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...

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...

To conclude their case study of media coverage of the shooting of Michael Brown by a Ferguson, Missouri, police officer, class members consider the role of citizen watchdogs in a democratic society, develop strategies for combating...

If you plan to utilize the ABC miniseries, "The Path to 9/11" in your classroom, consider incorporating media literacy and research skills. After (or while) learners view the series, they discuss ways information can differ from source...

Children have rights! Exploring those rights and using media to express those rights is the focus of this Media Awareness Network instructional activity. Although some of the law links reflect the Canadian Articles of The Convention, the...

As part of their continued investigation of the reporting of the shooting of Michael Brown class members analyze photos of Michael Brown and the social media response to these images. The class then develops a guide they...

Students study reproductions of prints or murals. They interpret artworks supporting their conclusions with evidence in work and from contextual information. They focus especially on significance of artist's choice of mural or...

Seventh graders create mixed media representations of landscape designs in Africa and Asia. The lesson is great for cross-curricular projects with the Social Sciences and/or Literature, or can be used as a self-contained project. ...

Students research the Columbine tragedy. They read about the media role of watchdog on the government. Students discuss and debate how the media has been involved in the latest release of Columbine videos and other material.

Read Mary Ann Hoberman's book A House is a House for Me to introduce the idea that a library is a house for shelves of books. Young readers practice alphabetizing in the picture book (easy fiction) section of the library. They learn how...

Help learners understand their own biases and how their perspectives may have been influenced by biased media sources. They keep a journal while viewing videos, exploring websites, and engaging in class discussions related to gay and...

Explore concepts of audience, purpose and symbols in this lesson from Media Smarts that asks students to consider all the functions of music. Through a series of discussions and activities, your class will brainstorm possible functions...

A unit study of the importance of a free press in a democracy begins with class members listening to a podcast featuring two journalists, one from a United States public radio station and one from Capetown, South Africa. The...

High schoolers deconstruct advertising messages by analyzing parody ads and exploring the purpose of satire. Then they create their own parodies based on real ads discussed in class. A creative activity to extend any study of media,...

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...

The attempts of journalists to verify the events surrounding the shooting of Michael Brown take center stage as individuals analyze three of the initial newspaper accounts of the story. The whole class discussion then focuses...

Students investigate the process of making a newspaper using children's literature to create context for the lesson. The readers are asked to predict the events of the story as it is read to them. Then the teacher uses guided questions...

Eleventh graders study the importance of media through American History.  In this American History lesson, 11th graders develop teamwork skills discovering information regarding an assigned time period.  Students predict and...

Designed to support a study of women's suffrage in the United States, a primary source document set from the Library of Congress includes images, song sheets, articles, statistical documents, political cartoon, and audio recordings...

Ninth graders investigate the country of Canada by examining their media in this geography lesson plan. They use the Internet to research Canadian newspapers and analyze a topic covered by both US and Canadian media sources. After...

Students compare the coverage of two crime stories Using local or national newspapers, news magazines and other reference materials, each group trace the "unfolding" of two crime stories: The Laci Peterson investigation plus one students

Sometimes the hardest thing about an argument essay writing assignment is coming up with a question. A four-page list of prompts includes a range of topics, from social media and smart phones to video games and sports. The list is a...

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...

Ask not what the lesson here can do for you, but what you can do with the lesson. The answer is quite a lot! Young scholars revisit JFK's famous inaugural address with a focus on his plea for civic engagement. There's a...