Cover lesson · English · Year 7 · Beginner

Fact-Checking an Online Article on Welsh Folklore

DCF: Producing → Sourcing, searching and planning digital content · LNF: Literacy → Reading → Reading strategies

Name: Class: Date:

Cover teacher: you need no subject knowledge

What this practises: verifying online claims against trustworthy sources, building effective search queries with site: and quotation marks, and rewriting clickbait into accurate, well-credited prose. Pupils read an invented clickbait blog post about Beddgelert and Cantre’r Gwaelod alongside 3 reliable reference extracts (Amgueddfa Cymru, Eryri National Park and a university historian).

Board: open the supply teacher presentation Fact-Checking an Online Article on Welsh Folklore on the classroom board for slides, countdown timers and spoken teacher script.

Print: this worksheet, one per pupil, and the stimulus sheet Gelert and Cantre’r Gwaelod: fact-check pack, one between two. No computers are needed.

Run: 5 min settling starter · 5 min brief and key words · 10 min Step 1, fact-check 6 claims · 10 min Step 2, search queries · 12 min Steps 3 and 4, source scores and rewrite · 5 min partner check · 3 min plenary review. Total 50 minutes.

Collect: this sheet at the end of the lesson.

Quick checks: Step 1 verdicts: 1 False (David Pritchard built the mound around 1793, Extract C); 2 True (trees are 4,500 to 6,000 years old, Extract A); 3 False (no stone castles found; 16 settlements are from legend, Extract A); 4 Folklore presented as fact (Seithennin is from a 13th-century poem in the Black Book of Carmarthen, not a 520 AD council diary, Extract A); 5 True (named after the 6th or 7th century Saint Celert, Extract B); 6 False (it is International Tale Type B331, told in India, Persia and Europe, Extract C). Step 3 totals out of 15: Blog 3/15, Extracts A, B and C 14/15 or 15/15.

What you are doing

Folklore is a rich part of Welsh culture, but clickbait websites often muddle ancient legends, 18th-century tourist inventions and real archaeology to grab attention. Today you will test 6 claims from a viral blog post against 3 reliable reference extracts, write sharp search queries that bypass clickbait, and rewrite the opening two paragraphs accurately for a school history site.

Key words:

Step 1: fact-check the 6 claims

Read the blog post and Extracts A, B and C on the stimulus sheet. For each claim below, write True, False, or Folklore presented as fact, then state the exact evidence and extract letter (A, B or C).

Claim made in the blog Verdict (True / False / Folklore as fact) Evidence from Extracts A, B or C (include dates, numbers and extract letter)
1. Prince Llywelyn’s masons built Gelert’s gravestone in 1205.
2. The tree stumps exposed on Borth beach are 4,500 to 6,000 years old.
3. Divers found 16 solid stone castles on the seabed next to the trees at Borth.
4. Council diaries prove Seithennin opened the floodgates in the exact year 520 AD.
5. The village of Beddgelert is actually named after an early Christian saint called Celert.
6. The story of the loyal hound killed by mistake exists only in Wales.

Step 2: build better search queries

Use the Search Operator Guide on the stimulus sheet. Rewrite each weak search query below using quotation marks for exact phrases, neutral keywords, and a suitable site: operator (site:museum.wales, site:eryri.llyw.cymru, or site:.ac.uk).

Weak search query Your improved search query Why your query gets better results
is it true that Gelert the dog was real in Beddgelert?
shocking proof of sunken castles at Borth beach
who really made Gelert grave for tourists?
when did Cantre'r Gwaelod sink in real life?

Step 3: score each source’s reliability

Score each source from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest) in each column, add up the total out of 15, and give a one-phrase reason.

Source Named expert author (/5) Backed by evidence (/5) Informative purpose (/5) Total (/15) Main reason for your score
Viral blog (@DragonTruthSeeker99)
Extract A: Amgueddfa Cymru
Extract B: Eryri National Park
Extract C: Dr Elenid Jenkins

Step 4: rewrite the opening 2 paragraphs accurately

Rewrite the blog’s two paragraphs so they are accurate, calm and suitable for a Year 7 school history site. You must:

Step by step

  1. 5 min Settling starter: spot two warning signs on the viral blog post.
  2. 5 min Read today’s brief and key words.
  3. 10 min Step 1: check all 6 claims against Extracts A, B and C.
  4. 10 min Step 2: rewrite the 4 weak search queries using " " and site:.
  5. 12 min Steps 3 and 4: score the 4 sources out of 15 and rewrite both paragraphs with inline credits.
  6. 8 min Partner check against the success criteria and final plenary review.

Success criteria

If you finish early