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Practice how to identify a source's validity using the tips from National Geographic and five examples.

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Can you believe everything you read? Not always. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference between real-life headlines and made-up ones—especially on the Internet. And some people try to trick you on purpose. Follow these tips for sniffing out fake news.

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Link 6: How to Fact Check with Fact Checking Resources

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Link 6: How to Fact Check with Fact Checking Resources

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This is an easy to understand resource that explains what fact checking is, why it is important to fact check information, and provides resources to help you fact check information that you find. These resources include websites like FactCheck.org, Snopes.com, and PolitiFact.com, which are all unbiased tools to help double check the accuracy of the information from various online sources.

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For works that are purportedly "non-fiction," how do we know what we are reading, hearing, or seeing is true? Fact checkers have the job of conducting quick and accurate research to weigh in on the truthfulness of a work. Do journalists always fact check? How about your social connections?

Fact-Checking Considerations for Writers

The Pultizer Prize winning fact checking site, , Politifact, has written about the 7 steps they recommend to writers and publishers to ensure that factual information hits the presses. They advise to ask for evidence that backs up the claim being made, and let the parties know that you will be fact-checking them. You should also turn to other reputable fact checkers to see what comes up, so pop by FactCheck.org Fact Checker, Snopes and other fact-checking sites. Next, they recommend partaking in some Google Advanced Search wizardry and searching the deep web. (The deep web is, go figure, the stuff that is not open to surface surfing and includes things like paid databases, for example, Lexis Nexis and CQ). If you are interested in searching the deep web with not-so-deep pockets, you can check out the databases available at your local library. Politifact fact checkers also advise that you consult experts who can offer different perspectives and look for related books. It is also important to take a step back, take a break, and think about what else you should be considering.

Fact-Checking Considerations for Readers, Listeners, Seers, Doers, Shakers, and Social-Media-Philes

With all I have to do, are you telling me I have to be a fact checker now too? Hmmm, yes, sorry, we are. The good news is that you can check out some of the reputable fact-checking sites and look at their findings. You might like:

PolitiFact.com uses the "Truth-o-Meter" to rank the amount of truth in public persons' statements. Politfact.com won a Pulitzer Prize in 2009. Very untrue claims warrant a "Pants on Fire" rating.

FactCheck.org is a non-partisan and nonprofit nonprofit site, self-described as a "'consumer advocate' for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics"

FactCheck.org, using humor & parody to debunk false political advertising, poke fun at extreme language, and hold the media accountable for their reporting on political campaigns FlackCheck.org is the video-based counterpart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6snFbFtmCH4
[We recently posted about overstatements and exaggerations (hyperbole) and you read more about rhetoric here.]

Snopes.com focuses on urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation, and rates them according to true, false, multiple truth values, undetermined, and unclassifiable veracity:
Here's one we bet you knew already:

The Fact Checker is project of The Washington Post, and is known for grading politicians on the factual accuracy of their statements with one to four "Pinocchios"

FactCheckEd.org is sister site to FactCheck.org is an educational resource for h.s. teachers and students

For just browsing your social media feed, we like these practical tips that George Takei recently shared on Facebook... it's a video called How to Fact Check Fake News Sites

There is also a difference between the "filters" that info passes through on its way to becoming news and outright fake news. If you are interested in this topic, the PBS Idea Channel recently covered this on YouTube with an episode called How NOT to Spot Fake News

That wasn't so bad was it? Pants on fire, Pinnochios, and funny videos. Are you ready for the next fact-checking job? Here's where you really get to look at the information for yourself, because it is a partial list of U.S. Databases and Archives:

Library of Congress: access to searchable documents, historical photos, and digital collections

National Archives: online public access to historic documents, research, government information, etc; You can research by topic here

Bureau of Labor Statistics: databases, tables, and calculators for inflation, unemployment, employment projections, etc

U.S. Customs and Border Protection: Stats and Summaries

CIA World Factbook: World history, people, government, economy, etc; the Kid's Zone is organized by grade level

State Legislative Websites Directory: database of information from the legislatures of all 50 states (bills, statutes, legislators, etc)

Catalog of U.S. Government Publications: search records for historical and current publications, with direct links when applicable; the main site is the U.S. Government Printing Office

Today's activity:

On the internet, a friend posts the following:

If the government has no knowledge of aliens, then why does Title 14, Section 1211 of the Code of Federal Regulations, implemented on July 16, 1969, make it illegal for U.S. citizens to have any contact with extraterrestrials or their vehicles?

