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Lesson Plan
Media Smarts

Looking at Newspapers: Introduction

For Teachers 2nd - 4th Standards
A scavenger hunt introduces class groups to the different sections of newspapers and the different types of articles found in each section.
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Lesson Plan
Media Smarts

News and Newspapers: Across the Curriculum

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Did you know that the Chinese Court Gazette is the longest continuing news paper in history? In addition to some great background information, this resource includes suggestions for activities across grade levels and across the curriculum.
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Unit Plan
Newspaper Association of America

Critical Thinking through Core Curriculum: Using Print and Digital Newspapers

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
What is and what will be the role of newspapers in the future? Keeping this essential question in mind, class members use print, electronic, and/or web editions of newspapers, to investigate topics that include financial literary,...
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Activity
News Literacy Project

News Goggles: Identifying the News Source

For Teachers 7th - Higher Ed
A 25-slide presentation teaches viewers how to identify the source of stories in newspapers and online news sites. The slides show how to locate the byline where either the reporter's name or the wire service that provided the story can...
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Lesson Plan
Stanford University

Fort Sumter

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The headlines screamed what everyone knew was coming: War! While Fort Sumter was considered the first battle of the Civil War, the engagement played differently in newspapers at the time. Using coverage from Northern and Southern...
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Handout
Curated OER

Identify the Parts of a Newspaper features of informational text, newspaper format

For Students 3rd - 6th Standards
Young readers make sense out of the wealth of information in newspapers with this helpful reference document. Pointing out basic features like headings, articles, bylines, and captions this resource is a great tool for introducing...
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Unit Plan
Newspaper Association of America

By the Numbers: Mathematical Connections in Newspapers for Middle-Grade Students

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
A cross-curricular resource teaches and reinforces mathematical concepts with several activities that use parts of a newspaper. Scholars use scavenger hunts to find the different ways math is used in the paper along with using data...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Journalists Code of Ethics

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Journalists are supposed to adhere to a Code of Ethics. To determine the degree to which reporters follow this code, individuals select three recent stories with photographs from newspapers, magazines, online news sites, or television...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Civil Rights News Coverage: Looking Back at Bias

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Not all southern newspapers covered the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Young journalists investigate how The Lexington (Ky. Herald-Leader and The Jackson (Tenn.) Sun re-examined their coverage of the movement. After...
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Assessment
Stanford University

Vicksburg

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Long before the term fake news, media outlets offered competing narratives of events at the time. Looking at newspaper reports from the Battle of Vicksburg, class members consider two different versions of the strategic siege—one from...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Front Page Photographs: Analyzing Editorial Choices

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Frontpage photographs are the focus of four activities that ask young journalists to consider what the images reveal about a newspaper and its community. To begin, groups compare what images different papers from across the country use...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Analyzing the Features of a Newspaper Article

For Teachers 6th Standards
There's more to newspaper articles than meets the eye. Scholars learn the different features of a newspaper article, including headline, byline, subheadings, etc. Pupils circle the features in an article as the teacher discusses their...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Getting to the Source

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Reliable news stories are based on facts from reliable sources. Young journalists learn how to evaluate the reliability of news sources by watching a short explainer video. Teams apply their new source-digging skills to a current news...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Media Ethics: Fairness Formula Starts With Accuracy

For Teachers 5th - 12th Standards
As part of a study of media ethics, young journalists apply a fairness formula to news reports. They look at accuracy, balance, completeness, detachment, and ethics to determine if the reporting is fair.
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

When the News Media Make Mistakes

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Mistakes happen. When they happen in news reporting, be it in print or on the internet, journalism ethics requires that the errors be corrected. Young journalists use an Accuracy Checklist to track how news organizations post corrections...
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Activity
News Literacy Project

News Goggles: Quotes in News Reports

For Teachers 7th - Higher Ed
To quote or paraphrase? That is the question examined by a 29-slide presentation on the importance of including direct quotes in news reporting.
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Anonymous Sources in Our Daily News

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young journalists search for two examples of news stories, either published or online, that use anonymous or unnamed sources. They then consider the possible motives for why the sources remain unidentified, the types of stories that use...
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Lesson Plan
3
3
Alabama Department of Archives and History

"Scottsboro Boys": A Trial Which Defined an Age

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Here's a must-have resource. Whether your focus is racism, the Great Depression, the "Scottsboro Boys" trial, or part of a reading of To Kill A Mockingbird, the information contained in the seven-page packet will save hours of research...
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Lesson Plan
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PBS

What Is Newsworthy?

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
What is news? What is newsworthy? Who decides and what criteria do they use? Introduce young journalists to the basics of reporting with this media literacy lesson.
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Lesson Plan
PBS

African American History: Lunch Counter Closed

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young historians investigate and evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies the Civil Rights Movement used to end segregation in the United States. After watching an video interview with Carl Matthews and Bill Stevens who participated...
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Lesson Plan
Alabama Department of Archives and History

Yellow Journalism

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What role did yellow journalism play in bringing the United States into war with Spain? As part of their study of the Spanish-American War, class groups examine newspapers of the times and other texts and then produce their own...
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Unit Plan
The New York Times

The Careful Reader: Teaching Critical Reading Skills with the New York Times

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
The 11 lessons in this educators' guide focus on using newspapers to develop critical reading skills in the content areas.
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Lesson Plan
Dream of a Nation

Read, Watch, Write for Pathos, Logos and Ethos

For Teachers 9th Standards
Encourage your young citizens to make a difference. Using Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America as a starting point, class members watch documentaries, investigate issues, and then write letters to...
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Lesson Plan
Ford's Theatre

How Perspective Shapes Understanding of History

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The Boston Massacre may be an iconic event in American history, but perhaps the British soldiers had another point of view. Using primary sources, including reports from Boston newspapers and secondary sources from the British...