing start! In FIVE days, all of our students were sponsored, and we have raised nearly $1,000 dollars towards helping those in our community!
Every dollar donated to the Angel Tree will go towards Spartan Council, which helps OUR families and OUR children who need it most. Families who have lost their housing due to a fire, electricity/water bills that have been shut off due to hard times, and food/clothing needed for students who would otherwise go without are all examples of how Spartan Council helps our community.
Our students may be sponsored, but your donation still means the world to other Spartans in need. Watch the progress & donate today @ https://www.olympia.org/o/district/page/nhs-angel-trees
Thank you! 🎄💙🎄
Great job Olympia South Spartans for filling our Under the Sea Treasure chest for the second time already this year. South students are demonstrating what it looks like to Be Kind, Safe, and Ready to Learn on a daily basis! Pajama Day is Monday :)
Video: bit.ly/Oly2DFV3
Lots of students are exploring and developing their own identities, and they often do this online and on social media. Some kids use multiple accounts, each for a different audience, but with this, what’s real and what’s unrealistic can often get blurred. In this video, your kids can hear other teens talk about the ins and outs of presenting themselves to others online, and consider what it means to “be yourself” in digital spaces.
Help! My Kid Wants to Use Social Media!
Get your child, and yourself, ready for the next step with these conversation starters.
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/help-my-kid-wants-to-use-social-media
Students at Olympia South took time today to learn about Veterans Day and to show our gratitude for all of the sacrifices our Veterans made for our country!
Our Virtual Angel Tree event is off to a great start; we already have a few students who will have a brighter holiday this season! Learn more and #SponsorASpartan today! bit.ly/olyAngelTree20
