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8th Grade Checks & Balances CBA: Evaluating News Sources

Resources to support the 8th grade Social Studies CBA

Learning Goals

Students will understand that bias exists in all media sources.
Students will gain awareness of their own biases in gathering information.
Students will develop effective strategies for evaluating current event articles.
Students will be able to identify a number of credible sources from which to get current events.

View Multiple Perspectives

Allsides
Choose a current event and see how it is reported by various news sources.

Analyze Perspectives on an Issue

ProCon
Interested in understanding the pros and cons on various controversial issues?

What's Your Bias?

Understanding Political Perspective
Use this tool to understand the difference between "Conservative" and "Liberal" perspectives on various issues.

Political Typology Quiz
Take this quiz by the Pew Research Center to see where you fall on the political spectrum.

Newseum

Newseum
Tools and resources to help you evaluate information.

Read Like a Fact-Checker

"Sort Fact From Fiction Online With Lateral Reading." YouTube. Stanford History Education Group, 16 Jan. 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHNprb2hgzU&feature=youtu.be.

Evaluating Sources

How to Choose Your News

Fairness Tip Sheet

Fact Check

Factcheck.org
The Annenberg Public Policy Center investigates claims.
Snopes
The oldest, and largest fact-checking site for internet claims.
Wikipedia
Yes! Use Wikipedia to fact check.