Dear High School Families,

 

Last Wednesday our students came together for an assembly about the emerging situation in Iran, and how to read and interpret the news, adeptly led by our History teachers and Library/Information Specialists. Tom Murphy provided a policy brief and video that contextualized the current issue, Karyn Silverman provided a framework for news analysis, and then Ann Carroll, Michel de Konkoly Thege, Karyn and Tom fielded questions from students.

 

 

Your students were incredibly attentive and curious, and asked questions that revealed their efforts to grapple with the meaning of these events. 

 

An acronym that we recommend to students when assessing news sources is SIFT, which stands for Stop, Investivate, Find other sources (read laterally), Trace claims.

 

SIFT works both for academic purposes and for news/current events/politics, which is where most people are in more danger of coming across bad information. This is the framework many research librarians in the college and university world are using, and we are doing likewise -- it's a better framework for both the mission-driven goal of teaching our students to be "active citizens in their school, city and global communities" and it's also better for college preparedness.

 

 

Below is a link to further information about the SIFT framework:

 

We encourage you to continue these conversations at home in the coming days and weeks. Ask your students what they are hearing about current issues, where they are sourcing their information, and what questions they have. And take the time to use this framework to assess your own news feeds as well!