News and Information Source Evaluation Packet

Teaching students to evaluate the reliability and bias of information sources is one of the most important skills a Social Studies or English teacher can impart upon a student. The ability to assess the reliability of sources on the fly has become an increasingly vital skill in the age of the Internet, with the multiplication of sources available and the creation of click-bait “fake news” sources that deliberately package falsehoods as “news.”

This packet contains the following:

* A source evaluation Google Form (with answer sheet) for students to evaluate seven different news stories of varied quality. (takes ~45 min.)

* A source evaluation paper (including a rubric) that uses peer review to have students analyze sources used in a prior class project:
1. Whether their classmates used a primary or secondary source,
2. Who the author is
3. Who the publisher is
4. Assess sources of bias, and
5. Assess special credentials such as education or experience

* A primary source reading/webquest on the U.S. Supreme Court's "Citizens United" decision in 2010, followed by 18 questions that link the decision to source reliability, current events and media bias. (Takes about 2-3 hours, can be a sub-plan or homework assignment.)

* Eight hyperlinks to graphics that I print and put up in my classroom, and a video I like to use.