Lesson 2: Sources and who to trust
This lesson plan will give you an understanding of the importance and use of sources and ways to identify which ones are reliable and trustworthy and why it’s recommended to use more than one.
Learning outcomes
- Young people will be able to consider the viability and trustworthiness of a source
- They’ll question the origin of a source and analyse whether to believe it whole, in part or not at all
- Young people will consider the authenticity of articles and consider their own unconscious bias
Brief overview
When working out what is real news and what is fake this can be helped by considering the source of the news piece.
This lesson helps young people to look at a variety of sources and to consider whether they think they are trustworthy. It also helps them to consider how different sources can be deemed a trustworthy source for some situations, and less trustworthy for others.
For instance, you may trust the prime minister to give an update on the latest government policy and Wayne Rooney for the offside rule, but it’s unlikely you would reverse the case.
They have to consider their own bias as they choose particular sources.
Preparation
- Students require pen and paper
- Download prepared slideshow
- Watch the film Knowing Who to Trust, as suggested in the slideshow
- Download exercise 1 - Trust bingo
- Download exercise 2 if you're using computers
- Download exercise 3 if you're not using computers
- Download the helpsheet for students, if required
There is one video Knowing Who to Trust, which considers different sources.
Exercises
- Exercise 1 is a game of trust bingo - finding the best source for a particular story
- Exercise 2 looks at how different sources tell the same story
- Exercise 3 asks young people to tell the same story from different points of view