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...

Pitch your best news story to your news team, or the peers in your journalism class, with a instructional activity about finding, reporting, and presenting a story. After watching clips of different examples, as well as...

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...

As part of a media literacy unit, class members establish criteria for good video reporting, and practice giving both positive (warm) and constructive (cool) criticism.

Explore the relationships between programming, advertising, and the ensuing rating wars. Help develop the media smarts of your pupils through this examination of advertisers for popular shows. Although the included Sweep Chart features...

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...

Students present a 2-3 minute version of a newscast. They include three of the following: news, current events, weather and sports. They design a poster to include at least four pictures to be referenced in the report. They review and...

Young scholars report on family trends, functions of the family and various ways of selecting marriage partners. In this family lesson plan, students act as editors, commercial skits, and writers for a newscast about families.

Students research underage drinking and read a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association about the issue. They interview experts on substance abuse and liquor store owners about their policies. Students publish their...

Young journalists learn how to analyze word choice, context, and counterpoints to judge the fairness of a news story. They practice using these tools to judge a series of headlines for the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. They...

Young journalists use the E.S.C.A.P.E. (evidence, source, context, audience, purpose, and execution) strategy to evaluate historical and contemporary examples of bias in the news. The class then uses the provided discussion questions to...

"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...

Students work in groups to prepare a brief broadcast or print news report from one of five possible viewpoints about an environmental contamination scenario. Students are given basic information about a chemical spill in a small town and...

A natural disaster could strike at any time: do your learners know the school and community emergency plans? Start the school year by honing research and speaking skills in a practical way with this preparedness instructional activity....

Is journalism more or less reliable with the influx of Internet sources? Learners investigate the issues of freedom of speech, journalistic ethics, and social responsibility in the age of Twitter and Facebook. After examining the...

It's not often that you come across a clever laboratory activity that is both imaginative and comprehensive! Using M&M's and Reese's peanut butter candies to represent two different clam species, young biologists test for "relative...

Seventh graders produce a newscast from an Ancient Roman city. In this journalism and history lesson, 7th graders work in groups to dramatize a historical event from the Roman Empire. students sequence the events, role-play, and create...

Young mathematicians define population, draw convenience sample from the population, draw quota sample from the population, and draw random probability sample from the population. They explain why a random probability sample usually...

Most young people don't spend a lot of time thinking about why some foods cost less than others. This resource uses clips from the documentary, Food, Inc. to explore the impact of agricultural subsidies on nutrition, health, and the...

Students investigate real world examples of media law issues. In this media law instructional activity, students read Janet Cooke’s feature and respond to the writing. Students read articles by Stephen Glass to highlight facts...

Students compare two television news broadcasts. They discuss how to organize information when comparing two objects and read and discuss two books to create a Venn diagram to compare both books. After creating the diagram, they view...

Young historians create a 1940's news radio broadcast on the five major World War II conferences, including the Atlantic, Casablanca, Tehran, Yalta, and Potsdam.

Students research the events of a specific year of the Cold War. In this Cold War lesson, students investigate the causes of the Cold War and highlight the events of a particular year.  Students create a...