Friday Five - Truth or Fiction
Sorry that I didn’t post these Friday, I was at a meeting all day. Catching up today on Internet related activities.
After listening to VPR On the Media story today about the “Who is Barak Obama?”
and reading this article dissecting the false images of Sarah Palin’s high school grades posted online
I’m compiling today’s Friday Five around a theme both students and adults should spend some time on -- checking the credibility of information, especially ‘dispelling Internet rumors’
1. http://www.lite.iwarp.com/CoiroVT2008.html#reliability
Vermont Reads 2008 offered training on this topic during Julie Coiro’s workshop. Julie’s strategies include some excellent strategies and resources for teaching this very important literacy skill at:
One of the most popular sites for checking out urban legends is:
3. http://www.truthorfiction.com/
Another popular site for learning about rumors, inspirational stories, virus warnings, hoaxes, scams, humorous tales, pleas for help, urban legends, prayer requests, calls to action, and other forwarded emails.
- a nonpartisan, nonprofit "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. They monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. Their goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.
5. http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/internet/a/current_netlore.htm
And finally a section of About.com dedicated to educating the public about how to spot Internet hoaxes, email rumors and urban legends
