In this unit, students will understand where “fake news” comes from, why it exists and how they can think like fact checkers to become fluent consumers, evaluators, and creators of information. They will apply this knowledge by selecting a controversial topic to evaluate, synthesize, and analyze all aspects before sharing with a local audience.

In this one lesson, students are able to evaluate a news report, using their prior knowledge and instints, learn about the CRAAP method of website credibilty evaluation, and practice using the CRAAP method on a variety of websites.

This resource was created by Jen Kastanek in collaboration with Lauren Rabourn as part of the 2019-20 ESU-NDE Digital Age Pedagogy Project. Educators worked with coaches to create Lesson Plans promoting both content area and digital age skills. This Lesson Plan is designed for Grade 10 and English Language Arts.

Hyperdoc playlist of activities for digital literacy lesson. Teacher will need to populate the "Guided Practice" section with updated links to current events. Check out The Sift from the News Literacy Project to get ides.

The amount of information being consumed on a daily basis is staggering and often leads to "information overload." As literacy has shifted to a digital landscape, it is even more imperative for consumers, especially students, to learn how to navigate this environment. This multi-day lesson helps students 1) examine terms associated with "fake news" and how to evaluate them for reliability and authenticity, and then 2) develp a set of skills to help them continue to evaluate sources for both academic and personal needs."Fake News Image" by Pxfuel logo is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

This Lesson Plan was created by Joanna Pruitt as part of the 2020 ESU-NDE Remote Learning Plan Project. This original lesson is for classroom use; however, there is a virtual option as well. Educators worked with coaches to create Remote Learning Plans as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The attached Lesson Plan is designed for Grades 9-12 English Language Arts students; however, this could also be used as a Social Studies project as well. Students will evaluate credible sources through research on genocides post World War II after completing a novel unit covering the Holocaust. Students will also create scrapbooks using summarizing, citation, informative writing, textual evidence, caption writing, and persuasive writing. Students will also be expected to demonstrate oral communication skills as they have to present their projects to the class. Students will use background knowledge to clarify text and also gain a deeper understanding by using relevant evidence from a variety of sources to assist in analysis and reflection of informative text. 

In this lesson, students will develop media literacy skills by analyzing and evaluating real versus fake news sources. Students learn how to identify various types of fakes news and apply critical thinking to evaluate if the information is reliable and unreliable.Image attribution: https://flic.kr/p/XKaGVH

This unit was designed to give freshmen a small writing task that is similar to the ACT writing. "The Most Dangerous Game" generates great conversation of the ideas of morals and ethics, and this writing task allows students the opportunity to explore their own morals and ethics.OBJECTIVES: The learner will...identify the main points of an argument and connect arguments to supportive materialargue a chosen side using supportive detailsconstruct personal beliefs about morals and ethicswrite and edit a short argumentative essay collaborate with peers

This lesson was created by Courtney Baker as part of the Nebraska ESUCC Special Project Digital Age Skills.

Students will explore social issues that plague our society and the world to find an issue they are passionate about or are interested in learning more about.

Through a process of questioning, students will develop research questions that they will seek the answers to by conducting research of a variety of sources both in print and digital.

Students will create a blog site to share their research findings and write 8 blog posts, each focusing on answering a different question or aspect of their social issue, using evidence from credible sources. Their blogs will be published and shared with an authentic audience.

This project is a cross-curricular approach designed to analyze, evaluate, and extend student understanding of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The project would be applied after students have read the novel and completed a final test (or you may use this project in lieu of a test). Teachers may use pieces of this project or can use this project in its entirety.Time Estimate: 2-3 weeksObjectives:The learner will:connect the novel to the current social and political climate.analyze the differences in treatment of minorities in the judicial system.argue and support with evidence the impact of race in both the novel and the real world. identify the use of forensic evidence in court cases and argue how forensic evidence is or is not used in the novel.collaborate with peers to create a presentation of findings and analyses. construct a visual representation of a theme. 

This Remote Learning Plan was created by Joanna Pruitt as part of the 2020 ESU-NDE Remote Learning Plan Project. Educators worked with coaches to create Remote Learning Plans as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.The attached Remote Learning Plan is designed for Grades 9-12 English Language Arts students. Students will learn the research process and how to write a research paper. It is expected that this Remote Learning Plan will take students 4-5 weeks to complete.