The News Literacy Project (NLP) is a nonpartisan national education nonprofit that works with educators and journalists to teach middle school and high school students how to sort fact from fiction in the digital age. NLP provides these students with the essential skills they need to become smart, active consumers of news and information and engaged, informed citizens.
There may be no more authentic way to teach and develop critical thinking skills than the consideration of online information. Whatever issues existed before, the attention to what is now described as fake news makes careful and self-directed analysis of information even more important.
The News Literacy Project is an effort to teach the skills important in carefully evaluating online content. Take some time to explore the site. Even the background information provided to establish the need for the development of critical thinking skills should be relevant to educators.