The Debunking Handbook
Ebooks
Grades6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12English Language Arts
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Provided by Climate Central
What it is
- This handbook explains how to credibly debunk misinformation, while also explaining how and why misinformation is circulated.
- Students will learn about the damage misinformation can do, where misinformation comes from, how misinformation sticks, how to strategically debunk misinformation, the backfire effect, and specific strategies for debunking.
Teaching tips
Positives
- This resource is a thorough guide to debunking misinformation.
- The structure of the resource is helpful and includes charts and word banks that will help explain new concepts to students.
Prerequisites
- Students would benefit from background knowledge of misinformation, persuasive techniques, and rhetoric.
Differentiation & Implementation
- This resource would work well in any class that is discussing how to speak with people about things that aren't completely true. This can include health classes talking about making healthy choices, social studies classes talking about political discussions, language arts classes working on debate, or science classes discussing climate change.
- After working through the resource, give out examples of fake news, misinformation, and disinformation and allow students to practice debunking. You may need to model this initially. Then, have students find their own examples and write out or record their debunking responses.
- As an extension, for students who are advanced and mature enough, encourage them to use this guide to have debunking conversations in the real world and report back to the class.
From the scientist review
This is a guide to managing misinformation, disinformation, and climate myths. It would help to verify climate information from credible sources. This resource is recommended for teaching.
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