Assessment Activity: Fact-Checking Video
Tell students that they can do more than respond to things other people post: they can make their own fact-checks too. Besides helping anyone who might have seen a false claim, fact-checks “pre-bunk” the claim for people who haven’t seen it and also make more people feel comfortable correcting misinformation when they see it.
Have students watch the video in the student chapter Does Caffeine Cause Hair Loss? and answer the questions:
From ten seconds into the video:
Why might you want to fact-check this story? (A lot of people drink coffee, and people worry about losing their hair!)
How would you fact-check this? (Remind students of the four steps covered earlier.)
From the end of the video:
What steps did the fact-checker use? (Find the source, Check other sources and Verify the source.)
Then ask: Which one worked best? Why? (Check other sources, because she was able to compare what sources she knew were reliable said on the topic.)
Have students navigate to the student chapter Fact-Checking Video and go through it with the class.
Explain that they will find a claim that they are not sure is true and fact-check it using the four steps you reviewed in class. They will then make a fact-checking video using the Digital Story Maker that will show the claim, the steps they took to verify it, and their final verdict.
If students have not already completed the Digital Storytelling unit, go through it with the class.
If students have the time and ability to make on-camera videos, send them to https://alternativeto.net/category/video/video-editing/ for examples of video editing apps and programs they can explore.
Note: Students’ use of screenshots or screen captures is considered Fair Dealing under the Copyright Act because it is being done for critical and educational purposes. For more information, see the article Fair Dealing for Media Education.
In case students have difficulty finding a claim to verify, you may want to consult these websites ahead of time to find examples:
Associated Press News: Oddities (https://apnews.com/oddities)
Snopes (https://www.snopes.com/)
Lead Stories (https://leadstories.com/)
Not the Onion (https://www.reddit.com/r/nottheonion/)
Do not tell students whether the claim is true or false. Do not send students directly to these sites, as some contain inappropriate content.
Encourage students to visit the Teen Fact-Checking Network website to see other examples of fact-checking videos.