Students examine how to evaluate what they are watching on television. They discuss hip hop music videos, compare/contrast them to other types of music videos, write a letter or press release about promoting positive teen stories, and...

Students observe human psychology by completing a media analysis worksheet. In this parent and teen communication lesson, students identify the main programs on television today and how sex is used to sell the program as well as...

Are your students aware of the effect advertising can have on their self-image, self-esteem, and happiness? This lesson from the Media Awareness Network is aimed at increasing that awareness and mitigating any negative effects it might...

If you are in need of a lesson on tolerance or the impact of media, this plan could be useful. The class begins with a brainstorming session in which they reflect on their own experiences with bias based on appearance. Next, they...

A study of how public perception is both reflected and influenced by film and television, this instructional activity helps students develop an awareness of audience as well as a critical view of media. Depictions of police in television...

Eighth graders consider cross-curricular connections between social studies, singing, and current events. They listen to the song, "I Can't Cry Hard Enough." view scenes from September 11, then create presentations using images, a...

The power of a picture. During the events surrounding World War I, propaganda posters were widely distributed in American society to sway the emotions of its citizens. By analyzing World War I propaganda posters in the first installment...

Students examine the issue of body image and the media. They watch and discuss a video, identify ads with unrealistic images, write a letter to the magazine, develop a timeline of changing body types, and conduct research.

Visit the Magic Treehouse and take your class on a trip through time with a reading of the children's book Mummies in the Morning. Using the story to spark an investigation into Egyptian culture, this literature unit engages...

Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass serves as the anchor text for a lesson on symbolism. Readers use the provided worksheets to examine the symbols in the novel as well as in the world around them.

Young historians research the devastating attacks of 9/11 and use that information to script their own documentaries. The follow-up activity includes recording the documentary and conducting classmate interviews, 

Just how true is the information contained in political ads? Determining the veracity of campaign ads from the 2008 presidential race is the focus of a lesson that introduces class members to several fact-checking resources.

Everything you have ever wanted to know about our solar system, space exploration, and more can be found here. Be prepared to clear your schedule; you will be sucked into the app like a star into a black hole.

Students research causes of rising gasoline prices. They collect data on fluctuating gasoline prices and analyze the data using Excel. They write comparative essays supporting their results and create PowerPoint presentations to present...

Young scholars explore the causes and effects of marijuana addiction and research how THC affects different areas of the brain. They synthesize their knowledge by creating print advertisements that inform teenagers about the physiologic...

High schoolers examine the process and effects of World War I on different segments of the population, beyond the political, diplomatic and military framework of the war. They analyze the memoirs of soldiers, read poetry of the time, and...

Imagine being one of the painters in 1910 at the Lyme Art Colony in Connecticut. Using the Florence Griswold Museum's on-line resources to gather information about the daily life of artists at the boardinghouse, learners write a letter...

Although students are aware of news as information that influences their perceptions of the world, they are often unaware of the various ways to present that information. Encourage them to investigate, discuss, analyze and make valuable...

Experiment with multimedia storytelling. After watching a segment of American Family, first, middle and high schoolers tell a story about their families, clarifying the setting, characters, and script. They work on setting...

Young scholars examine and analyze photographs of other cultures. They answer discussion questions, identify bias and point of view in the images, conduct research on another photo, and compare and contrast two cultural images.

So many people fought for Civil Rights in the United States. Read about the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and discuss what the act guarantees. Then pass out a slew of magazines and encourage them to observe how often minorities appear in...

High schoolers identify characters and events from the Ramayana. They discuss ways in whcih the images convey non-verbal information and messages. They discuss similarities and differences in the visual and verbal tellings of the Ramayana.

Kids become mini-experts on the Mannerist movement and the art of El Greco. They identify common elements of El Greco paintings and compare them to a work by Thomas Hart Benton. They use  four ways to examine art taken from the...

Students research an event or a person from a decade in American history when the civil rights movement was an important focus. They create a multimedia project based on the research.