Back to school with the News Literacy Project

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With the start of the school year, are you ready to dive into news literacy education? Becoming news-literate helps students learn to better navigate our complex information landscape and avoid spiraling down misinformation rabbit holes. It’s also essential to being civically engaged.

The events of the last 18 months have made it clear just how urgently students need news literacy skills. If you want to help your students discern facts from falsehoods, start with the News Literacy Project (NLP). We’re the leading provider of impactful, relevant and FREE resources and programs for teaching news literacy.

Begin by registering for NLP’s e-learning platform, the Checkology® virtual classroom, where your students will learn to identify credible information, seek out reliable sources, recognize misinformation and help stop its spread. The lessons also help them understand the role of the free press and the First Amendment in our democracy, and they are aligned to the C3 Framework, Common Core State Standards-ELA and to the ISTE standards. Checkology lessons also enhance students’ comprehension across disciplines. And be sure to join NLP’s NewsLit Nation, a national network to engage and mobilize more than 40,000 educators in all 50 states.

Events for the new school year

NLP supports your work throughout the school year, beginning with a variety of events and offerings. Choose the one that works best for you.

• Register for the webinar Getting Started with Checkology. Select from one of three dates: Aug. 19, Aug. 30 or Sept. 15.
• Take part in our Twitter chat on blended learning Aug. 26, from 4 to 5 p.m. ET at #NLPchat.
• Don’t miss our free virtual NewsLitCamp®, a unique professional learning event presented with our news partner, The 19th*, on Aug. 27.
• Teach your students about the dangers of conspiracy theories with the Sept. 2 EdWeb webinar Avoiding the rabbit hole: Teaching concepts in conspiratorial thinking.
• Go deeper with our fall news literacy webinar series, which covers foundational concepts and curriculum integration. The series begins Friday, Sept. 3, at 4 p.m. CT
• Challenge your students to compete in an “InfoZones” lesson contest. Ask your students for examples of information about topics that interest them and we’ll feature the winning content in a new “InfoZones” exercise. The contest closes Oct. 15.

Online resources always available

• Explore the FREE classroom-ready material on our website, including the new infographics, How to teach news literacy in polarizing times and Eight tips to Google like a pro.
• Check out our “News Literacy Foundations” collection on Flipgrid.
• Watch these videos to see how other educators found creative ways to teach news literacy during the challenging 2020-21 school and benefit from their lessons learned.

Throughout the pandemic, when thousands of schools had to rely on distance learning, demand for Checkology surged. Aaron Feldstein, a middle school social studies teacher in California, is one of many educators who told NLP how much they valued our work. “If I were in charge, Checkology would be part of a national mandated curriculum for sure,” Feldstein said.

Whatever this school year brings, you can be sure NLP will be there to continue supporting educators and students avoid misinformation and become more news-literate.