Media Smarts
Truth or Money
Two compelling texts about tobacco companies' influence over editorial content in print media introduce readers to the concept of advertising censorship. After study and discussion, class members compose a mock "final column" by a...
Curated OER
News Coverage
Learners compare and contrast methods of media coverage. In this media awareness lesson plan, students keep track of news regarding a world or national issue for the period of 1 week. Learners collaborate to describe the type of coverage...
Curated OER
Is the media aiding Global Peace when reporting on religion?
Young scholars play 'telephone' to simulate communication difficulties. In this media analysis lesson, students read and analyze newspaper articles related to religious tensions between the Pope and Muslims. Young scholars evaluate the...
Curated OER
War and the Media Press Freedom vs. Military Censorship
Students analyze the relationship between war and media. In this media awareness lesson, students listen to their instructor present a lecture on freedom of the press and military censorship. Students participate in an activity connected...
Curated OER
Media Literacy Unit - Part 4
Seventh graders study how advertisers use techniques to sell their products. In this persuasive media lesson, 7th graders analyze media messages to find the advertiser's purpose. They examine different advertising techniques and their...
Apple
A Curriculum for Digital Media Creation
Consumer technology has made it possible for filmmakers to create entire movies from the comfort of their home computer. Guide high school film buffs through the process of designing a documentary with an extensive unit published by...
Curated OER
Savvy Surfers: Website Evaluation and Media Literacy
Sixth graders strengthen their understanding of what a high quality website is composed of. Learners evaluate three websites for accuracy, credibility, and reliability by completing a chart.
Newseum
Search Boosters: How Content Creators Can Game the System
Scholars examine the techniques content creators use to boost their search rankings. After watching a short "Search Boosters" video, groups select a story from the "News or Noise? Media Map" and analyze the devices used in the story. The...
Curated OER
Minding the Media
Students reflect on the fairness of rating movies, television, radio, books, magazines, Web sites and other media. They submit their own entries for a media rating guide.
Curated OER
Literature And Human Rights: Questions to Apply to Literature, Other Texts, and Media
Students answer a variety of discussion questions about human rights and how they may apply to and influence formal literature, the media, educational textbooks, advertising, and commercial publications.
Media Education Lab
Sponsored Content as Propaganda
What is sponsored content? Who produces sponsored content? Why? Is it fair or unfair? What are the privacy implications for consumers? To answer these questions, class members view a model screencast before crafting their own that...
Brown University
Following the U.S. Presidential Election
Election years provide the opportunity to evaluate news media as well as the next prospective president. High schoolers read about the same event in several different news sources, varying in type, origin, and political leaning, before...
Curated OER
One Event: Different Perspectives
Students watch a video clip from "The Path to 9/11" and write a summary of one of the events depicted. Next, they read the 9/11 Commission Report to compare information from the report to that of the media clip. They chose one more print...
Center Science Education
Weather in the News
Tornadoes, blizzards, and hurricanes, oh my! In this lesson, meteorology majors compare stories of historical storms written by two or more different sources. As a result, they understand how the media portrays such catastrophes and...
Curated OER
Beyond Black and White
Students critically examine the portrayal of minorities in video games and other forms of entertainment and assess the role of racial stereotyping. They keep a log of media minority portrayals and respond to their findings.
Common Sense Media
Digital Compass
Time to make some real world decisions in an interactive digital citizenship game. Choose a story and help the characters make the right decisions regarding Internet safety, cyberbullying, copyright, media literacy, appropriate online...
West Virginia Department of Education
Intelligence of Authentic Character - News Coverage and John Brown's Raid
The resource, a standalone, shows how news coverage of John Brown's Raid began when the event happened and how that reporting shaped perception in West Virginia history. The resource includes interesting anticipatory discussion...
Facebook
Online Presence
What happens when an online post gets the wrong kind of attention? Learners evaluate the good, the bad, and the occasionally ugly side of social media posting with a instructional activity from a vast digital citizenship series. After...
Newspaper Association of America
Press Ahead!
Give class members some great news! A media unit teaches individuals about ethics, parts of a newspaper, business writing, photojournalism, and more topics that have to do with the press. Full of material for a variety of learners,...
American Press Institute
Newspapers in Your Life: What’s News Where?
Big news isn't necessarily newsworthy everywhere! How do journalists decide what to cover with so much happening around them? A instructional activity on media literacy examines the factors that affect the media's choice of stories to...
Media Smarts
Making Media for Democratic Citizenship
Pupils analyze global issues. In this video podcasting lesson plan, pupils research Internet and print sources regarding selected global development issues. Pupils plan and create video podcasts that feature their research findings.
Social Media Toolbox
About Facebook
If everyone is on Facebook, should the school's news publication be as well? Scholars study a social media giant in the 11th lesson from The Social Media Toolbox's 16-part series. The activity combines individual study and collaboration...
Curated OER
Student News And Weather Channel
Fabulous! Your 5th graders should love this project. As an ongoing lesson throughout the year students use temperature probes to record outside temperature and then document their data using spreadsheets. They use their weather data and...
Curated OER
Using Informational Books: Index, Table of Contents & Alphabetical Order
Students recall and use previous knowledge of the library's reference and nonfiction sections. Also they utilize various forms of reference (encyclopedias & dictionaries) and nonfiction books.