You may have headed to Snopes to find: http://www.snopes.com/legal/et.asp and the removed section: http://message.snopes.com/legal/info/etlaw.htm

Alternatively you may have headed to the U.S. Government Printing Office to see for yourself that Title 14, Section 1211 of the Code of Federal Regulations has been removed from the publication by checking out:
Title 14 PDF
Now before you phone home about your top-rate researching skills, you may want to check out these related articles that should help you know when you might not be reading or hearing factual, fact-checked information:

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For works that are purportedly "non-fiction," how do we know what we are reading, hearing, or seeing is true? Fact checkers have the job of conducting quick and accurate research to weigh in on the truthfulness of a work. Do journalists always fact check? How about your social connections?

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Link 5: Breaking News Consumer's Handbook: Fake News Edition

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Link 5: Breaking News Consumer's Handbook: Fake News Edition

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This cutout from On the Media, a New York Public Radio podcast, details how to quickly assess the credibility of a website or social media post. This is similar to the CRAAP test.

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Link 2: Who Can You Trust? Crash Course Navigating Digital Information #4 (Video)

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Link 2: Who Can You Trust? Crash Course Navigating Digital Information #4 (Video)

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In this video, John Green discusses the elements of the CRAAP test specifically for digital sources.

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Who Can You Trust? Crash Course Navigating Digital Information #4

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Practice the skills that you have learned in this online game that simulates a social media site.can Your objective is to maintain your own highly credible site that only shares accurate and valid information

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Welcome to Newsably, a fictional social media site focused on news and information. Your mission? Maintain the site, grow traffic, and watch out! You’ll also need to spot fake posts that try to sneak in through hidden ads, viral deception, and false reporting. For the best play experience, click “Play Fullscreen” in the upper right area of the screen.

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Are you ready to learn even more about news literacy? This a self-paced course that can help you understand the basics of news literacy, which includes assessing sources. Check out Lesson 6 and the Lesson 6 FAQs to help further your knowledge on how to find and verify the accuracy, validity, and authority of sources.

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NL Basics for Students - Table of Contents | Stony Brook Center for News Literacy

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Please click on the link to see the video introduction for this lesson.

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Link 4: Research Guides for Savy Info Consumers 

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Link 4: Research Guides for Savy Info Consumers 

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These research guides from the libraries at the University of Washington have information about evaluating sources, assessing different types of sources for reliability and bias, and determining fake news.

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Library Guides: Savvy Info Consumers: Evaluating Information

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Library Guides: Savvy Info Consumers: Evaluating Information

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This is the original test to help you assess information - the CRAAP test!

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This is an article (with examples) that helps explain the different types of "misleading" news (content that has the intent to deceive). This is great resource to help you understand how information can be intentionally skewed or misrepresented for a various reasons. There are even strategies to help you assess this information and become a more informed consumer of information!

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In this game, you can test your ability to determine what is true and what is fake when it comes to online news. This is great practice to help you assess the validity of an article based on the content and the source. But make sure those evaluation skills stay sharp - some sources are not what they seem!

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How can I critically assess the information that I find online and why is this important?

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AASL Standard: B. IV. 3 Learners gather information appropriate to the task by: Systematically questioning and assessing the validity and accuracy of information. 

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AASL Standard: B. IV. 3 Learners gather information appropriate to the task by: Systematically questioning and assessing the validity and accuracy of information. 

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Lesson Objective: Given resources about assessing online sources, 9th-12th grade students will use a checklist to appropriately evaluate the validity and accuracy of at least five sources found online.

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Topic: Assessing Online Sources Using Critical Media Literacy

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Topic: Assessing Online Sources Using Critical Media Literacy

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Grades: 9-12 (high school students)