Curated OER
Now That's Beautiful!
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...
Curated OER
Check It Out: Verifying Information and Sources in News Coverage
If it’s in the news it must be true, right? Prompted by a New York Times article, class members consider the importance of accuracy in reporting and validating sources. The detailed plan includes warm-up exercises, discussion questions,...
Media Smarts
Teaching TV: Enjoying Television
What makes a TV program enjoyable? As an introduction to media analysis, kids identify their favorite programs and the elements they find engaging.
101 Questions
Representative Sample
At what point does data switch from being an outlier to part of the average? Scholars view conflicting news articles about protesters. They must decide which, if any, side is using the correct sample to draw their conclusions. It's a...
Curated OER
Young People and Television
Students explore communication by participating in a role playing lesson. In this media analysis lesson, students answer surveys about their own television watching habits and compare them to the rest of the class. Students complete...
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The Sons of Sultan Bey (Libya)
Imagine you could increase reading comprehension and social media skills at the same time. Learners can read and then respond to the tale "The Sons of Sultan Bey." Their comments are guided by comprehension-style questions and can be...
Curated OER
A Free and Open Press: Evaluating the Media
Students compare and critically evaluate the different media as sources of news, develop criteria for defining "news", experience the editorial process of selecting news stories and detect bias in news reporting.
Curated OER
First Nations in the Media
Learners analyze the portrayal of Aboriginal people in the media. In this stereotype identification activity, students investigate the ways the media represents Aboriginal culture. Learners use the Internet to research, and...
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Exploring Media Messages
This lesson uses discussion and activity to help students explore how advertising and the media affect self-image. Students will learn how to recognize how advertising exploits young people.
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Race and Gender in the Media
Students analyze race and gender in the media. For this algebra lesson, students apply their knowledge of percents and ratios to determine the representation of race and gender in the media. They discuss and graph their data.
Curated OER
T.V. Smarts
Students research visual messages by completing a media quiz. In this television programming lesson, students identify the many programs and commercials which use sexual imagery to sell their program or product. Students discuss methods...
Curated OER
The Role of Television Commercials in Presidential Election Campaigns
Eighth graders investigate the evolution of the presidential election campaign. In this media awareness lesson plan, 8th graders examine the use of television commercials during campaigns and their impact as they complete worksheets...
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The Ad Campaign
Students explore how political candidates use mass media to deliver their messages to voters. Focusing on specific issues in the upcoming election, students create television commercials representing different parties' views.
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No Bigger Than a Minute
Students view a video clip about ideas displayed through images. They work together to analyze paintings and complete activities. They discuss how media representation of an issue can affect one's viewpoint.
Curated OER
Sexually Speaking
Young scholars engage in activities designed to increase self esteem, self awareness and human sexuality. They engage in a variety of activities to encourage active participation, introspection, stating and examining values, gaining...
Smarter Balanced
A New Kind of News
Newspapers and broadcast news. Social media, blogs, and blogospheres. Class members generate a list of news sources they use to get information about events. The big idea here is to introduce the necessary vocabulary and to establish a...
Curated OER
Staying Informed
High schoolers identify the various ways the American public can stay informed on the news. In groups, they brainstorm reasons why the public should not stick to one source for their news. They use this information to examine their own...
Curated OER
Current Events
Here is an ongoing activity intended to build interest in local, national, and world news. The class is divided into four groups of approximately five young scholars each. The groups are responsible for monitoring the daily news. They...
Curated OER
A Visit to the Mint
Emerging consumers recognize the types and denominations of U.S. currency. They listen to a guest speaker (if possible) and view a video. They create their own money using styrofoam and a toothpick for engraving. Consider creating...
Curated OER
Watching the Clock: An activity to build media-savvy students
Young scholars analyze time constraints on broadcast news. They apply data collecting and data display skills. They identify the difference between news progams and the evening news.
Curated OER
Violence in the Media
Students consider the impact of violence on television. In this media awareness lesson, students keep track of violent acts on television and write letters to network executives regarding violence on television.
Curated OER
Pop Art-Reflections of the Mass Media
Learners select a common object or a face, and draw or paint it on a flat surface making it larger than real life. They choose a common object or simple scene and repeat it horizontally or vertically as defined rows. They create a flat,...
Newseum
Getting to the Source
Reliable news stories are based on facts from reliable sources. Young journalists learn how to evaluate the reliability of news sources by watching a short explainer video. Teams apply their new source-digging skills to a current news...
Facebook
Versions of Media Texts
Verification of provenance and the original source of an image or video can be a long and winding process. Young journalists learn about the difficulty of finding the original source of a scrape, a copy of an original news story, and...