This lesson will introduce students to lateral reading, a strategy for investigating a website or post by going outside the site itself. Students watch the teacher model and then have a chance to practice using lateral reading to determine who is behind a website and, ultimately, to decide whether that website is trustworthy. Note: A free educator account is required to access these materials.

To evaluate the trustworthiness of an unfamiliar website or online source, professional fact checkers practice lateral reading: They immediately leave the unknown site and open new tabs to search for what trusted sources say about it. The lateral reading classroom poster reminds students to implement this strategy when they come across an unfamiliar source. Note: A free educator account is required to access these materials.

This lesson is designed to provide students with practice reading laterally, with a particular focus on diversifying the resources students use to read laterally. Students are introduced to a variety of online sources for lateral reading. Students work in groups to read laterally using some of these resources. Note: A free educator account is required to access these materials.

This lesson provides students with more practice reading laterally and explicitly contrasts what they can learn about a website from reading laterally with what they can learn by reading vertically (staying inside the site and making evaluations based on features like appearance, design, or content). Note: A free educator account is required to access these materials.

This short lesson is designed to provide students with focused practice reading laterally with one particular kind of source—articles from fact-checking organizations. Students are briefly introduced to fact-checking organizations and then practice reading laterally about a website using that resource. Note: A free educator account is required to access these materials.

This short lesson provides students with opportunities to read laterally with one particular kind of source—news articles. Students are briefly introduced to news organizations and then practice reading laterally about a website using that resource. Note: A free educator account is required to access these materials.