This misinformation and fake news lesson helps year 8-13 students practice media literacy, fact-checking, and source evaluation. Your students are scrolling through hundreds of posts a day, and many of them cannot tell what is real.

Students apply detection techniques to real sample posts and headlines, then decide what is true, false, or misleading.

It gives students practical tools without turning the lesson into a lecture on why misinformation is bad.

Originally written primarily aimed at US teenagers, so US English is used. If a UK language version is important, please let me know so I can consider adapting it.

Useful for media literacy, social studies, digital citizenship, health class, advisory, or any lesson on fake news, online information, and critical thinking.

If this activity is useful, the full Navigating Information Online bundle includes 5 more lessons on echo chambers, filter bubbles, reading the news, conspiracy theories, and satire vs misinformation. Each activity is sold separately, or together as a discounted bundle.

What’s included:

• Teacher guide with timing, prep notes, classroom tips, differentiation ideas, and reliable fact-checking tools
• Optional projectable opening prompt for starting the lesson
• Structured student activity in three parts: brainstorming, applying detection techniques, and evaluating sample posts
• 8 sample posts and headlines to evaluate as true, false, or misleading
• Student investigation sheet with space to record verdicts, sources/tools used, evidence found, and reasoning
• Teacher answer key with explanations for each sample post
• Reflection / exit ticket with 5 individual questions
• 5-criteria assessment rubric with 20-point scoring guide

Runs about 50-60 minutes. Groups of 3-4. Phones or laptops are welcome, this is where misinformation happens.

I’ve spent years in Learning and Development, designing programs around how people absorb and retain information. I also have a teenager at home who is on social media every day. This activity came out of both of those things.

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While written for year 8-13, this activity works equally well in college classrooms and adult education settings.