WHO is at risk?

• According to Brooke Donald (2016), “When it comes to evaluating information that flows across social
channels or pops up in a Google search, young and otherwise digital-savvy students can easily be duped.”

WHAT is Fake News?

• Fake news is simply news that is not true; it’s not real information.
• Fake news is created in order to influence the public’s opinion about an issue and it’s meant to be spread for
online users (Teaching your Students about Fake News, 2017).

WHERE can Fake News be found?

• The INTERNET, social media, magazines, and newspapers, texting.

WHEN should students look up fake news, believe fake news or read fake news?
• The issue here is, students may not know that they are reading fake news (check out below to have them
find out how!).

WHY aren’t students aware of fake news?

• Brooke Donald (2016) talks about research conducted at Stanford University, where studies have revealed
that students are showing the inability to reason information they see on the Internet. Brooke Donald also
states “students have a hard time distinguishing advertisements from news articles or identifying where
information came from” (2016, para. 2).

Here’s HOW students can determine whether something is fake or not fake?

5 Way to Spot Fake News

1. Look for unusual URL’s or website name’s [eg. those that end in .lo or .com.co]
2. Dissect layout of the source/website – look for grammatical errors, incorrect dates, bold claims without no
sources
3. Dig deeper – find out who supports the site and/or who is associated with it
4. Cross-check the website – use fact checking sites for reliability
5. Try reverse image search – if it appears in unrelated stories there’s
reasons to be suspicious
(Filucci, 2017)

Check your websites here:

For more information watch the video at:
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/how-to-spot-fake- Ø FactCheck.org
news-and-teach-kids-to-be-media-savvy
Ø Snopes.com
Ø RealorSatire.com

(“Teaching Your Students about Fake News,” 2017)

Sabrina Ruffolo, Student Teacher Candidate at Medaille College - email: sr3289@medaille.edu

 Another way to check for fake news
Children’s books related to
is using the CRAAP test:
Fake News:

Recommended readings for Teachers/educators:

• Think Before your Retweet: how to spot a fake storm photo

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/10/think-you-retweet-how-spot-fake-
storm-photo/321990/

• Real news reports on fake news as people try to figure out the difference
https://newsela.com/read/students-fake-news/id/25416

• 5 Ways teachers are fighting fake news

https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/02/16/514364210/5-ways-teachers-are-fighting-fake-
news

• How to protect students from fake news

http://www.edudemic.com/protect-students-fake-news/

Sabrina Ruffolo, Student Teacher Candidate at Medaille College – email: sr3289@medaille.edu

 Lesson Ideas:
Lesson Objective: Practice analysis by comparing hoax and real websites and identifying false or
misleading information
The Tree Octopus
-Donald Leu conducted a study in 2006 where 25 seventh graders were asked to review a website devoted to a
fictitious endangered species known as the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus. Results revealed that all 25 students
fell for the Internet hoax (Jones, 2016).

-Have the student visit the website:

https://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/
-Have the students take note of things such as: the URL, words on
the page such as “Cephalopod,” links on the homepage, the sightings
page etc.
-Have students fill out “Is this a Hoax?” (see attached) evaluation
sheet or they can use the CRAAP test (see above)

Dog Island Versus NOVA: Dogs and More Dogs – Find the Hoax!

-Have the students visit the following webpage:

http://www.thedogisland.com/index.html
-Have students look over the website and use the “Is this a
Hoax?” handout to see if it is all a hoax or not a hoax.
versus
-THEN have the students review the following website:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/dogs/
-Have the students compare the two websites to figure out
which one is a hoax and which one is not a hoax.

References:
Buzzeo, T., & Yoshikawa, S. (2013). But I read it on the internet!: A Mrs. Skorupski story. Madison, WI: UpstartBooks.

Cook, J., & DuFalla, A. (2017). The technology tail: A digital footprint story. Boys Town, NE: Boys Town Press.

Donald, B. (2016). Stanford researchers find students have trouble judging the credibility of information online. Retrieved from:
https://ed.stanford.edu/news/stanford-researchers-find-students-have-trouble-judging-credibility-information-online

Filucci, S. (2017). How to Spot Fake News (and Teach Kids to Be Media-Savvy. Retrieved from:
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/how-to-spot-fake-news-and-teach-kids-to-be-media-savvy

Jones, S. (2016). Schools Key to Solving Fake News Problem, Says Neag School Expert. Retrieved from:
https://education.uconn.edu/2016/12/27/schools-key-to-solving-fake-news-problem-says-neag-school-expert/

Pattison, D., & Willis, P. (2017). The Nantucket sea monster: A fake news story. Little Rock, AR: Mims House.

Teaching Your Students about Fake News. (2017). Retrieved from: https://support.listenwise.com/teaching-your-students-about-fake-
news/

Sabrina Ruffolo, Student Teacher Candidate at Medaille College – email:sr3289@medaille.edu