Year 8 Critical Thinking Unit | 45 minutes
Students learn to identify bias, fake news, and evaluate source credibility
Key Learning Goals:
Vocabulary:
Display these headlines about Matariki becoming a public holiday:
"Government announces Matariki public holiday to begin in 2022, marking significant recognition of Māori culture"
"BREAKING: Govt forces ANOTHER holiday on hardworking Kiwis while economy crashes!!! #EnoughIsEnough"
"Matariki public holiday: What you need to know about New Zealand's newest national day"
Quick Discussion Questions:
Student Task (Pairs):
factcheckexplorer.withgoogle.comSuggested Search Topics:
Discussion Starter:
"Traditional Māori knowledge was passed down through pūrākau (oral narratives) for centuries. How is this different from written records? Which is more reliable?"
Comparison Activity: Create class comparison chart
| Oral Tradition (Pūrākau) | Written Records |
|---|---|
Strengths:
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Strengths:
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Limitations:
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Limitations:
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Key Question: "How can we use both types of evidence to get a more complete picture of truth?"
Class Creation of "Reliability Indicators":
Students evaluate one news article using the reliability checklist
Assessment Criteria:
1. Which Matariki headline seemed most reliable? Why?
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2. What words or phrases showed bias in the unreliable sources?
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Topic searched: _________________________________
3. What claim were you fact-checking?
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4. What did the fact-checkers conclude?
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5. What evidence did they use?
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6. Do you trust this fact-check? Why or why not?
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7. Give an example of when oral tradition might be more reliable than written records:
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8. Give an example of when written records might be more reliable:
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Evaluate this news article using our reliability checklist:
[Teacher will provide a current news article to evaluate]
| Reliability Indicator | ✓ or ✗ | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Author credentials listed | ||
| Recent publication date | ||
| Neutral language used | ||
| Sources/evidence provided |
9. Overall reliability rating (1-10): _____ Explanation:
_________________________________________________
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10. Match the te reo Māori terms:
Lesson 3: Logical Fallacies - Students will learn to spot common errors in reasoning like ad hominem attacks and false causes, using examples from NZ political speeches and advertisements.
Students will engage with this resource to develop te whakaaro māramatanga — critical and analytical thinking skills — examining claims, evaluating evidence, identifying bias, and constructing reasoned arguments. This unit frames critical thinking through both Western analytical traditions and the kōrero-based reasoning of Te Ao Māori.
Scaffold support: Provide argument frames (claim → evidence → reasoning → counter-argument) for entry-level access. Use structured controversy activities where students argue assigned positions. Offer extension tasks requiring students to analyse a real media article or policy document using the lesson's critical framework.
ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach argumentative language structures ("I argue that…", "The evidence suggests…", "However, one might counter…"). Allow oral argument as a first step before written production. Sentence frames and argument maps lower the language barrier while maintaining cognitive demand.
Inclusion: Structured debate and discussion formats benefit all learners — particularly neurodiverse students who thrive with explicit rules and clear roles. Affirm that disagreement done respectfully is a high-value academic and civic skill. Allow quiet processing time before group discussion. Offer written alternatives for students who find oral argument challenging.
Mātauranga Māori lens: Te whakaaro māramatanga — enlightened thinking — reflects a long tradition of reasoned debate in Te Ao Māori. The whare (meeting house) is a place of kōrero, where multiple perspectives are heard before decisions are made. Tikanga requires that arguments be made with integrity and respect (mana). Māori oratory (whaikōrero) is a sophisticated critical tradition — whakataukī encode compressed wisdom that often challenges surface-level thinking.
Prior knowledge: Best used within a sequence building critical thinking skills progressively. No specialist knowledge required for entry-level engagement with structured tasks.