Your class experiences dozens of messages about beauty every day by reading magazines, watching movies, and listening to the radio. Have them analyze society's view of beauty in groups after discussing several resources, including...

If you are in need of a instructional activity on tolerance or the impact of media, this plan could be useful. The class begins with a brainstorming session in which they reflect on their own experiences with bias based on appearance....

Especially critical following a series of shootings in schools, theaters, and religious buildings, it's safe to say that we need to evaluate the current laws on gun control. Eighth graders read a New York Times article in order to better...

Students examine and analyze visual media and its messages critically. They determine whether specific media messages inform, entertain, or persuade and what factors influence the media. Using primary sources, they participate in peer...

Has life changed for American women in the last century, or are there common themes between the lives of 21st century women and the struggle of suffragettes from the 1910s? Explore the ways media reflects the position of women...

What makes an event newsworthy, worth a reference in a news magazine or textbook? Who decides? These are questions Marilyn Nelson asks readers of her poem "Making History" to consider. To begin, class members list details they notice in...

Students reflect on the fairness of rating movies, television, radio, books, magazines, Web sites and other media. They submit their own entries for a media rating guide.

Students examine popular media. In this media awareness lesson, students keep logs of their interactions with media and then write an essay regarding the data.

students discuss the vehicles used by media to feed images to consumers. In small groups, 9th graders are given magazines and asked to pick out the ads that appeal to them. They write responses to the questions:

Students reflect upon the the experiences of superficial comments based upon physical appearance. The expectations of others is discussed in class. Also the influences of media is stressed and its expectations are demonstrated as either...

  Students analyze Halloween costumes they find in magazines to categorize their findings.  In this holiday instructional activity, students discuss their findings about the costumes based on four different elements.  

This multimedia activity challenges media-savvy learners to look at the critical issue concerning the inundation of technology and multitasking in the classroom, and its effects on the education of themselves and others. The tasks...

Use some provocative modern art to get your class considering stereotypes and the impact they have on us all. Your class will discuss the print art Indian Look-Alike by Melanie Yazzie and stereotypes in general before...

Students consider the notion of beauty and what impact the media and popular culture have on it. In this cross curricular instructional activity, students examine print ads, write down and share their thoughts on them. Then students form...

Throughout time, innovators have taken basic ideas and changed them into creative and cutting-edge designs. Kids tackle the topic of innovations in relation to traditional or creative objects. They discuss traditional Navajo pottery then...

Albert Bierstadt is a highly celebrated artist who was able to capture the beauty of the American landscape. The class will first learn how Bierstadt explored America during the 1800s and painted the majestic countryside. Then, they will...

Learners analyze the fundamental issues relating to Canadian parliamentary democracy through the exploration of media and public opinion. A scrapbook is created containing summaries of the work performed.

Students watch a video a pre-taped TV commercials. They define propaganda and re-watch the video. Students choose a poster from Posters American Style and journal about their observations. Students use the computer lab to develop tape...

Scholars explore U.S. Foreign Policy and Cold War ideologies adopted after WWII. They conduct Internet research on a topic or issue related to the Cold War Era, watch two films, and compose a time line and a multimedia presentation to...

Students research current world political leaders, as well as the opinions of their supporters and critics, in order to create a "Present Political Leaders Hall of Fame" display for the classroom.

Students watch video of TV news clips centered on the House of Commons and then complete an information sheet.

Students establish awareness of how landforms/landmarks produce a visual image of a region and demonstrate how advertisers use the "positive geographical image" to sell their product by creating their own advertisements.

Students watch and discuss a video about teens living in and around New York and how 9-11 changed their lives. They answer discussion questions, read and discuss newspaper/magazine articles, take a self-test on depression, and create a...

High schoolers think broadly about the tsunami disaster and its aftermath through studying cartoons. Students critically think about the literary devices the authors/artists use, such as satire, metaphor and personification.