Curated OER
Staying Informed
Students 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 current...
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...
Curated OER
Citizens and the Media / Lesson : 3 Compare and Contrast Daily Newspapers for fact, opinion and bias
Students compare and contrast a variety of daily newspapers in order to detect bias. They critically analyze the role the media plays in responsibly reporting government activities.
Curated OER
Electronic Media
Students compare forms of electronic media. They watch a news broadcast and take notes on the content being conveyed. After viewing the broadcast, they read newspaper articles or news magazines to locate articles with similar content to...
Curated OER
Surveying Our Media
Students participate in a lesson that is concerned with the concept of examining the use of media in society. They create surveys to measure the presence of the media in everyday life. The results are collected and represented in the...
Curated OER
Alternate Histories
Students create a mixed media collage. In this visual arts instructional activity, students look at the work of Jane Ash Poitras. They create their own collage that shows their personal and collective history and experiences.
Teaching Tolerance
Evaluating Online Sources
Newspapers, television, social media ... how do people get their news? Using the informative resource, scholars locate and verify credible sources of information. Working in small groups, they discuss strategies for evaluating the...
Curated OER
Media Literacy Skills
Third graders watch a news story from three different networks in order to determine how the same story can be presented in three different ways. Next, working in small groups they create a newscast of a current event to share with the...
Curated OER
The World in 22 Minutes: Constructing a TV News Lineup
Young scholars examine several newspapers to compare front pages, headlines, and photographs, experience role of news editor, define and discuss factors that go into news judgements, and arrange twenty-two minute news broadcast by...
Curated OER
A News Story of Your Own: Sentence and Lexical Variety
Given the two-sentence skeleton of a news story about a car theft/joy ride, budding writers create their own version of the story varying diction and sentence structure to heighten interest and complexity in their writing. Resource...
Curated OER
Twenty-Five Great Ideas for Teaching Current Events
Teaching current events can be an amazingly-rewarding part of your teaching week. This resource presents twenty-five ways to incorporate current events into your curriculum. It offers some outstanding ideas, such as providing your...
Curated OER
Hazardous Waste Issues in the News
Students work together to research hazardous waste in the news. They discover how large the hazardous waste issue is. They complete an experiment and discuss how the issues affect their community.
Curated OER
Media Literacy Lesson Plans
Students familiarize themselves with the definition of media literacy and why it is important. In this media literacy instructional activity, students examine the front pages of three different types of newspapers. Students discuss the...
National History Day
Reporting on World War I
Throughout history, newspapers have reported the events of the day as they unfolded. Using primary and secondary sources from World War I, scholars uncover how the American people learned of the events of the War to End All Wars. History...
National History Day
Uncovering a World at War
Has media always had an influence on public policy? After researching and reading news articles written during World War I, learners understand the influence of communication and media. They discuss articles in small groups and as a...
Curated OER
The Campaign: Issues and Strategies. What do you think?
Students research a candidate in an election and discuss how the media portrays that candidate and how the media influences voters. In this candidate lesson plan, students also distinguish fact from opinion, look at political cartoons,...
Curated OER
Benjamin Franklin: Colonial Printer and Journalist
Fifth graders explore how important print media is to everyone's daily life. Students use present daily newspapers and they are to reproduce weather forecasts.
Curated OER
I'm a Celebrity, Get Me out of Here
Young scholars examine the presence of the paparazzi. In this media awareness activity, students visit the noted Web sites to determine the influence and support that the paparazzi enjoys in modern society. Young scholars create guides...
Curated OER
Ad Awareness from Admongo.gov
Students explore mass media by completing worksheets in class. For this consumerism lesson, students discuss the meaning behind advertisements and how they are used in television, the Internet and print. Students analyze a group of ads...
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Lesson Plan: The Black Press
Students examine the history of the black press. In this media awareness lesson, students watch videos and conduct research regarding the history of the black press in America. Students explore media careers as they read provided...
Curated OER
You Are There: Television News Reports on Apartheid
Students, in groups, research apartheid and its effects on South Africa. They present their information to the class.
Curated OER
Propaganda/Stereotypes Used in the Media
Students write a character sketch on a television character who they feel is a stereotype. In this propaganda/stereotype lesson, students discuss the definition of the terms and ways that the media uses both. Students relate the use of...
Curated OER
Mixed Media Painting
Students create mixed media still life paintings in this "Happy Accident" art lesson introducing the concepts of using pen and ink, watercolors, and pastels. The lesson can be adapted for various grade levels and abilities ranging from...
Curated OER
Media And Foreign Policy
Students examine the impact and importance media has in shaping public views by examining poll surveys, comparing video clips and participating in a role-playing exercise.