Check before you share
Media Literacy Guide
Media Literacy Guide

Media Literacy Lesson Plans for Secondary School: Ready-to-Use Activities

Ready-to-use media literacy lesson plans for secondary school classrooms, with lateral reading, deepfake detection, and S.U.R.E. framework activities.

By , Editorial desk

Your Student Just Shared A Deepfake. What Do You Do Next?

A student holds up a phone five minutes into Period 4. On it, a Singapore minister says something that was never said. The class is watching. You have the internet, a whiteboard, and 45 minutes. Here are the ready-to-run lesson plans that turn that moment into a teachable skill. These media literacy lesson plans secondary school Singapore teachers can open and deliver with no special materials beyond internet access. Each one names the learning objective, duration, materials, step-by-step instructions and discussion questions. They reference the National Library Board's S.U.R.E. framework and the IMDA online safety code expectations. Run them tomorrow.

Lesson 1: Lateral Reading Exercise Using Real Singapore Fact-Checks

Learning objective: Students will verify a claim by leaving the original page and checking the source, the author and the evidence using lateral reading. They will use real Singapore fact-checking examples from Factually, Black Dot Research, CheckMate (Straits Times) and Sure Anot (CNA).

Duration: 40 minutes.

Materials: Internet-connected device per pair; a pre-selected viral claim (choose one from any of the four fact-checkers' recent publications).

Run The Lateral Reading Drill

Step-by-step:

  • Show the claim on the board. Do not say whether it is true or false.
  • Ask students to open a new tab and search for the source of the claim. Who created it? What is their usual output? Do they have a history of accuracy?
  • Open a second tab and search the claim's central fact. Has any Singapore fact-checker published a verdict? Search the fact-checker's site directly, not via a general search.
  • Open a third tab and check the date and context. Was the image or video originally from a different event, year or location?
  • Each pair writes a one-paragraph verdict: is the claim true, false, misleading or unverifiable, and what evidence supports that conclusion?

Debrief The Findings

Discussion questions: What did you find when you searched the source? Was the fact-check verdict from Factually, Black Dot Research, CheckMate or Sure Anot? Did the claim use a forwarded-as-received message format? How did lateral reading change your initial reaction?

Failure mode to address: Students may settle on a single source that confirms the claim and stop. Emphasise that lateral reading requires at least three independent checks, not one.

Classroom Activities Fake News Detection Singapore: The Forwarded Message Drill

Learning objective: Students will apply the S.U.R.E. framework (Source, Understand, Research, Evaluate) to a forwarded-as-received message and decide whether to share, ignore or report it.

Duration: 30 minutes.

Materials: A real forwarded message (use one from ScamShield advisories or a fact-check site). Print or display it with the 'forwarded as received' label visible.

Walk Through The Four Checks

Step-by-step:

  • Source: Who originally wrote this? The label says forwarded, so the person who sent it is not the source. Can you trace it to an organisation, a news article, or an anonymous chain?
  • Understand: What is the message asking you to do? Share it? Call a number? Send money? The action itself is a clue.
  • Research: Open a new tab. Search a key phrase from the message. Does Factually or the Singapore Police Force Anti-Scam Command have an advisory? Does the claim appear on Black Dot Research or Sure Anot?
  • Evaluate: Based on the research, is this true, false, or unverifiable? Should you share it? Should you report it to the SPF scam reporting website or to ScamShield?

Discuss The Mechanics Of Manipulation

Discussion questions: What specific words in the message triggered an emotional response? Did the message use urgency or a threat? What is the difference between misinformation (shared without intent to deceive) and disinformation (deliberately created to harm)? How does algorithmic curation on WhatsApp and Telegram make forwarded messages harder to trace?

S.U.R.E. Framework Lesson Plan Secondary: Deepfake Detection Classroom Discussion

Learning objective: Students will identify potential synthetic media using the C2PA content credentials framework as a verification tool, and understand why no single AI detection method is reliable.

Duration: 35 minutes.

Materials: A publicly known manipulated or cheapfake example (search 'deepfake Singapore' on Sure Anot or CNA for a local case). A device per group.

Inspect The Media

Step-by-step:

  • Show the clip without context. Ask: Is this real? Why or why not?
  • Introduce C2PA content credentials: a technical standard that attaches a tamper-evident provenance record to digital media. Explain that not all media carries credentials, but when present, they show the device, software and edits.
  • Ask students to check: Does the image or video have visible metadata? (Most social media platforms strip EXIF data on upload.) Is there a watermark or credential badge? If not, what alternative checks exist?
  • Run a reverse image search on a still frame. Has this image appeared before in a different context? A cheapfake often reuses old media with a new caption.
  • Discuss the limits: Generative AI tools such as Midjourney and Sora now produce photorealistic output. No AI detection tool has 100% accuracy. The false positive rate is high enough to flag human work as AI-generated, especially for non-native English writers.

