Fake news is more than a social media menaceÑitÕs threatening critical thinking skills needed to develop information literacy. Combined with the impulse to share exciting, shocking and alarming stories, fake news is shapingÑand distortingÑperceptions, especially in younger demographics. In this video, viewers learn what drives fake news, how to spot it and how to de-bunk it. TheyÕll see how to distinguish between bias and accuracy, and opinion from fact. Vignettes that mimic online feeds and searches show how to detect completely false stories, slanted information, pure propaganda and misused data. @2018

Throughout this unit on Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, students practice the same six skills with greater scaffolding and modeling at the beginning, and more independence toward the middle and end. The tasks include: 1. writing to an essential question to access background knowledge; 2. using context clues and root words to determine word meaning; 3. close reading with the aid of a glossary; 4. taking notes one of two graphic organizers (sequence of events and/or empathy map); 5. re-reading to answer text dependent questions; and 6. summarizing the chapter.

In this lesson, students read informational pieces about whether or not schools should teach cursive writing. They will evaluate the arguments presented and then choose a side of the issue. Finally, they will write their own arguments expressing their points of view.