A unit study of the importance of a free press in a democracy begins with class members listening to a podcast featuring two journalists, one from a United States public radio station and one from Capetown, South Africa. The lesson,...

What was the Untied States like in 1938? What were the concerns of Americans in the post World War I era? What were their fears? What were their sources of news and entertainment? To understand the reaction to Orson Welles' radio...

How can social media help or hinder civil dialogue? How can information shared on social media be verified? As the investigation of media reports of the events surrounding the shooting of Michael Brown continues, class members read...

To conclude their case study of media coverage of the shooting of Michael Brown by a Ferguson, Missouri, police officer, class members consider the role of citizen watchdogs in a democratic society, develop strategies for combating...

Many of the issues facing 21st Century learners are challenging and even discussing these issues can be a challenge. So how do teachers prepare learners for these difficult conversations? How do instructors create a safe classroom where...

Is there a difference in the way organizations present news via social media and in print? The third in a series of 16 lessons from The Social Media Toolbox explores news outlets and their delivery methods. Groups follow a story for a...

Tweet all about it! Junior journalists explore the Twittersphere to determine its effectiveness as a news broadcasting tool in the 12th installment of the 16-part Social Media Toolbox. Participants follow and record their observations of...

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...

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...

"Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;. . ." Why is this guarantee of free speech and a free press the First Amendment to the US Constitution? Why are these rights so essential to a...

One picture but a thousand stories. As a part of a case study of how the death of Michael Brown was reported by professional news sources and on social media class members examine the reactions of various groups to a photograph taken by...

The attempts of journalists to verify the events surrounding the shooting of Michael Brown take center stage as individuals analyze three of the initial newspaper accounts of the story. The whole class discussion then focuses...

Young scholars explore the New Deal and President FDR. In this Great Depression instructional activity, students listen to an FDR Broadcast (Fireside Chat) and read sections in their textbooks. Then, in small groups young scholars design...

Sixth graders read Under the Blood Red Sun (UBRS), V is for Victory (V), and Number the Stars(NS). They examine WWII through the eyes of Japanese, Danish, and American students and complete at least two projects: a radio broadcast and a...

In this describing trends worksheet, students read information about broadcast TV plus cable and satellite TV, observe an annual use of the media graph and describe the trends. Students also read a text about advertising, interpret a...

Young scholars identify cooking sounds and share opinions about their associations. After reading an article, they discover the growth of radio cooking shows. They prepare an outline and script for a cooking program and present their...

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...

Students learn the basic concepts necessary to produce broadcast quality audio recordings of human speech, which can then be used in professional radio or television productions.

What does it take to create news stories that are both informative and objective? Aspiring journalists walk the line between engagement and activism with lesson 15 of a 16-part series titled The Social Media Toolbox. Grouped pupils...

See how bias operates firsthand. Half of the class reads one article while the other half reads another article on the same event. The obvious differences emerge when the two sides talk about their observations though. Several handouts...

Young scholars rotate in groups of three to broadcast the morning news/announcements over the school pa system. They meet with the principal once a month to find volunteer opportunities. They also are responsible for organizing sports...

A 28-slide presentation introduces viewers to the process reports go through to track and verify developing news stories. Using the reports of the attacks at Atlanta, Georgia, massage parlors as an example, viewers are taught what to...

The trial of Derek Chauvin, former Minneapolis police officer charged in the death of George Floyd, is the focus of a lesson that asks pupils to compare how local, nationial, and international news organizations reported the testimony of...

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.