WRC

CT_5_SpottingFakeNewsIF.pdf

Riverside City College Name ___________________________________ Writing and Reading Center Direct Learning Activity CT.5 Date ___________________________________

Spotting Fake News I: Studying a Home Page

Purpose: Upon completion of this activity, students will be able to determine which stories are legitimate stories and which are advertisements on a web site home page.

This DLA should take approximately 30 minutes to complete.

The topic of fake news became front page news in the 2016 election, and now it seems harder

than ever to determine which stories we should believe and which we shouldn’t. A recent study

from Stanford University—found at https://ed.stanford.edu/news/stanford-researchers-find-

students-have-trouble-judging-credibility-information-online--stated that most students are

vulnerable to believing fake news stories. With mounting evidence that fake news has real

consequences, it is more important than ever for people to be able to spot fake new

The following are screenshots taken from CNN.com. Review them and respond.

This IS / IS NOT (CIRCLE ONE) a

legitimate story because

__________________________

EQ: What should I look for when

assessing the credibility of a

homepage and its usefulness for

my scholarly research?

Riverside City College Name ___________________________________ Writing and Reading Center Direct Learning Activity CT.5 Date ___________________________________

This IS / IS NOT (CIRCLE ONE) a

legitimate story because

__________________________

This IS / IS NOT (CIRCLE ONE) a

legitimate story because

__________________________

Now, take a look at Yahoo.com home page. Can you spot the reliable stories?

Riverside City College Name ___________________________________ Writing and Reading Center Direct Learning Activity CT.5 Date ___________________________________

What do you see here? Which article(s) are likely to be reliable and how do you know? Which one(s)

aren’t? How do you know? What could you do to find out? Write a paragraph or two discussing the

answers to these questions.

Write below any additional questions you may have about spotting legitimate articles on a web site’s

home page.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Finally, take this activity plus the two paragraphs you wrote to an instructor or a tutor for review. Be

sure to ask any additional questions you may have, and be sure you can answer the EQ (essential

question). Then, have that person sign and date below.

Signature:______________________________ Date: _______________________

Name:
Date:
legitimate story because 1:
legitimate story because 2:
legitimate story because 3:
legitimate story because 4:
legitimate story because 5:
legitimate story because 6:
legitimate story because 7:
legitimate story because 8:
Name_2:
Date_2:
legitimate story because 1_2:
legitimate story because 2_2:
legitimate story because 3_2:
legitimate story because 4_2:
legitimate story because 5_2:
legitimate story because 6_2:
legitimate story because 7_2:
legitimate story because 8_2:
legitimate story because 1_3:
legitimate story because 2_3:
legitimate story because 3_3:
legitimate story because 4_3:
legitimate story because 5_3:
legitimate story because 6_3:
legitimate story because 7_3:
legitimate story because 8_3:
Name_3:
Date_3:
home page 1:
home page 2:
Date_4: