Lateral Reading vs. Vertical Reading

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When trying to determine who is behind online information, students may be inclined to read verticallyto make judgments based on features internal to a website like its URL, design, functionality, or content. However, these features are not effective ways to evaluate a site and need to be explicitly challenged. This lesson asks students to evaluate a website and a post on social media by engaging in both vertical and lateral reading to see how they compare.  

This lesson is designed to be taught after the Intro to Lateral Reading lesson.

Civic Online Reasoning in Action

See an example of our Civic Online Reasoning curriculum in action in the classroom.

Sort Fact from Fiction Online with Lateral Reading

Lateral reading is a powerful strategy that fact checkers use to evaluate information online.

Crash Course Video #3: Check Yourself with Lateral Reading

In this video, host John Green teaches you how to read laterally, opening new tabs in your browser to fact check as you read.

Teaching Lateral Reading

Lateral Reading with News Stories