University of Pennsylvania
Using Comic Strips to Teach Multiple Perspectives
Scholars view comics from two different perspectives; one paints the Alfred Dreyfus as innocent, while the other portrays the exact opposite. They solve the mystery of what happened by analyzing the source, working in groups, and...
Aurora City School District
Do Not Try to Kid a Kidder: The Art of Persuasion
The power to convince others of your argument lies in your knowledge of rhetoric! A thorough packet covers the basics of persuasion, including logical appeals and fallacies, and applies strategies to letters to the editor,...
Curated OER
The Editorial Revisited
Young scholars identify different types of editorials. They explain, using a graphic organizer, the elements that make an editorial powerful. They offer elements they came up with and the examples and list them on the board.
Curated OER
Editorials
Young scholars investigate editorials. In this literacy critical thinking instructional activity, students compare and contrast two newspaper editorials and two letters to the editor by completing a Venn diagram. Young scholars...
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: China, Tibet and the Olympics
For this current events worksheet, learners analyze a political cartoon about the Olympics in China and respond to 3 talking point questions.
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Ebony and Ivory Revisited
In this current events instructional activity, students analyze a political cartoon about the state of New Orleans after Hurrican Katrina and respond to 3 talking point questions
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Cartoons and Culture
In this current events worksheet, students analyze a political cartoon with anti-American symbolism and respond to 5 short answer questions.
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Leaks and Gossip
In this current events worksheet, students analyze a political cartoon about media leaks and gossip and respond to 3 talking point questions.
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Berryman, Roosevelt and the Teddy Bear
In this current events worksheet, students analyze a political cartoon about the origin of stuffed teddy bears and respond to 3 talking point questions.
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Campaigns and Gas Pains
In this current events instructional activity, learners analyze a political cartoon about gasoline prices and respond to 3 talking point questions.
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Money and Politics, A History Lesson
In this current events worksheet, students analyze a political cartoon about campaign finance in America and respond to 3 talking point questions.
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Doves, Flags, and Bombs
In this current events learning exercise, learners analyze a political cartoon about escalating tensions between the Koreas and respond to 3 talking point questions.
Curated OER
Extra! Extra! Lewis and Clark Explore America
Fifth graders, in groups, produce a historically accurate Special Edition Newspaper, including articles, editorials, and pictures, highlighting the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
Curated OER
Cartoons for the Classroom: Media Industry and the Internet
Kids take a good look at what the Internet has done to "old media" industries, such as newspapers, magazines, and books. They analyze the editorial comments made in a political cartoon and answer three critical thinking questions related...
Curated OER
Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System
Wow! What a lesson plan! Six terrific activities are described in great detail, in this 31-page document! Learners will model and explain cloud formation, sketch and identify certain cloud types, calculate and compare incoming and...
Curated OER
Hurricane Katrina: You Be the Reporter
Young scholars work in a small group to create news stories, feature stories and editorials/letters to the editor and organize them in a podcast, video-based program, or newspaper/magazine focused on Hurricane Katrina.
Curated OER
Exploring Media: Understanding and Identifying Editorial Perspective in Television and Radio News
Students research the topics Boat People: A Refugee Crisis, Dr. Henry Morgentaler: Fighting Canada's Abortion Laws, and CANDU: The Canadian Nuclear Reactor on the CBC Radio and Television Archives Web site.
National Endowment for the Humanities
In Emily Dickinson's Own Words: Letters and Poems
Analyze the depth and beauty of American Literature by reading Emily Dickinson's letters and poems. The class analyzes Dickinson's poetic style and discusses Thomas Wentworth Higginson's editorial relationship with Dickinson. They pay...
Channel Islands Film
Restoration Channel Islands Debate
Introduce learners to the debate format with an activity that uses the National Park Service's controversial Channel Islands restoration program as a topic. Class members learn how to generate provocative debate questions, how to prepare...
Judicial Branch of California
The Power of the Press: The First Amendment
Was what happened in 1886 at the Haymarket riot a crime or a case of xenophobia? Using political cartoons from the time, young historians consider the role the media played in anti-labor sentiment during the time and how that influenced...
National Endowment for the Humanities
A Defense of the Electoral College
Each presidential election year, the debate about the electoral college rages. Michael C. Maibach's "A Defense of the Electoral College" offers young political scientists an opportunity to examine a reasoned argument for why the...
Curated OER
Letters from Emily Dickinson: Letters and Poems
Students analyze how Emily Dickinson perceived herself as a poet. Students read correspondence between Dickinson and her preceptor, Mr. Higginson to determine the depths of their relationship. Students interpret several of her poems.
PBS
President Theodore Roosevelt: Foreign Policy Statesman or Bully?
Can a negative perception of a president's foreign policy harm his or her historical legacy? A project that winds the clock back to the date of Theodore Roosevelt's death puts students at the editorial desk of a fictional newspaper....
American Press Institute
Introductory News Literacy
Aspiring journalists learn about media literacy, journalism, and the press. Units come complete with handouts, assignment rubrics, notes, and extension suggestions. Each unit also comes with a list of vocabulary words and learning...