Education has been a hugely important part of my life for as long as I can remember. Even from the time I was a little girl—up through middle school and high school—education was all around me. I saw my mom working hard as she attended college, laboring tirelessly to get her Associate's Degree. I also have a great aunt and a great uncle who were teachers. And when I used to play as a child, I would play "school.” I honestly don't remember a time when education wasn’t a significant part of my life.

Helping students discern fact from fiction has never been more challenging. Here are four tactics to help.

The rise of digital journalism has made information more accessible, but also presented unique challenges. Research is no longer limited to the library; today, kids go online to scour the entirety of the internet. While students now have instant access to learning sources like Encyclopedia Britannica or The New York Times, they also have access to every online hoax, doctored image or conspiracy theory at their fingertips.

Meanwhile, “fake news” stories are being shared at an alarming rate, especially on social media: over half of Americans claim to regularly see fake news on sites such as Facebook or Twitter. Suffice to say, it’s never been more important to model media literacy to students and impart fact-checking skills. By helping children distinguish between what’s real and what’s fake news, parents and teachers can teach kids how to think for themselves, as well as gain a clearer understanding of the world.

Here are some helpful ways to teach kids about real or fake news sources, and give them the tools they need to decipher between the two.