Fake News has been around for a long time. Track its history from 63 B.C. through present day in this infographic. Where do you see Fake News today? How does it impact your life? Does it impact the type of media you consume, or where you consume it?
Give Back to a Spartan This Season!
Angel Tree Update: All of our OMS students have been sponsored! Way to go Spartan Nation! Now let's expand that generosity to our students at OHS. There are still around ten students whose holiday season can be made bright with a sponsorship from an Olympia community member. Share this message, and let's get those ornaments on the tree! 🎄💙
https://www.olympia.org/page/nhs-angel-tree
Filter Bubble Trouble
When we get news from our social media feeds, it often only tells us part of the story. Our friends -- and the website's algorithms -- tend to feed us perspectives we already agree with. Show students ways to escape the filter bubble and make sure their ideas about the world are being challenged.
https://youtu.be/mh1dLvGe06Y - BBC
Tip #2: Play "Spot The Ad"
When you see advertising on TV or on a billboard, ask your children to figure out what the ad is selling. Sometimes it's obvious, and sometimes it's not. Help them explore why certain pictures, sounds, or words are used to sell certain products.
8th grade OMS students had the opportunity to create their own businesses and pitch them to a group of Olympia Sharks. They had a chance to create their own business plan and seek out investments from the Sharks! #SpartanEntrepreneurs #SharkTank
NFHS is having technical difficulties with the streaming of tonight’s games due to an issue with Amazon web services.
Well-crafted headlines benefit everyone. They help readers digest information and publishers sell news stories. But what if the headline is misleading? What if it's crafted just to get clicks and not to inform? "Clickbait" headlines may benefit advertisers and publishers (think $$$), but they don't benefit readers. And when they go viral, they can badly misinform the public.
This week, look for clickbait headlines in the media that you consume and discuss them with your family. How many can you find before Sunday rolls around!?
bit.ly/OlyNMV2
All media comes with an author and an agenda. Help kids think critically about any media they view with critical questions that dig below the surface. And to really empower kids, have them create their own media with these same questions in mind.
Weekly Schedule of Activities
Tip #1: Encourage Healthy Skepticism
Help your children analyze the info around them, from toy packaging to Instagram posts to news headlines, and question the purpose of the words and images they see. Teach kids how to use fact-checking tools like Snopes and FactCheck.org.
With so much media and information coming at us through the television, phones, social media, and more, it's more important than ever for kids to understand the basics of media literacy. When kids can identify different types of news and media and the methods and meanings behind them, they're on their way to being critical thinkers and smart consumers.
Throughout the month, we will be sharing a set of five tips to help your children become critical thinkers of news and media. Here is a short video to get those conversations started!
bit.ly/OlyNMV5
You still have time to order from the Olympia Store and still get your items delivered before Christmas. Dec. 2nd is the deadline.
https://sideline.bsnsports.com/schools/illinois/stanford/olympia-high-school
Weekly Schedule
Help! My Kid Wants to Use Social Media! Get your child -- and yourself -- ready for the next step with these conversation starters. https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/help-my-kid-wants-to-use-social-media
Oly 6th graders completed a STEM project where they researched and created a food truck business. In Math, students created their food truck's menu, researched costs associated with their food options, and budgeted the endeavor from the ground up. In ELA, students chose creative tasks which helped to promote their food truck business. In Science, students designed their food truck-inside and out- from an engineering perspective. In SS, students used census data to determine the best market for their food truck operation. Awesome work, Spartans!
Weekly Schedule
Social media offers a chance to choose how we present ourselves to the world. We can snap and share a pic in the moment or carefully stage photos and select only the ones we think are best. Listen as students reflect on how this impacts their lives. http://bit.ly/Oly2DFV4
Video: bit.ly/Oly2DFV3
Lots of students are exploring and developing their own identities, and they often do this online and on social media. Some kids use multiple accounts, each for a different audience, but with this, what’s real and what’s unrealistic can often get blurred. In this video, your kids can hear other teens talk about the ins and outs of presenting themselves to others online, and consider what it means to “be yourself” in digital spaces.
The Olympia Spartan Gear store is now open 365 days a year. Use code spirit21 to get 25% for the first four weeks.
Today's Activities
