Facing History and Ourselves
Social Media and Ferguson
How can social media help or hinder civil dialogue? How can information shared on social media be verified? As the investigation of media reports of the events surrounding the shooting of Michael Brown continues, class members read news...
Curated OER
Fighting Fake News
Fake news. Alternative facts. Internet trolls. In an age of Newspeak, it's increasingly important to equip 21st century learners with the skills needed to determine the legitimacy of claims put forth on social media, in print, and in...
The New York Times
Evaluating Sources in a ‘Post-Truth’ World: Ideas for Teaching and Learning about Fake News
The framers of the United States Constitution felt a free press was so essential to a democracy that they granted the press the protection it needed to hold the powerful to account in the First Amendment. Today, digital natives need to...
Facing History and Ourselves
Free Press Makes Democracy Work
A unit study of the importance of a free press in a democracy begins with class members listening to a podcast featuring two journalists, one from a United States public radio station and one from Capetown, South Africa. The...
Newseum
The Press and the Presidency: Friend or Foe? How the President Is Portrayed
In theory, news reports should be fair and unbiased. Young journalists test this theory by selecting a current news story covered by various media outlets about the President of the United States. They then locate and analyze five...
Prestwick House
Understanding Language: Slant, Spin, and Bias in the News
We live in a time of fake news, alternative realities, and media bias. What could be more timely than an activity that asks class members to research how different sources report the same topic in the news?
Teaching Tolerance
Media Consumers and Creators, What Are Your Rights and Responsibilities?
Teach the class to separate fact from fiction. Scholars explore the topic of fake news as they read PEN America's News Consumers' Bill of Rights and discuss the rights and responsibilities outlined in the bill. Next, they read an article...
Newseum
Free Press Challenges Through History: Analyzing Historical Sources
The debate over the integrity of stories in media is not new. Young journalists analyze historical sources that reveal freedom of the press controversies and draw parallels to challenges freedom of the press faces today.
Curated OER
Reality Media?
Yeah, but is it real? Clips from the famous documentary film series 56 UP launches an examination of the differences between reality television and documentaries. After considering the characteristics of each format, class members...
Facing History and Ourselves
Interracial Democracy
Radical Reconstruction, the 10-year period referred to after Congress passed the Reconstruction Act of 1867, saw the establishment of manhood suffrage, men voting without any racial qualifications. Southern states also rewrote their...
NOAA
Mud is Mud...or is it?
We know that the type of soil varies by location, but does the seafloor sediment also vary, or is it all the same? Scholars compare photos of the seafloor from two different locations: the Savannah Scarp and the Charleston Bump. Through...
Federal Reserve Bank
The Free Silver Movement and Inflation
Why are US dollars no longer backed by gold and silver? What is our medium of exchange, and what would it be like to live in a barter economy? Learners consider these questions, as well as learn about the major historical events in the...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
Options for Affecting Public Policy
Letter-writing, e-mail and telephone campaigns, petitions, marches, meetings, with lawmakers. Options for influencing elected representatives are the focus of resource that details how to craft each of these approaches to influencing...
C-SPAN
Foreign Interference in U.S. Elections
With election security looming large for 2020, pupils decide what should be done to protect them from foreign interference. A series of videos, including interviews with national security officials, elected representatives, and experts...
King Country
Lesson 1: Introductory Class
This first lesson in a unit on Family Life and Sexual Health (FLASH) has class members establishing the rules of behavior that will create a safe environment for the discussion of these sensitive topics.
PBS
Stories of Painkiller Addiction: Prescription Drug Abuse Awareness Campaign
The I-STOP law was designed to regulate the distribution and tracking of prescription drugs. After reading an article about its signing and implementation, middle and high schoolers work together to come up with their own ideas for an...
C-SPAN
Political Polarization
Dive into the political breach with pupils and explore the reasons for political polarization. Using clips from C-SPAN that include discussions from reporters and scholars, class members consider what is causing the political fault lines...
Museum of the Moving Image
AdMaker, Nixon vs. Humphrey, “Convention” (1968)
After viewing the infamous 1968 Presidential campaign ad, "Convention," groups use AdMaker to create their own 30 second ad that features Richard Nixon rather than Hubert Humphrey.
American Institute of Physics
African American Inventors in History
A two-part lesson introduces young historians to the work of famous African American inventors. Groups first research and develop a presentation of an inventor that includes biographical information and information about one of their...
PBS
Stories of Painkiller Addiction: Myth or Fact
Are opioids the most abused drug after marijuana? How hard is it for young people to obtain painkillers without a prescription? Middle and high schoolers explore the growing epidemic of opioid addiction with a instructional activity that...
Discovery Education
Sonar & Echolocation
A well-designed, comprehensive, and attractive slide show supports direct instruction on how sonar and echolocation work. Contained within the slides are links to interactive websites and instructions for using apps on a mobile device to...
Museum of the Moving Image
AdMaker, Obama vs. McCain, “Fundamentals” (2008)
Truth is often left on the cutting room floor when political ads are produced. After viewing the 2012 backfire ad, "Fundamentals" that takes John McCain's comments on the US economy out of context, class groups edit the audio and video...
Anti-Defamation League
The Gender Wage Gap
"Equal pay for equal work!" may sound logical but it is not the reality. High schoolers begin a study of the gender wage gap with an activity that asks them to position themselves along a line that indicates whether they strongly agree...