This is not just a New York Time article to read, this is a set of amazing activity ideas all related to the slide shows "Breaking Bread Everywhere" and "Where Children Sleep." Your class can view each show, read about what they mean...

Learners participate in a variety of emergent and early-literacy activities based on a "friendship" theme. Learners listen to the book Do You Want to Be My Friend by Eric Carle, then echo read, choral read, and independently read...

Make your class aware of the difference between media violence and real violence. Using prior knowledge, a video clip, and a worksheet, class members explore and discuss the unrealistic portrayal of violence in the media. Learners...

What is a media baby? Discuss at what age children should be exposed to electronic media. After reading an article, they identify the types of media products for infants and toddlers. Learners will predict the effects of media on the...

A lesson in personal finance can be the most valuable part of a high school education. Connect the basics of banking with informational reading skills in a lesson that prompts teenagers to answer a series of questions based on...

Readers decode and deconstruct political cartoons to heighten critical thinking, extra-textual literacy, and making meaning from symbolism and metaphor. A compatible activity to use in English class when your 8th or 11th graders are...

To protect young people from questionable content, many schools limit access. This resource suggests that because learners can so readily avail themselves to unrestricted Internet access, it is vital for 21st century...

What do figures of speech have to do with financial literacy? Take an interdisciplinary look at The Berenstain Bears' Trouble with Money to find out. Young analysts read about the cubs' spendthrift ways and how Mama and Papa Bear...

How can the media foster cultural misunderstandings? These activities encourage learners to distinguish between fact and opinion in the media

Literacy tests, poll taxes, grandfather laws? Scholars study the systematic ways African-Americans were kept from voting even after it was made a law. They analyze a series of primary source documents, complete a worksheet, and engaged...

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...

We are bombarded with media images expressly designed to influence viewers. Learning how to analyze the intended effects of these images is essential and the focus of an activity that asks viewers to use the provided questions to guide...

The debate over voting rights continues. To begin their study of voting rights, class members first vote on proposed new classroom rules. After a discussion of the activity, groups are given a copy of the 1965 Alabama Literacy Test and...

How many treats do you buy each week? Learners investigate diets and how the media tricks consumers into purchasing unhealthy snacks. They will investigate the designs and logos affiliated with cereal boxes and identify specific phrases...

Visual literacy can be experienced in many different ways. Learners discuss the times, graphic art, and cultural significance of activism in art as they explore artist and Black Panther, Emory Douglas. This is a discussion-based lesson...

If your class is observing World Religion Day in January, use this resource to provide a research and response opportunity. A short informational reading (available as an MP3 download for auditory learners and listening exercises) is the...

Women in power are the focus of a three-module unit that employs comic books to bring home the importance of equality and proficient media literacy skills. In module one, scholars examine gender roles in media—boosting media literacy and...

Students participate in Valentine's Day writing and literacy center activities. In this writing and literacy lesson, students develop Valentine's Day journals using recycled cards and small blank sheets of paper. They write sentences...

Conduct a classroom conversation about communication using this resource as a jumping-off point. For this The Learning Network activity, learners read an excerpt from The New York Times opinion piece, "The Flight From Conversation," and...

What does it take to train your brain? Learners explore the question as they experiment with their own memory and motor skills. They attempt to trace an object using a mirror and then score their results over several trials. They then...

Examine the role of social media in social and political uprisings. Pupils listen to NPR audio clips about social media and the Arab Spring and read an article that proposes the idea that revolution will not happen through social media....

The Mexican-American war marked a significant moment in United States history, as well as in the history of American media. The mid-nineteenth century saw the introduction of the Penny Press, which provided many American citizens with...

In this engaging activity involving close analysis of abstract expressionist art, your class members will not only discover more about artist Friz Scholder's Native American art, but they will also have the opportunity to consider...

To understand the challenges Black voters faced in Mississippi, middle schoolers first gather background information about Fannie Lou Hamer and then read her testimony given during the 1964 Democratic Nation Convention. After a...