Objective:

Students will be able to distinguish between bias and lies in the media using Ground News.

Downloads:

Standard(s):

Not applicable

Vocabulary:

Bias
Lie
Political Ideology
Knowledge

Materials:

Implementation:

Prior to Lesson

Ensure students have access to Ground.News
Pass out student response worksheets.

Guided Practice

Present Decoding Deception Lecture Slides to students. 
Review Vocabulary with students.
Have students consider their political ideology and where they stand using Slide 4 and then utilize the website https://www.isidewith.com/
Use the questions on Slide 5 to drive a whole group discussion.
Divide students into 3 sub-groups and utilize Slide 6 to give each sub-group a task to complete.
When sub-groups have completed their tasks, come back as a whole group and have the sub-groups present their findings and answer the questions on Slide 7.
Independently, students will reflect on their findings and answer the questions on Slide 8.

Independent Practice

As a group, discuss political ideology using Slide 4 and the website https://www.isidewith.com/.
Answer questions on Slide 5 and have teachers record student responses.
Students will break up into three sub-groups; each sub-group will have their task listed on Slide 6.  
Using Slide 7, students will create a presentation for the whole group to share their findings.
Students will reflect and complete the activity on Slide 8 independently.
Provide student response worksheets for students to record their findings.

Closing

Have students share their reflections and feedback using Slide 9.

Assessments:

Students will complete the activity on the student response worksheet and be able to utilize Ground News to distinguish between bias and lies in the media.

Downloads:

Lesson Plan

Decoding Deception

How to Distinguish Bias from Lies in the Media.

Who's it for?

High School and College/University

Contributing Author:

Stephanie A. Hallock, Ph.D.

We’ve created a community space for sharing lesson plans and curricula built around the Ground News tool—freely adaptable to each institution’s needs. While the Ground News platform fuels these materials, the Ground News company itself remains neutral and does not sponsor or author this content. LibraryUp is the facilitator, bringing together librarians and educators and this powerful news-comparison tool to advance media literacy.

Your Contributing Author

Stephanie A. Hallock, Ph.D.

Dr. Stephanie Hallock, a professor of political science and coordinator for global education and engagement at Harford Community College, integrated the innovative tool, Ground News, into her coursework starting in 2022. With over 22 years of experience in higher education, she is dedicated to advancing news literacy and empowering educators and students through experiential learning. Ground News, with its unique approach, is a key part of her strategy.

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