This downloadable PDF lesson for advanced ESL students helps them understand and combat online disinformation. This C1-level English class material uses videos, case studies, and role-plays to build critical thinking and digital literacy skills.
This lesson plan equips C1 students to critically analyze online information. Activities include identifying warning signs in social media posts, a vocabulary gap-fill on disinformation tactics, and comprehension questions for a video about fake news campaigns. Students will also analyze a case study, create a fact-checking guide, and participate in a role-play workshop, fostering discussion and collaborative problem-solving.
Activities
- Students begin by analyzing suspicious social media posts and then learn key terms like "trolls," "bots," and "echo chambers" through a vocabulary gap-fill exercise, setting the stage for deeper analysis of digital media.
- A video listening exercise explores the tactics of disinformation campaigns. This is followed by a grammar focus on hedging language, teaching students how to discuss unverified claims carefully using phrases like "it appears that."
- The lesson culminates in practical output tasks. Students analyze a case study, create a community fact-checking guide in pairs, and participate in a group role-play simulating a workshop on fighting disinformation.
Vocabulary focus
The lesson introduces advanced vocabulary essential for discussing digital literacy. Key terms include disinformation, misinformation, astroturfing, dog whistling, gaslighting, sock puppets, echo chambers, clickbait, trolls, bots, and confirmation bias.
Grammar focus
The grammar section focuses on hedging and reporting language. Students learn to use modal verbs (might be, could contain), reporting verbs (allegedly, reportedly), and distancing phrases (according to, sources suggest) to discuss potentially false information.
