"Now I'm Thinking . . ."

At the Mountain Valley Middle School "late-arrival" session this morning, I took part in a simple, yet very effective, activity called "Now I'm Thinking." Donna Morse and Don Fuller facilitated the activity using the mysteries of Area 51 as the content and further embellished it with a slideshow of heavenly bodies and a musical interlude of the Star Wars Theme. This was all part of the ongoing literacy initiative at this school.

The activity included a series of reflections with additional information to read being distributed between reflections. So it was like this:

I'm thinking . . .
(more information)
Now I'm thinking . . .
(more information)
Now I'm thinking . . .
(and so on)

The whole point, of course, was to take a look at information sources and work on evaluating information. When you think of it, what is more important than developing a set of skills for all of us to make sense of the information that bombards us every day from every direction?

Can the information be trusted?
Who wrote it?
What gives them authority?
How do we determine the truth when there is conflicting information?

What do you use in your school to help students question the information that is so readily available?

Evaluating Information Resources
Questioning Resources
Critical Thinking Resources
Who Is It?
Alexa
Way Back Machine
Logical Fallacy Resources
Propaganda and Advertising Resources