Have you ever overheard your students talking about an outrageous news story while walking down the hall? Have you heard a faculty lunch conversation about a news story that just seems to be too far fetched? Fake News is showing up more and more in our everyday lives and we all must put in the effort to look into the truthfulness of information we see, hear and read.
As school librarians, it is our job to help educate our students about Fake News and help
them learn to spot it. One of our many roles as a school librarian is to teach information
literacy skills to our students which will help us produce 21st century, lifelong learners.
This includes digital literacy as well.
them learn to spot it. One of our many roles as a school librarian is to teach information
literacy skills to our students which will help us produce 21st century, lifelong learners.
This includes digital literacy as well.
I recently read a great article in School Library Connection written by Carolyn Foote, which
gives some good ideas to the Future Ready Librarians (I love that phrase!) about incorporating
Fake News instruction into the school curriculum.
gives some good ideas to the Future Ready Librarians (I love that phrase!) about incorporating
Fake News instruction into the school curriculum.
Here are a few of Foote’s suggestions from her article “Future Ready Librarian: Instructional
Leader in an Age of Misinformation” :
Building Instructional Partnerships - Collaboration with teachers who use current events in their classes (English teachers, Government teachers, Journalism teachers, World Language teachers, etc.) is a great way to teach students about Fake News and integrate information literacy into the school curriculum.
Curating Resources - Get together some great resources together for teachers that focus on teaching students about Fake News. This can be a great way to start a collaboration and teachers will get excited about your discoveries.
Empowering Students - Ask students questions about where they go to read their news, what social media accounts they use, the type of news they are interested in and how they feel about the news they read. The students are constantly taking in news on their social media accounts and already have experience sifting through news and information. As librarians we want our students to become lifelong learners who question and research what they read both in print and online.
Leader in an Age of Misinformation” :
Building Instructional Partnerships - Collaboration with teachers who use current events in their classes (English teachers, Government teachers, Journalism teachers, World Language teachers, etc.) is a great way to teach students about Fake News and integrate information literacy into the school curriculum.
Curating Resources - Get together some great resources together for teachers that focus on teaching students about Fake News. This can be a great way to start a collaboration and teachers will get excited about your discoveries.
Empowering Students - Ask students questions about where they go to read their news, what social media accounts they use, the type of news they are interested in and how they feel about the news they read. The students are constantly taking in news on their social media accounts and already have experience sifting through news and information. As librarians we want our students to become lifelong learners who question and research what they read both in print and online.
Check out these other great resources to help incorporate information on Fake News into your library program:
Help make your students informed members on society and have fun finding great ways to collaborate with your teachers to share knowledge about Fake News! Be sure to share your ideas here!
Megan M.
Foote, C. (2017, August). Future ready librarian: Instructional leader in an age of misinformation. School Library Connection. Retrieved from http://schoollibraryconnection.com/Home/Display/2120923
I think this is such a timely and important topic and many adults as well as students could benefit from this lesson. So much information is bombarding us all the time. It really is important for people to learn to identify facts and potential bias.
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