identifying fake news

2. Tariq and his dad were listening to the local radio station while driving
to school. Suddenly the music stopped and a news announcement came
on the radio, “Breaking news. We’re getting reports of a road closure
on the A441 between St John’s road and the Newhall roundabout. All
motorists are advised to take alternative routes wherever possible.”
“I hope everyone’s ok. That’s right by your school, Tariq,” said Dad.
”I think we’ll go the other way to school.”
Why do you think the radio
station stopped the music?
What did Tariq’s dad do after
hearing the news story?
Why do adults often listen to
traffic news while travelling?

3. Identify strategies that can help us to
recognise unreliable news stories and
information online.
Describe how text and images in the
media can be unreliable and untrue.
Explain why we should always check if
online information and news is correct
before sharing.

4. What is the news?
It’s likely that your parents, guardians
and older family members all access
some form of news. So, what is ‘the
news’ and why do people want to
access it? What are the different
ways that people can find out the
news? Do we ever need to be careful
when accessing the news?
Discuss these questions with a
partner and we’ll hear your ideas
in a moment.

5. What is the news?
The news gives us information
about the things that are currently
happening in the world.
Sometimes the news is local,
meaning that it relates to events
and stories that are happening in
your area.
We also have national and
international news, which relates
to stories that affect the country
or even the whole world.

6. What is the news?
There are many different ways that
we can access the news including TV,
radio, newspapers, magazines and
online sources such as on social
media.
People access the news for a variety
of reasons. For many people the
news is a form of entertainment, for
others, the news is simply a source
of information.

7. What is the news?
In today’s lesson, we’ll be looking at
why the news is important, and
whether the stories that we read
online are always trustworthy.

8. So, why is the news important?
First of all, we need some
volunteer readers to get us
started.
We will read the
information sheet together
as a class first before we
move on to our next
activity. Volunteers will be
going to break first today!

9. So, why would someone want to
spread false information?
A famous example of fake news
occurred in 1957 when Panorama
(a very popular current affairs
programme) played an April
Fools’ Day joke on the nation.
Watch the video clip carefully,
then we’ll discuss the questions
on the following slide.
Video link
Watch until 3 mins 49 seconds
Teacher note: to play the video clip, click the link after putting the PowerPoint
into ‘slideshow’ mode. Alternatively, hold the ‘ctrl’ button, then click on the link.

10. Who can tell me where spaghetti
really comes from? How is it made?
Why did the BBC decide to play a prank
on the nation?
How did they make the prank believable?
How do you think the viewers felt when
they found out that the spaghetti
harvest story was a hoax?
So was this story harmless fun, or
harmful fake news?
Video link

11. In your pairs, you have been given a new key
terms table. It’s your task to match them all up.
Which pair can do it correctly first?
Be ready to have them checked!
Now it’s time to match up our new key terms.

12. How trustworthy or accurate something is
Incorrect information that
is spread from person to person
Different sources of news e.g. TV, radio,
magazines, websites, newspapers
News which is designed to trick you into believing
it, even though it isn’t true
Information about current events

13. So, how do we spot fake news?
Watch the clip carefully,
then, choose a set of
challenges to answer on
your sheet.
Video link

14. 1. Does eating one kilo of chocolate every day really improve
your memory? 2. Do you think Jasmine knew that the news
about chocolate was fake when she shared it? 3. Name ONE
thing you should do before you share a news article.
1. Why do you think Jasmine shared the news article about
chocolate? 2. What could happen as a result of spreading
fake news? 3. Name TWO things you should do to check
whether a news article is real.
1. Why do you think that someone would write a fake article
about one kilo of chocolate boosting the memory? 2. What
consequences could there be if fake news is shared widely?
Think of the different kinds of damage which could be done.
3. Are there any circumstances where fake news isn’t harmful?
4. Explain in a paragraph how to spot fake news.
Video link

15. Name 3 tips for spotting a
misleading or fake news story.
Describe what you should do if
you see a story on social media
that doesn’t seem real.
Explain why it is important to
check online information before
sharing it with others.

16. Sometimes it can be really tricky to
spot fake news and misinformation.
In our next activity, we’ll be using our fact
checking skills to analyse a set of fake
news stories.
Your teacher will give you a set of case
files to discuss with a partner. Each case
file is based on a real fake news story
that has gone viral. We’ll take a look at
the real stories when we discuss our
answers.
Teacher note: we cannot share the original stories due to
copyright reasons. However, links are provided to the sources.

17. Look at your case files carefully with a partner,
then try to answer the questions below:
Can you spot any clues or tell-tale
signs that the stories could be fake?
What strategies could we use to
check whether the story is true?
Can you think of any reasons why fake
stories like this are created? In what
ways are stories like this harmful?
Explain why we should always check if
online information is correct before
sharing it with others.

18. Clues and strategies:
• Does the story sound believable?
• Are there any exaggerated facts and figures?
• Is the date/author name clearly visible?
• Where did the story come from?
Is it a reputable source?
• Are there any grammar errors or spelling
mistakes?
• Does the image match the story?
• Could the image have been taken in a different
location to the one mentioned in the story?
• Has the image been altered or modified?
• Is the story supported by another source?

19. Can you spot any clues or tell-tale
signs that the stories could be fake?
What strategies could we use to
check whether the story is true?
Can you think of any reasons why fake
stories like this are created? In what
ways are stories like this harmful?
Explain why we should always check if
online information is correct before
sharing it with others.
BBC article
• Image doesn’t match the story
(USA Army truck in Kent)
• Unreliable source – a friend of a contact

20. Can you spot any clues or tell-tale
signs that the stories could be fake?
What strategies could we use to
check whether the story is true?
Can you think of any reasons why fake
stories like this are created? In what
ways are stories like this harmful?
Explain why we should always check if
online information is correct before
sharing it with others.
Metro article
• Exaggerated numbers
• Doesn’t sound believable
• Modified image (lion added)
• Photo could be anywhere

21. Can you spot any clues or tell-tale
signs that the stories could be fake?
What strategies could we use to
check whether the story is true?
Can you think of any reasons why fake
stories like this are created? In what
ways are stories like this harmful?
Explain why we should always check if
online information is correct before
sharing it with others.
BBC video report
• Unreliable source – TiKTok/Facebook
• Doesn’t sound believable
• No date or author name

22. Can you spot any clues or tell-tale
signs that the stories could be fake?
What strategies could we use to
check whether the story is true?
Can you think of any reasons why fake
stories like this are created? In what
ways are stories like this harmful?
Explain why we should always check if
online information is correct before
sharing it with others.
National Geographic article
• Photo could have
been taken anywhere
• Source unknown

23. Can you spot any clues or tell-tale
signs that the stories could be fake?
What strategies could we use to
check whether the story is true?
Can you think of any reasons why fake
stories like this are created? In what
ways are stories like this harmful?
Explain why we should always check if
online information is correct before
sharing it with others.
Evening Standard article
• Poor grammar
• Doesn’t make sense
• Unknown source

24. We’ve learnt a lot about the news today!
Now it’s time for a final activity.
In your books, you need to
write 2 truths and a lie that
relate to what we have learnt
today.
Once you have written your
statements, test your partner.
Can they correctly spot the
lie?

25. Identify strategies that can help us to
recognise unreliable news stories and
information online.
Describe how text and images in the
media can be unreliable and untrue.
Explain why we should always check if
online information and news is correct
before sharing.