Facing History and Ourselves
#IfTheyGunnedMeDown
As part of their continued investigation of the reporting of the shooting of Michael Brown class members analyze photos of Michael Brown and the social media response to these images. The class then develops a guide they...
Curated OER
Students Press Law and Ethics
Students research the rights and the responsibilities of journalists in dealing with First Amendment issues. In this First Amendment lesson plan, students research the Alien and Sedition Acts and study the five elements of...
Anti-Defamation League
Sneakers and Prejudice: Letters to Challenge Bias
After learning that NBA player Stephen Curry's shoes only come in boys' sizes, Riley wrote a letter sharing her concern, highlighting the gender bias and inviting Curry to take action. Scholars view a news clip, review the letters,...
Close Up Foundation
Teach the Vote
Why is voting important? A social studies unit presents a non-partisan approach to the importance of voting, to voting laws and procedures, and to resources that voters need to become informed voters.
Curated OER
Your Angle on the Story
Students review several articles on same current event, and then cover news issues themselves while assuming secret identities of various individuals who have vested interests in issue. Students write newspaper articles from these...
Curated OER
Recognizing Propaganda/Bias
Middle and high schoolers examine the uses of propaganda during the Nazi era. Using examples of propaganda used by Hitler, they discuss how it changed the thinking and ideas of people exposed to it. In groups, they identify how and why...
Willow Tree
Data Sampling
Some say that you can make statistics say whatever you want. It is important for learners to recognize these biases. Pupils learn about sample bias and the different types of samples.
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.
Anti-Defamation League
Is Olympic Coverage Sexist?
Women Olympians have come a long way since 1900 when 22 women competed for the first time. News coverage of the Olympics has also changed dramatically. What has been slow to change, however, is the language used in the coverage of female...
Anti-Defamation League
Student Dress Codes: What's Fair?
The controversy over school dress codes continues. The debate involves questions like, why is there a policy? Who sets the policy? Who enforces the policy? What is a fair policy? Tweens and teens have an opportunity to engage in the...
Curated OER
Parliamentary Newsroom : Developing Media Literacy
Students explain and examine the selection, development, sources, transmission and impact of news on the public. They write a brief essay on the topic: "The Public Must Be Critical In Their Assessment of the News Before Drawing...
iCivics
Lesson 2: Misinformation
Fake news is a hot topic right now ... but what is it? Intrepid young investigators track down the facts that separate journalistic mistakes and misinformation through reading, research, and discussion. Part three in a five-lesson series...
Newseum
Reporting Part III: Staying Objective
The third and final lesson in the Reporting series tests young journalists' ability to be objective in reporting contentious topics. After brainstorming a list of contentious topics that interest them, the class selects one, and...
Curated OER
Panther Prime Time Morning News Show
Students write, direct, produce and star in a morning news show to be aired live to the student body three days a week. Fourth graders are the show's anchors amd fifth graders man the production equipment.
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 on smart source evaluation. Groups examine several articles,...
Curated OER
Getting the News about the Stamp Act
Learners review opinions of the Stamp Act as stated in colonial newspaper articles of the 1760's. They compare colonial newspapers to those of today. They take a side regarding the Tax Act and write a note to a friend explaining their...
PBS
Amid Rising Economic Inequality, Does America Need a Third Reconstruction?
Young political scientists investigate the Poor People's Campaign protest held in Washington, D.C., on June 18, 2022. They research how the event was reported in various news outlets and consider their stance on whether...
C-SPAN
Title IX
There's more to Title IX than equality in sports. The federal statute—aimed at preventing gender discrimination—guides how schools handle everything from sports to sexual assault. A series of clips from athletes and schools delves into...
Anti-Defamation League
Exploring Solutions to Address Radical Disparity Concerns
The deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Tamir Rice, and the protests that followed the 2014 shootings, are the focus of a current-events activity that asks class members to brainstorm and research possible strategies to address the...
Curated OER
Fact and Opinion Lesson Plan
How are fact and opinion different? Middle schoolers explore fact and opinion and write articles pertaining to a football match, eliminating all opinion statements in order to focus on the facts. Then they discuss bias in the media....
iCivics
Mini-Lesson B: Satire
Hey, what's so funny? Explore the use of satire in a variety of media with a hands-on lesson. Fourth in a five-part journalism series from iCivics, the activity introduces satirical language in print and online. Pupils work alone or in...
Anti-Defamation League
Soccer, Salaries and Sexism
Call it soccer, call it football, but call it unfair! the US women's soccer team has called out the US Soccer Federation for unfair treatment in terms of salaries, support, and working conditions in a lawsuit filed in 2019. Young...
Curated OER
American Media: Addicted to Scandal?
Students examine media coverage of George W. Bush's refusal to answer questions regarding past illegal drug usage in the 1999 campaign. They consider the role of rumor, scandal, audience and relevance in political media coverage.
Curated OER
How Media Shapes Perception
Students explain the impact that the media may have in shaping their intellectual and emotional responses to current events. They examine broadcast and Web-based news sites to find subtexts through the use of language, audio, and visual...