Lesson Plan: Civics Skills: Sleuthing Socials (Fact-Checking Social Media)

Subjects:

Social Studies, Civics/Government, English/Language Arts, Media & News Literacy

• This lesson works in various subject areas as a guide for students to evaluate sources in their research with an emphasis on social media.

Essential Questions:

• How do social media platforms shape public opinion of current events?
• How can people effectively assess the social media posts they consume?
• How can the fact-checking process be used to discern trustworthiness in social media posts?

Lesson Objectives:

Students will:

• Analyze a political cartoon about the accuracy of social media posts.
• Analyze statistics concerning social media platform use and its effects on users.
• Identify and apply the steps in the process of fact-checking a social media post.
• Apply the ACE Method to the annotation of an article related to the social media post in question.

Materials:

• Retro Report video “Civics Skills: Strategies for Analyzing Challenging Texts” (Transcript)
• Student Activity handout
• Many American find value in getting news on social media, but concerns about inaccuracy have risen | Pew Research Center:
• Example TikTok video: Viral TikTok: Disney to Lower Drinking Age?
• Teachers may choose their own social media posts based on knowledge of students and community or use any one of the following TikTok videos for students to view and fact-check.
  • TikTok: Global Warming
  • TikTok: Taylor Swift Increases Voter Registration
  • TikTok: Convention Delegates

Procedure:

1. Have students view the political cartoon and complete the analysis questions. Depending on student experience with political cartoons you may need to teach or review the ideas of symbolism and irony.
   1. Conduct a brief discussion on student answers to the analysis questions.
   2. Consider asking students about their level of comfort determining accuracy of social media posts as well as their use of preferred social media outlets and how frequently they consume news from those platforms.
2. Show the Viral TikTok: Disney to Lower Drinking Age? video.
   1. *Disclaimer: Consider your teaching environment and community for the level of appropriateness of the video. It can be replaced with other viral hoaxes.
   2. Conduct a discussion as a class about the claim and ask students if they believe the video is accurate and why.
3. Have students examine the article: Pew Research Center: Many American find value in getting news on social media, but concerns about inaccuracy have risen
   1. Direct students to use the charts and commentary to address the questions.
   2. If a student does not use social media platforms at all they may struggle with the reflection questions at the bottom of this step. Ask them instead to approach the questions from the perspective of “how might you use it?”, “what might be the number one benefit?”, “one might be the largest drawback?”
4. As a class, have students watch the video: “Civics Skills: Strategies for Analyzing Challenging Texts.”
   1. Students will provide examples of how the student in the video goes through the ACE process, summarizing her steps and what she learned using this method.
   2. Review the answers after the video to ensure students understand the information as they will be asked to apply it later in the Student Activity.
5. The next portion of the activity asks students to analyze a TikTok video and engage in a fact-checking process. Feel free to choose other social media posts based on knowledge of students and community or ones that are more specifically aligned to your curriculum. Three example TikTok videos have been provided below.
   1. TikTok: Global Warming
   2. TikTok: Taylor Swift Increases Voter Registration
   3. TikTok: Convention Delegates
   4. Ask students what else they should investigate about the post and the creator. Project the profile of the creator and ask students what they notice.
   5. Students should summarize the overall claim and list the supporting statements (statistics, etc.) that the creator included in their post. You may need to show the video multiple times or have students pair up after the first or second watch to be sure they have all necessary information.
   6. Students should then identify the sites and/or articles mentioned in the video and spend a few minutes researching the reliability of the sites and then explain if this source is reliable.
   7. Students should analyze the post for false or unreliable information and explain why they agree or disagree.
   8. Students should create three questions to guide their research on the claim in the post.
6. Students should locate an article that will help determine the accuracy of the post. Students should use a Google News search to find an article. This is done most easily by using the claim or portions of the claim as a search term. Then students will click on the “News” tab at the top of the Google search results. This tab displays results exclusively from websites that are verified as “news related” – though this does not mean they are trustworthy.
   1. Students should report on their first impressions of the reliability of the article. This is where you may want to remind them about the advice the student gave in the video, reviewing the major points before they proceed.
   2. Students should use the ACE method to annotate the article.
   3. Finally, students will explain whether the article they chose supports or debunks the claim from the TikTok video.

Extension Activity:

1. Students could create a guide or one-pager for their peers on fact-checking social media and supporting their mission with effective research habits.

About the Author:

Amanda Henderson teaches at Powhatan High School in Powhatan, Va., and serves as the Government Content Lead and as a Table Leader for the AP U.S. Government and Politics reading.

Standards

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies

• D3.1.9-12. Gather relevant information from multiple sources representing a wide range of views while using the origin, authority, structure, context, and corroborative value of the
• D3.2.9-12. Evaluate the credibility of a source by examining how experts value the source.
• D4.4.9-12. Critique the use of claims and evidence in arguments for credibility.

Common Core Literacy Standards

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.2. Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) in order to make informed decisions and solve problems, evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source and noting any discrepancies among the data.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.7. Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2. Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.3. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social studies.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.5. Analyze in detail how a complex primary source is structured, including how key sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text contribute to the whole.