Separate Deepfakes From Cheapfakes

Discussion questions: What is the difference between a deepfake (AI-generated synthetic media) and a cheapfake (cropped, slowed, or re-contextualised real media)? If no tool can reliably detect AI creations, what habits should you rely on instead? How does the Elections (Integrity of Online Advertising) Act 2024 apply to fabricated clips of candidates? What should you do if you cannot verify a piece of media?

Lateral Reading Exercise For Students: Algorithmic Curation Demonstration

Learning objective: Students will experience how algorithmic curation creates an echo chamber and reinforces confirmation bias, and will practise lateral reading to break out of it.

Duration: 25 minutes.

Materials: Two devices logged into different social media accounts (one new, one with a long history). If only one device is available, use a private browser window and a logged-in window for comparison.

Compare The Feeds

Step-by-step:

  • On the logged-in account, search a controversial topic (e.g., 'vaccine safety Singapore'). Note the top five results and the suggested material.
  • On the private or new account, search the same term. Note the top five results.
  • Compare the two sets of results. The logged-in account's results reflect the platform's algorithmic curation based on past engagement. The private window shows a less personalised feed.
  • Discuss: Did the logged-in results reinforce what you already believe? Did the private window show a wider range of sources? How does the platform's advertising-based business model (selling user attention) drive this curation?

Unpack The Echo Chamber

Discussion questions: What is an echo chamber? How does confirmation bias make you more likely to trust material that matches your existing views? What specific steps can you take to see posts outside your usual feed? How does your digital footprint (posts, watch history, location data) shape what you see?

Secondary School Digital Literacy Curriculum Singapore: Putting It All Together

These four activities cover the core skills in the secondary school digital literacy curriculum Singapore teachers need to address: lateral reading, the S.U.R.E. framework, synthetic media awareness, and algorithmic awareness. They align with the IMDA online safety code expectations for designated social media services (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube, HardwareZone) and the National Library Board's S.U.R.E. programme resources.

The IMDA Digital Literacy Framework (published 2019) identifies three pillars: Digital Participation, Digital Literacy and Digital Inclusion. These lesson plans target Digital Literacy directly. The Media Literacy Council's Better Internet Campaign and the Digital for Life movement (launched 2021, administered by IMDA) provide additional public education context, but these activities are designed to be independent of any campaign materials.

What goes wrong most often: Teachers skip the lateral reading step because it feels slow. The verification bypass failure mode, sharing a claim with a comment like 'is this true?' without waiting for an answer, is the single most common mistake. These lesson plans build in the time for lateral reading because that time is the skill. A student who can open three tabs and check the source, the evidence and the context before sharing has the habit that matters. The technology will change; that habit will not.

Common Questions

How long does each lesson take?

The lateral reading exercise runs 40 minutes, the forwarded message drill 30 minutes, the deepfake discussion 35 minutes, and the algorithmic curation demonstration 25 minutes. You can combine the forwarded message drill and the deepfake discussion into a single 65-minute period if you drop one discussion question from each.

What if I don't have devices for every student?

Run the activities in pairs. One device per pair is sufficient. For the algorithmic curation demonstration, one teacher device projected on the board works if students observe and discuss. The lateral reading exercise and the S.U.R.E. framework drill both work with a single device and a think-pair-share structure.

Which Singapore fact-checkers should I use for the lateral reading exercise?

Use Factually (government fact-checking portal), Black Dot Research (independent fact-checking organisation), CheckMate (Straits Times fact-checking column), and Sure Anot (CNA's fact-checking segment). All four publish local verifications. AFP Fact Check also covers Singapore but is not headquartered here. Pre-select a recent claim from one of these four so students do not waste time finding a suitable example.

How do these lessons address the IMDA online safety code?

The IMDA code requires designated social media services to provide accessible user reporting mechanisms for harmful material and to publish annual accountability reports. The forwarded message drill and the deepfake discussion both include steps on reporting material to platforms and to the Singapore Police Force. The distinction between platform reporting and police reporting is explicitly covered in the discussion questions.

What if a student asks about POFMA during the deepfake lesson?

Explain that POFMA (Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019) is a legal mechanism that can compel correction or removal of false statements of fact communicated in Singapore. It is not the same as fact-checking. A POFMA Correction Direction is a legal order; a fact-check article is a journalistic verdict. The Act commenced on 2 October 2019 and is administered by the POFMA Office under the Ministry of Digital Development and Information. Appeals go to the High Court. Keep the explanation to one minute and return to the deepfake exercise.