Curated OER
Understanding Propaganda
Students define propaganda and give examples from the mass media. In this propaganda lesson, students review examples of propaganda and then research versions of it in the mass media.
Curated OER
Media Literacy: Discovering and Understanding Propaganda
Ninth graders study different types of propaganda and select an issue that is significant to them. In this exploratory lesson students design and create posters on the topic of their choice and write a narrative describing it.
Curated OER
Propaganda During World War I
Eighth graders consider how propaganda was used during World War I. In this World War I lesson, 8th graders analyze posters that were used to garner support for World War I. Students use the provided worksheet to...
Middle Tennessee State University
John Brown: Hero or Villain?
"Love it or leave it." "You're either for us or against us." Rhetoric and it's polarizing effects are the focus of a lesson that uses John Brown's attack on Harper's Ferry as an exemplar. Groups examine primary source documents,...
Curated OER
Bias in Journalism
Learners evaluate the credibility and reliability of various sources. Students survey the coverage of a particular event in different newspapers, select a current event and compare different perspectives. They write an article...
Madison Public Schools
Journalism
Whether you are teaching a newspaper unit in language arts, covering the First Amendment and censorship in social studies, or focusing on writing ethics in journalism, a unit based on the foundations of journalism would be an excellent...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Campaign Photo Analysis
It's the art of the image! As part of a study of the 2020 Presidential race, groups analyze an image of a candidate, first from an objective point of view and then subjectively. They then prepare a presentation detailing what they...
Encyclopedia Britannica
Candidate Flip-Flop or Evolution?
Beware political rhetoric! Connotation is everything! Groups select a presidential candidate and investigate how the candidate's position has changed on a specific issue. After analyzing the situation, the group determines whether they...
PBS
Using Primary Sources: Nazi Spy Ring Busted
Spy games are not just for professionals anymore! Scholars use short video clips, primary documents, and photographs to investigate Nazi spies in America during World War II. The young detectives analyze the paranoia warfare can...
College Board
Evaluating Sources: How Credible Are They?
How can learners evaluate research sources for authority, accuracy, and credibility? By completing readings, discussions, and graphic organizers, scholars learn how to properly evaluate sources to find credible information. Additionally,...
Curated OER
Events and Effects of World War I
Ninth graders explore the main events, key people, outcomes and lasting effects of World War I. They research the lasting effects of World War I on the 20th Century and discuss the Treaty of Versailles and its effects on Germany.
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
Analyzing Political Campaign Commercials
Imagine a lesson that models for learners how to separate facts from opinions. How to detect bias. How to evaluate a source of information. How to identify propaganda. Although designed for middle schoolers, the activities in this packet...
Curated OER
Japan's Textbook Case
Students read and discuss "Japan's Refusal to Revise Textbooks Angers Neighbors." They discuss how accurately textbooks account for historical events, then collaborate to write unbiased textbook entries for current events.
Curated OER
Lincoln's Legend and Legacy
Students evaluate Lincoln's impact on American History. In this Civil War lesson, students view a film clip of writings about Lincoln. Students take notes and compare how the writings define his legacy. Students write their own poem or...
Southern Poverty Law Center
Evaluating Online Sources
All sources are pretty much the same, right? If this is how your class views the sources they use for writing or research projects, present them with a media literacy lesson plan on smart source evaluation. Groups examine several...
PBS
African American History: Honored as Heroes
To gain an understanding of the treatment of African American soldiers during World War I, class members watch an excerpt from the History Detectives film, Our Colored Heroes, and then examine three recruitment posters from that...
Curated OER
History Fair
Students create a History Fair. They examine the National History Day Competition and are encouraged to participate.
Curated OER
Censorship in the Classroom: Understanding Controversial Issues
Students examine propaganda and media bias and explore a variety of banned and challenged books. Following this, students choose a side of the censorship issue and support their position by developing an ad campaign about the banned book...
Curated OER
Hidden Persuaders
Students examine classic propaganda techniques to analyze factors which influence learning and thinking processes influencing formation of public opinion through these lessons.
Curated OER
John McCain's Tax Stand Misrepresented
High schoolers examine how political advertisements can be misleading. Using a political ad against tax reform, students generate questions based on the claims in the ads. They research information to support or refute the claims in the...
Curated OER
World War I and Its Consequences
Tenth graders decipher the long and short term causes of World War I. They follow through by studying the history of the present day situation in the Balkans and simulating peace talks with presentations.
Curated OER
Germans and Irish in Augusta and Franklin Counties
Students examine 19th century newspapers, a last and testament, and census manuscripts to analyze the Irish and German immigrant communities in the 1850s and 1860s. They write a letter from the perspective of an Irish or German immigrant.
Curated OER
Teaching with Primary Sources Across Tennessee: Debunking Civil War Photographs
Young scholars analyze photographs and texts using primary source analysis. In this primary source lesson students determine whether the photographs and text are truthful.
Curated OER
Empowered Barbie
Students access prior knowledge of vocabulary on feminism and psychoanalytic theory, and gender schema. In this Empowered Barbie lesson plan, students recreate a Barbie doll. Students write a reflection on how they changed...