The Source

The claim that goes viral is not the same as the claim that holds up.

The Source makes your eighth graders investigators tracing a viral claim back to where it actually came from. Over ten days a compelling story pulls them in, and following the links collides with what the records really say. The students who chase the sourcing, not the share count, find the truth. It is source evaluation lived from the inside.

See what your students get, and why it lands.

No mockups. Every page below is real, pulled straight from the files you download. Tap any one to see it full size.

A worksheet was never going to teach this.

Your eighth graders are not matching sources to a citation format. They are tracing a viral claim, and two documents describe the same town in ways that cannot both be true. One is vivid and shareable; the other is dry and better sourced. The investigators who follow the evidence back to its origin, instead of trusting the version that spread, get it right. That is source evaluation with a real claim on the line.

Tap to read the two documents

They are graded on their reasoning, not on the verdict.

Here is what surprises teachers. A student who reached the right verdict is not graded higher than one who did not. The answer is not the point. Students are assessed on the quality of their reasoning, traced through their own daily journal. A careful investigation that landed wrong scores higher than a lucky guess. That is how an eighth grader learns that how you reason matters more than whether you guessed right.

Tap to read the grading note

Let the workbook rank the sources.

The Source comes with a workbook that lays out each source and ranks it on reliability, origin, and corroboration. The student logs what they find, and the picture builds across the ten days. Their attention stays on the hard part, which sources actually hold up, instead of on keeping the trail straight.

Tap to see the reliability ranking

Every day is already scripted. You just run the room.

You do not need a media-literacy or research background to teach this. The guide scripts every day, names what students will likely say, and gives you exactly how to respond. The viral post, the links, the historian, and the final essay are all written for you. You bring the facilitation. The simulation brings everything else.

Tap to read the teacher guide

The lesson plan is already written.

Every simulation comes with a fully editable, admin-ready lesson plan. Standards alignment, daily pacing, learning objectives, differentiation, and an assessment plan are already done, so you can hand it to an administrator or adapt it to your district template in minutes.

Tap to preview the lesson plan

Everything you need to run it.