Lesson 09 — Our True-Info Care Card
Learners bring the media skills and the stewardship skills together by making a "true-info care card": one true fact about saving water, energy, or litter, with where they learned it, a check that it is true information (not selling), and an audience to share it with. Making the message teaches the message, and sharing it makes care real.
Objectives
- D10.S2.02.01 Tell where a piece of information came from, such as a book, a grown-up, or a screen, and ask one question about it.
- D10.S2.02.02 Tell whether a simple message is trying to give you true information or to sell you something.
Essential question
How do I make a message that tells a true fact about caring for the Earth — with its source, and without selling?
Materials
Standard materials
- Care card template · per learner A card with space for one true fact, "where I learned this," a check for "true information, not selling," and "who is it for"
- Crayons and pencils · per learner For writing and decorating the care card
Low-tech / no-cost
- Paper and a pencil Fold any paper into a card and write one true fact about saving water, energy, or litter, with its source; no printed template needed
- Voice and body Say the care fact aloud and act it out (turning off a tap, carrying litter to the bin) so it can be shared without writing
Enriched / lab & device
- A device to show a made care card to the class or family · 1 per group Optional — photograph or show the care card so it can be shared as a real message with an audience
- A class "care card" display board or binder · 1 To gather every learner's care card into one class message of care
Works in different contexts
- large-group Model one care card together on big paper, then each learner makes their own; a few share their fact and source with the group
- self-directed A learner writes one true care fact with its source, checks it is true information and not selling, and shares it with a grown-up
- outdoor-only Choose a care fact about a real place you can see (saving water for the plants, carrying litter to the bin) and make the card about that place
- multi-age Older learners help younger ones write the fact and source and read the finished cards aloud in a small sharing circle
- level-grouped Learners who finish early add a second fact or check a partner's card for "true information, not selling"
Lesson 9 — Our True-Info Care Card
Summary
Learners bring the unit’s two halves together by making a message that cares. Each writes a “true-info care card”: one true fact about saving water, energy, or litter, with where they learned it, a check that it is true information and not selling, and an audience to share it with. Making a message teaches the message — and sharing it makes care real.
Objectives
- Tell where a piece of information came from, such as a book, a grown-up, or a screen, and ask one question about it. (D10.S2.02.01)
- Tell whether a simple message is trying to give you true information or to sell you something. (D10.S2.02.02)
Connection
You have learned two big things this unit: how to tell true information from selling, and how to care for water, energy, and the land. Today you put them together. You will make a small message that shares one true fact about caring for the Earth — with its source, and with no selling. A message that cares tells the truth and asks for nothing.
Materials
- Care card template (space for one fact, “where I learned this,” a “true information” check, and “who is it for”)
- Crayons and pencils
Preparation
- Prepare or fold the care card template, one per learner.
- Model one example aloud: “Turn off the tap when you are done, to save water. I learned this from a grown-up. It is true information, not selling. It is for my family.”
- Set out crayons and pencils.
Facilitator note
This lesson is written to the learner (“you”). This is a making and sharing day, not a test. The heart of it is that a message can care: it can tell a true fact, name its source, and ask for nothing in return. Retrieval: learners recall Lesson 3 (source + one question), Lesson 4 (true information vs selling), and Lessons 7–8 (saving water and energy, litter’s right place). Keep the media stance warm — making a truthful message is the joyful opposite of fear. Honor all facts equally: a fact from a grandmother’s spoken word is as real a source as one from a book or a screen. Distinguish evidence from values gently: the fact (“turning off the tap saves water”) is evidence; wanting to share it is a value of care — both are welcome. No wealth assumption: a card on any scrap of paper, or a fact told aloud and acted out, counts just as much as a printed card. Honor every body: a non-speaking learner can draw and point while a partner writes, or record the fact in sign; a learner who is blind or has low vision can say the fact aloud and have a partner scribe it, and feel the card’s shape; a learner with motor differences can direct a partner’s hands to write. Peer check: partners check each other’s card for “true information, not selling.”
Procedure
- Gather (5 min). You can tell true information from selling, and you can care for the Earth. Today you make a message that does both at once.
- Model one care card (10 min). Watch or make one together: a true fact (“Turn off the tap when you are done, to save water”), where it came from (“a grown-up told me”), a check for “true information, not selling,” and who it is for (“my family”).
- Choose your fact (5 min). Pick one true fact about caring for water, energy, or litter — from Lesson 7 or 8, or one you know. Say where you learned it.
- Make your card (15 min). Write and draw your care card: the fact, its source, the check, and your audience. Ask one question about your own fact: How do I know it is true?
- Peer check (5 min). Trade cards with a partner. Is the fact true information, or is it selling? Is the source written? Give one kind word.
- Share (8 min). Read or act your care card to someone — a partner, a small group, or the class. Tell them the fact, the source, and who it is for.
- Close (2 min). A message that cares tells the truth, names its source, and asks for nothing. You are now a maker of caring messages.
Differentiation
- Support: Use the frame “___ is a true fact. I learned it from ___. It is true information, not selling. It is for ___,” with a partner’s help.
- Blind/low vision: Say the fact aloud and have a partner scribe it; feel the card and share it by voice.
- Deaf/hard of hearing / non-speaking: Draw the fact and share it in sign or by pointing while a partner reads the words aloud.
- Motor differences: Direct a partner’s hands to write and draw while the learner says or points to the fact, source, and audience.
- Extension: Add a second true fact with a second source, or check a partner’s card and explain why it is true information and not selling.
Assessment
- Formative (peer): Does the partner’s card name a true fact, its source, and show it is true information (not selling)?
- Artifact (portfolio): The finished “true-info care card” becomes a portfolio artifact, capturing the media and stewardship threads together.
Home connection
Show your care card to a grown-up and share your true fact and its source. Ask the grown-up: what is one true fact about caring for the Earth that they would put on a card, and who would they share it with?
Resources
- Common Sense Media (Common Sense Education), “News & Media Literacy” — creating honest messages and knowing their source and audience, supporting the making-and-sharing work. https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship/topic/news-and-media-literacy