📚 Unit Plans → 🌍 Unit Plan: Digital Kaitiakitanga - Te Kete Ako → 📄 Handout: Misinformation Analysis
Years 9–10 Hangarau / Technology

Misinformation Analysis

A checklist for deconstructing fake news and protecting your Taha Hinengaro.

Part 1: Emotional Gut Check

Strong Emotional Language Does the headline or text use words designed to make you feel angry, scared, or overly excited? (e.g., "outrageous," "shocking," "miracle cure").

Part 2: Source Check

Anonymous or Fake Expert Does it quote a "scientist" or "doctor" without giving their full name and workplace? Is the source of the information vague? (e.g., "sources say," "a study has shown").
Unfamiliar Source Is the website or account well-known and trusted, or is it something you've never heard of before? (e.g., "yourdailyfacts.co" vs. a major news outlet).

Part 3: Content Check

"Us vs. Them" Language Does it try to blame a specific group of people for a problem? Does it create a sense of division or conflict?
Looks Unprofessional Are there lots of spelling mistakes, bad grammar, or excessive use of capital letters and exclamation marks?
No Links or Evidence Does it make big claims without linking to any proof or original sources?

📋 Teacher Planning Snapshot

Ngā Whāinga Ako — Learning Intentions

Students will engage with this resource to explore digital kaitiakitanga — applying tikanga Māori principles of guardianship, manaakitanga, and whanaungatanga to their digital lives, spaces, and technologies.

Ngā Paearu Angitū — Success Criteria

Differentiation & Inclusion

Scaffold support: Provide sentence starters and visual frameworks to scaffold access at the entry level. Offer extension tasks that deepen ethical analysis — for example, comparing digital tikanga principles to international AI ethics frameworks.

ELL / ESOL: Pre-teach key kupu (kaitiakitanga, manaakitanga, whanaungatanga, tikanga) with bilingual glossaries. Allow students to express ideas in their home language first before translating to English.

Inclusion: Chunk tasks and provide clear visual instructions. Neurodiverse learners benefit from structured choice in how they demonstrate understanding (e.g., verbal, written, or visual). Affirm diverse digital experiences as valid starting points.

Mātauranga Māori lens: Digital kaitiakitanga frames technology through Te Ao Māori — our digital spaces are extensions of our marae, our data is part of our whakapapa, and our online behaviour reflects our mana. Tikanga Māori provides a powerful ethical compass for navigating the digital world.

Prior knowledge: No specialist digital technology knowledge required for entry-level engagement. Best used after introductory lessons on tikanga Māori or as part of a digital technologies unit.

Curriculum alignment