Leslie Goetsch, director of the Northern Virginia Writing Project (NVWP), shared a great NVWP resource in what often seems an uphill battle, helping students recognize the accuracy and reliability of research sources.
With a grant from the National Writing Project, NVWP teacher consultants have created a deep dive into working with students and media literacy titled “Disinformation, Misinformation or Truth.” Posted on the NWP platform, Write Now Teacher Studio, this focused look into how to help students (and adults) assess the information and sources they find, offers a variety of resources on the topic, sample lessons for elementary through college-aged students, a padlet of information and suggested activities, and a taped interview with Mike Caulfield, a media literacy expert and creator of the SIFT system for evaluating the reliability of media sources.
To get to “Disinformation, Misinformation, or Truth,” go to the Write Now Teacher Studio (https://studio.nwp.org), where you will be asked to create an account (don’t worry, there is no money required and no obligation involved—only head counting), click on the Deep Dive section on the left-hand menu and scroll through the titles until you find “Disinformation, Misinformation, or Truth.” You will find six different parts to the Deep Dive, where you can access anything that interests you.
Goetsch especially recommends watching the interview with Mike Caulfield. "He offers a process that is simpler and calls upon critical thinking, rather than following instructions, to really assess a source," she said. For help accessing the Deep Dive, she is available to help (lgoetsch@gmu.edu).
August 15, 2022