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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Civil Rights: Turning Points

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
As part of a civil rights movement study, groups select an event from an interactive timeline that they feel marks a turning point in the struggle. After collecting evidence to support their choice, the teams develop a multimedia...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Free Press Challenges Through History: Analyzing Historical Sources

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
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. 
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Persuasion Portfolios

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
After class members brainstorm a list of current social and political issues, groups each select a different topic from the list to research. Teams create a portfolio of at least 10 examples of stories about their issue, stories that...
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Lesson Plan
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National Endowment for the Humanities

Starting a Government from Scratch

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young historians have an opportunity to experience the challenges of starting a new government. After watching a short video about the Articles of Confederation, class members generate a "to-do list" of actions that a new government...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Covering a Catastrophe: Press Conference Simulation

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young journalists have an opportunity to experience the challenges of covering a catastrophe by staging a mock press conference. Half the class acts as reporters while the others act as officials from the mayor's office.
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Civil Rights: Knowns and Unknowns

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Class members generate a list of research questions to review the civil rights movement and determine what scholars still need to learn. Groups then select a different compelling question, create a hypothesis and find evidence to support...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Photo Ethics: News Independence

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young journalists read a case study about an annual school tradition of a streaker running across the football field after the homecoming game. Small groups then decide whether or not to cover the story and whether or not to include a...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Breaking News: Tracing the Facts

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Breaking news reports can be short of facts. Young journalists select a pair of news articles about a disaster; one published within hours of the event and the second published the following day. They examine whether facts in the report...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Before and After: Analyzing Turning Points in History

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Scholars examine front-page news stories to gather evidence about significant historical events. They hypothesize how these events changed people's lives who lived through them and how they continue to impact lives today.
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Introduction to the First Amendment: What’s a Violation?

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Young historians take an in-depth look at the five freedoms granted by the First Amendment. Groups apply their knowledge of the freedoms to a series of scenarios to decide if the depicted actions represent a violation of the amendment.
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

The Women Who Made the Movement

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Granting women the right to vote was a long time coming and took many efforts. Young historians select one woman involved in the suffrage movement to research. They compare and contrast the depictions of their subject in mainstream and...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

News About My Community

For Teachers 6th - 8th
After researching statistics about their community in local census reports, young journalists interview a resident about their interests and then analyze a local newspaper or homepage to see how similar the stories are to the residents'...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

The First Amendment in Action Today

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Young activists research a community issue and apply the rights defined in the First Amendment to develop a proposal that would solve the issue—using Pinterest's board "The Freedom to Make A Change Posters" as examples, groups design a...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Is This Story Share-Worthy?

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young journalists use a "Is This Story Share-Worthy?" flowchart graphic to decide whether a story is worth sharing online. Instructors provide groups with fake news, poor quality stories, opinion pieces, biased news, and high-quality...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Making a Change: Letter From Birmingham Jail

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter From Birmingham Jail" was written in response to "A Call for Unity," written by eight white ministers from Birmingham and published in the local newspaper. After reading both letters and following a list...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

You Can't Say That in School? The Case of Lee v. Weisman

For Teachers 7th - 12th
The Supreme Court case Lee v. Weisman is the focus of a lesson that examines religion in public schools. After reading a summary of the case and before reading the verdict, pupils use their knowledge of the First Amendment to discuss the...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Confronting Conformation Bias

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Be curious! Seek out different opinions! Be conscious of your thinking process! After reading an article about confirmation bias and motivated reasoning, class members apply these strategies to the topic of school start times. They read...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Stereotypes: Identifying One Form of Bias

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Class members brainstorm a list of people in the news (immigrants, millennials, etc.). Teams then select one to research. Using the provided worksheet and guided by a list of questions, the teams examine the stereotypes in news reports...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Battle for the Bill of Rights: Ultimate Survivor Amendment Game

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
To understand the importance of the wording of the articles of the First Amendment (freedom of religion, freedom of speech and the press, and freedom to assembly and petition), teams argue before a jury for draft amendments of one...
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Lesson Plan
National Park Service

Remembering Pearl Harbor: The USS Arizona Memorial

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young historians use primary source materials to investigate the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and the sinking of the USS Arizona. After reading background articles and studying maps and images of the attack, class members consider whether...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Pearl Harbor and the Internment of Japanese Americans during World War II

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
Balancing national security and civil liberties can be tricky. To appreciate the tension between these two concepts, class members investigate the Japanese attack on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor and President Franklin D....
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Explore the Information Universe

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Distinguishing among different types of content when conducting online searches can be a challenge. An informative resource helps researchers identify different types of content, from fact-based reports to ads, from propaganda to satire....
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Am I Being Fair?

For Teachers 7th - Higher Ed Standards
Young journalists use four strategies from an "Am I Being Fair?" tip sheet to check for and counter personal biases about a topic. Scholars apply the strategies to an article about the best pizza as guided practice. Participants then...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Weighing the Arguments

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
To understand how personal perspectives can affect policy and politics, scholars examine the woman suffrage media map and historical artifacts to analyze arguments for and against women's suffrage. Class members then take on the role of...