Social Studies HS Guide

shaped by their time period. Identify instances where context has been altered to mislead audiences.

manipulated to misrepresent an event. A student studying Cold War speeches would compare them to how politicians frame information in present day international conflicts.

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Was this content taken out of context or altered in any way?

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The author might have been influenced by _____ (historical context) . . . This document might not give me the whole picture because . . . The original context of the information is verifiable/not verifiable because… The author agrees/disagrees with… These documents all agree/disagree about… Another document to consider might be . . . The following evidence proves/disproves this claim….

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A student comparing different accounts of the Boston Massacre would apply similar skills to verifying whether multiple news

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What do other documents say? Do the documents agree? What additional sources confirm or refute this claim?

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Cross-check multiple sources to verify reliability. Recognize disparities between different accounts of the same event. Evaluate the strength of evidence used to support a claim.

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outlets report a breaking story consistently.

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Corroboration/ Evidence

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A student examining JFK assassination conspiracy theories would analyze different perspectives, just as they would evaluate modern political fact checking sites. A student analyzing propaganda in WWII posters would also assess whether a modern news article uses emotionally charged language to

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Is there evidence that proves or disproves this claim?

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What claims does the author make? What evidence does the author use? How does the author’s language indicate their perspective?

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I think the author chose these words in order to…. The author is trying to convince me . . . The author claims . . .

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Identify persuasive techniques and loaded language.

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Close Reading/ Reasoning

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Recognize logical fallacies and misinformation strategies.

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News Literacy Project. (n.d.). RumorGuard . News Literacy Project. Retrieved April 28, 2025, from https://rumorguard.org © 2025 Jodi Ide, Teacher Specialist, Canyons School District. All rights reserved. Sharing or reproduction permitted with author’s permission.