Summary
This C1-level ESL lesson plan PDF helps students understand fake news. This class material provides English students with the tools to identify and discuss disinformation campaigns, improving their media literacy and critical thinking skills.
This comprehensive lesson explores the complex topic of disinformation. Activities include analyzing suspicious social media posts, a vocabulary gap-fill about deception tactics, and a video comprehension exercise on the 'disinformation playbook'. Students will also analyze a case study, learn useful phrases for expressing doubt and asking for verification, and practice their skills in a final role-play activity, making this a highly engaging and practical lesson for advanced learners.
Activities
- Students start by discussing suspicious social media posts to activate their critical thinking skills. They then complete a gap-fill exercise to learn key terms related to digital deception, such as 'trolls', 'bots', and 'echo chambers'.
- The lesson includes a video exercise about disinformation tactics. Students watch a YouTube video and answer comprehension questions, focusing on concepts like 'active inoculation' and the role of confirmation bias in spreading false narratives.
- Learners practice hedging and reporting language to discuss unverified information carefully. The lesson culminates in a case study analysis and a collaborative role-play, where students apply their new vocabulary and critical thinking skills.
Vocabulary focus
The lesson introduces advanced vocabulary for discussing media literacy and deception. Key terms include: disinformation, misinformation, astroturfing, dog whistling, gaslighting, confirmation bias, echo chambers, trolls, bots, clickbait, and debunking. Students learn to differentiate between these nuanced concepts through matching and gap-fill exercises.
Grammar focus
The grammar section focuses on hedging and reporting language, essential for discussing potentially false information. Students practice using modal verbs (could be, might be), reporting verbs (allegedly, reportedly), and distancing phrases (it appears that, according to sources) to rewrite direct statements into more cautious and objective claims.
