Critical Thinking in the age of Misinformation

When I was in elementary school, some of the best days were when we could go into the computer lab and play games (shout out to Carmen Sandiego & Oregon Trail!) or print out WordArt for projects. Now? The internet is where students are getting information – about everything from current events to slime recipes to conspiracy theories. It’s wild how different the digital world is today, and honestly, a little scary.

We all know that technology and the internet aren’t going anywhere. That’s why I keep coming back to this one idea:

The best way to fight fake news isn’t to ban it – it’s to teach kids how to question it. 

One thing I’ve noticed – especially with younger students – is that it’s not always easy for them to tell the difference between a fact and an opinion. And honestly? That’s not just a kid problem, a lot of adults struggle with it too.

Digital Literacy in the Middle Grades

As someone who hopes to teach the middle years (grades 4-8), I’ve been thinking a lot about how to bring digital literacy into the classroom in a way that feels natural and age-appropriate. I truly don’t think that digital literacy needs to be a separate unit. It can be woven into everyday classroom moments. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a student bring up something they saw online, and rather than simply dismiss it we could take the opportunity to spark up a class discussion. We can ask things like “Do you think that’s a fact or opinion?” or “How could we check if that’s true?” These quick moments help kids start developing critical thinking skills without even realizing it.

I’d also bring in tools like John Spencer’s 5 C’s of Critical Consuming to guide students in asking smart questions about the content they see: Who made it? Why? Can I trust it? I also think that with the 20second attention spans kids have these days (thanks, social media), we need to make sure that what we are teaching is engaging and fun. This is where the interactive quizzes we looked at this week (Can you spot the Fake News Headline? Spot the Troll, and Break the Fake)  would be great tools for introducing this concept to this age group and can also help with creating class discussions.

Connecting to the Curriculum

During my time as an Education student, I have had several opportunities to look through the Saskatchewan curriculum. There are so many opportunities to integrate digital literacy across all grades and subjects, but for the sake of time, I’ll just stick to a couple of examples.

In the Grade 4 Health curriculum, there is a specific outcome (USC4.4) where students are expected to explore cyber safety, etiquette, and how to manage safety risks online. This is a direct connection to teaching digital literacy in action and the perfect opportunity to build those essential skills early. With a quick Google search, I found these lesson plans from LearningforJustice.org that

Meanwhile, in the Grade 8 Social Studies Curriculum, outcome CR8.7 asks students to read informational texts and explain the main ideas, make connections, and recognize bias or faulty reasoning.  These critical reading skills can easily be transferred to digital literacy and spotting fake news as they are doing the same thing we ask them to do when evaluating online content. Whether they’re reading a news article, a blog post, or even a viral social media post, those same strategies apply: What’s the message? What evidence supports it? What’s missing? Teaching digital literacy through activities like analyzing fake news (here’s a great lesson plan I found), exploring bias in the media, or comparing multiple not only builds better digital citizens – it also directly supports ELA goals. Think of it as helping students become more thoughtful, independent readers across all platforms.

Final Thoughts

We don’t need to scare students away from the internet – we need to teach them to slow down, ask questions, and trust their thinking. Whether they’re in Grade 1 or Grade 7, kids are more capable than we often give them credit for. And, as educators, we have the opportunity to have real conversations, ask meaningful questions, and create a safe space where students feel confident asking, “How do I know if this is true?” And ultimately, shaping thoughtful, critical consumers of information might just be one of the most important things we do as teacher today.