Fake News & Media Messages 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!
What a great way to start the day in 4th grade! Thank you Mrs. Castleman for being the guest reader.
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.
5th graders met with Commander Libby today to learn about constellations ⭐️
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
Today the 5th graders met live with Commander Julia to create paper rockets to test at different launch angles 🚀
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.
Fifth graders began their Vacation to Space field trip with The Challenger Learning Center. The first challenge was to design a rocket to take us to space! 🚀
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
