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The Feed

Practice source verification and accuracy in a breaking news simulation.
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ELA / Media Literacy Grades 6-8 6 roles 55 min 1 class period
ELA / Media Literacy Grades 6-8 6 roles 55 min 1 class period
Millbrook - a fictional small town where students at the local middle school have fallen ill. What starts as a simple story about sick kids turns into a web connecting a chemical plant, contaminated water, town officials, and a community trying to figure out what's true. The scenario unfolds across four rounds as new information - and new misinformation - keeps arriving.

Six news networks race to cover a breaking story in a small town. New tips drop every round - some reliable, some misleading, some deliberately spun. Publish fast for reach, but get it wrong and your credibility pays the price.

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Class Time

55 minutes

Designed For

1 class period

Roles

6 roles

Class Sizes

Core (4 groups), Standard (5-6 groups)

Learning Objectives

5 objectives

Standards

7 standards aligned

Where This Fits in Your Curriculum

Put this at the front of a media literacy unit, or at the start of a research unit right before students begin evaluating sources for a paper. It works best as the shared experience the class argues about for the next two weeks. Students need to read a short informational passage and know what a source is. They do NOT need journalism vocabulary, prior media-literacy instruction, or any background on the news business - tips arrive with reliability built in and the scoring teaches the rest. It teaches incentive: publishing first pays double, publishing wrong costs credibility, and every team feels the pull toward the dramatic unverified claim before they feel the cost of it. The correction mechanic shows that a retraction never reaches everyone the error reached. ELA teachers get RI.6-8.8 with stakes. Social studies and library media teachers can run it unchanged.

What Students Will Learn

Social & Emotional Learning (CASEL)

Aligned to the CASEL framework's core competencies. These are the SEL skills students actively practice while playing.

Flexible Class Sizes

Core (4 groups)
Four networks covering local TV, print, online, and school journalism. Fragments from inactive networks are redistributed. Works for classes of 8-16.
Standard (5-6 groups)
All six networks including state-level and public media. Full information ecosystem with maximum trading opportunities.

How the Game Plays Out

Turn 1: Something's Wrong
First reports from Millbrook
"What do your first sources tell you - and what are they missing?"
Turn 2: The Connection
Water, chemicals, and unanswered questions
"How does new information change what you thought you knew?"
Turn 3: Who Knew?
The mayor, the investigation, and the viral post
"When a source has a motive, does that make the information less true?"
Turn 4: The Full Picture
Workers speak, the truth emerges
"Looking at everything you have now, what's the real story?"

Roles Your Students Will Play

6 roles across 6 factions. Each has different information, different goals, and different leverage. Click any role to see their background and what they are trying to accomplish.

Channel 5 News
channel 5
You are the local TV news team. Millbrook has watched Channel 5 for decades - you have built-in trust. Your strength is getting real people on camera: eyewitnesses, officials, everyday citizens willing to go on the record. Your weakness is that TV needs drama. The temptation to lead with the most shocking version of a story is always there.
  • Local TV station with deep community trust
  • Strongest with eyewitness and on-camera sources
  • Pressure to prioritize dramatic footage over nuance
Goals
  • Be the first to report the biggest stories
  • Maintain your credibility - Channel 5's reputation is your most valuable asset
  • End the game with the highest score
The Millbrook Herald
herald
You are the local newspaper - the paper of record for Millbrook. You are slower than TV and social media, but when the Herald publishes something, people believe it. Your strength is documents: public records, official filings, data. Your weakness is speed. By the time you verify everything, someone else may have broken the story.
  • Newspaper of record - highest credibility in town
  • Strongest with documents, records, and official filings
  • Slower to publish but more trusted when you do
Goals
  • Publish accurate, well-sourced stories
  • Use your document access to break stories others can't
  • End the game with the highest score
StateWatch News
statewatch
You are a state-level news outlet covering politics and government across the region. Millbrook is not your usual beat - you cover state agencies, legislators, and regulatory bodies. Your strength is government sources: officials, regulators, lawmakers. Your weakness is that you do not know Millbrook's local dynamics the way the hometown outlets do.
  • State-level outlet covering government and regulation
  • Strongest with government officials and regulatory sources
  • Less connected to local community than hometown outlets
Goals
  • Find the state-level angle that makes this story bigger than Millbrook
  • Use your government contacts to break what local outlets cannot
  • End the game with the highest score
The Daily Buzz
daily buzz
You are an online-first news site that lives on social media. You are fast - the fastest outlet in this room. You find stories by monitoring social media, Reddit, community Facebook groups, and viral posts. Your strength is speed and reach. Your weakness is verification. Social media tips come in hot but they are not always right.
  • Online-first outlet built on speed and social reach
  • Strongest with social media tips, viral content, leaked info
  • Speed is your advantage but also your biggest risk
Goals
  • Be first to break every story - speed is your brand
  • Build reach by publishing before anyone else
  • End the game with the highest score
WMLK Public Radio
wmlk
You are the local public radio station. Your listeners expect depth, context, and fairness. You do not chase breaking news - you explain it. Your strength is data, expert analysis, and community voices. Your weakness is that you are never first. By the time you have done the interviews and checked the data, the story is already on TV and social media.
  • Public radio station focused on depth and context
  • Strongest with data, expert analysis, and community voices
  • Never the fastest but often the most accurate
Goals
  • Publish the most accurate version of every story
  • Use data and expert sources to get stories right when others get them wrong
  • End the game with the highest score
The Millbrook Spotlight
spotlight
You are the Millbrook Middle School newspaper. This story is literally happening in your building. You have access no one else has - you walk these hallways, you know the custodians and teachers, you overhear things in the lunchroom. Your strength is insider access. Your weakness is that you are student journalists - adults may not take you seriously, and you have less experience evaluating sources.
  • School newspaper with unmatched insider access
  • Strongest with firsthand student accounts and school staff sources
  • Less experienced at evaluating complex or misleading information
Goals
  • Use your insider access to break stories the adult outlets miss
  • Prove that student journalists can get the story right
  • End the game with the highest score

Hand Each Student Their Own Sheet

One click on the teacher dashboard prints a dossier for every role - background, goals, key facts, and their confidential briefing - plus the primary-source packet and a vocabulary sheet. Print them, or save as PDF, so each student reads their role on paper instead of huddling around one screen. The app still runs the votes and the action; the paper just carries the reading.

Key Terms Students Will Learn

sourcecredibilitycorroborateeyewitnesson the recordanonymous sourceattributionclaimverifyretractionbiasframingbreaking newsprimary sourceeditorial judgmentPACcontaminationcompliance review

After the Game: Debrief Questions

  1. Think back to the feed in Round 1 and in the last round we played. How did the story change? Which early posts held up, and which did not?
  2. Which fragments were the most useful? Did any of them point you the wrong way? Which ones, and why?
  3. One claim said the parent whose post went viral 'was paid to spread false information about the school.' It was completely false. What would make a claim like that tempting to publish?
  4. The mayor approved Delford's permit despite knowing about safety violations. She also wasn't bribed - she was trying to protect 200 jobs. Is she a villain? Is she doing her job? Can both be true?
  5. The principal said: 'The truth took longer to find than the rumor took to spread.' What does that mean for how we consume news - not just as journalists, but as readers?

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