Lesson Plan
National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science

Cell Phone Use and Cancer

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
The cell phone you're using is making you deaf: news at 11:00. Oftentimes, the media uses fear tactics and other techniques to increase its audience base. In an intriguing look at the difference between scientific journals and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Press-ing Freedom

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students consider how free speech applies to journalistic practices in light of a legal case involving two reporters. They participate in a fishbowl discussion about journalism codes of ethics and write response papers.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Hurricane Katrina: You Be the Reporter

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners 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.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Media Arts Production

For Teachers All
Students learn about the basic legal and ethical responsibilities shouldered by people making "reality" videos (i.e. videos with non-actors).
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Your Angle on the Story

For Teachers 9th - 12th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Teaching The Personality Profile

For Teachers 9th - 11th
Students write a comprehensive personality profile feature that demonstrates knowledge of the Wall Street Journal formula of feature writing and the concept of show, don't tell. They experience a press conference interview situation.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Exploring Ethical Issues

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers learn about ethical issues and its connection to journalism. Students examine examples of ethical issues some journalists have faced. in small groups, high schoolers collaborate to write a code of ethics for their school...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

CNN Interactive: Reading, Discussing and Writing

For Teachers Higher Ed
Students access the internet for current news articles; increase awareness of issues in world news; to read critically; and to write critical reactions.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Clear and Present Danger

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Students assume identities of lawmakers, judges, writers, and protestors during times in American history when freedoms of speech and press were limited because country was on the brink of war or fighting one. Students use primary source...
Lesson Plan
Newseum

Case Study: The Execution of Ruth Snyder (1928)

For Teachers 7th - Higher Ed
The case of the 1928 execution of Ruth Snyder takes center stage in a lesson that asks young journalists to consider the ethics involved in publishing an image of an execution. A series of discussion questions ask individuals how they...
Lesson Plan
Newseum

Is It Fair?

For Teachers 7th - Higher Ed Standards
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...
Lesson Plan
Media Education Lab

Propaganda in Context

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
"Board Game Helps Fight Real World Ebola," a video produced by Voice of America, provides the text for a guided instructional activity that asks viewers to analyze the propaganda techniques used in the video. Groups then select a example...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Commemorating a Tragedy

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers read newspaper articles and watch segments on the anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. In groups, they discuss how each media outlet presented the material and decide which one was more productive. As a class, they...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How green is your school?

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students read about Sidwell Friends School and the Green School concept and develop coverage for their student media. They employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using a Graphic Organizer to Critically Observe Televised News Broadcasts

For Teachers Higher Ed
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Comparing News Sources: Where Would You Turn?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars follow the study of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and attempts to connect the thematic underpinnings of the novel to Students' own lives.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Nellie Bly's Newspaper Club: Introducing the Science of Writing

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students evaluate a video about Nellie Bly, a famous reporter from the 19th century. They consider what makes a high-interest news article, write an essay in pairs and present it a literary tea.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Scoop Through Desktop Publication

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Drafting, revising, and editing is all apart of the publishing process. Using a series of documents as inspiration, young journalists compose a class Newspaper. They work independently and in groups to publish their own articles.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Macbeth News Broadcast

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Here is an authentic assessment task for Shakespeare's Macbeth. Young literature scholars prepare, perform, and record a news broadcast about the major events in the play. For example, groups may choose to report on the death of Lady...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

British Army Recruitment

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Read and discuss the vocabulary related to a news article about a new recruitment campaign for the British army. High schoolers read the article, define key vocabulary terms, identify suffixes from the article, and complete a variety of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Getting A Story

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Students encounter the do's and dont's to journalism writing. Students unearth the facts of a story by watching an animated clip. Students grasp the deeper understanding of the facts of a story and how to write it correctly.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poetry

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Students reflect on a news report through poetry. Students write a poem based on this week's news events. Students share poems with each other. Students reflect on a poem of their choosing.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Press Freedom Versus Military Censorship

For Teachers 11th
Eleventh graders explore the term terrorism.  In this US History lesson plan, 11th graders participate in a press release on terrorism. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Ethics of Embedded Journalists

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students reflect upon the role of embedded journalists in today's media climate. They write about why would journalists not want to consider themselves part of the "group" that makes up the military unit they are assigned to. Also,...