Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fighting Fake News

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Fake news. Alternative facts. Internet trolls. In an age of Newspeak, it's increasingly important to equip 21st century learners with the skills needed to determine the legitimacy of claims put forth on social media, in print, and in...
Lesson Plan
Newseum

News Confusion: What Is News?

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Use headlines to help your learners understand what news is. First, present a list of categories to your class. Then instruct small groups to play a game in which they sort headlines into the categories. Discuss the result and examine...
Lesson Plan
PBS

How to Teach Your Students about Fake News

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What media literacy skills do people need to evaluate a news source? Scholars listen to and discuss an NPR story about how fake headlines often dupe young people and adults alike. Next, they study news stories, using a fact-checking...
Lesson Plan
The New York Times

Evaluating Sources in a ‘Post-Truth’ World: Ideas for Teaching and Learning about Fake News

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
The framers of the United States Constitution felt a free press was so essential to a democracy that they granted the press the protection it needed to hold the powerful to account in the First Amendment. Today, digital natives need to...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Facing History and Ourselves

The Importance of a Free Press

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
"Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;. . ." Why is this guarantee of free speech and a free press the First Amendment to the US Constitution? Why are these rights so essential to a...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Media Smarts

Bias in News Sources

For Teachers 9th - 12th
As young consumers of media, it is important for high schoolers to explore concepts of bias and prejudice, and how they may be present in media. After discussing ideological messages that media can contain, individuals complete a warm-up...
Lesson Plan
American Press Institute

Media Literacy: Where News Comes From

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What actually happens at a press conference? Make sense of the mayhem with a mock press conference activity designed to promote media literacy. Individuals participate as either members of the press or the governor's office to examine...
Lesson Plan4:49
TED-Ed

How to Choose Your News

For Teachers 9th - 12th
How do you get the truth unfiltered by middlemen? Tune into various sources and note the differences is the suggestion in a short video that begins by providing examples of how media gatekeepers have manipulated information and how those...
Activity
News Literacy Project

News Goggles: Covering a Newsworthy Trial

For Teachers 7th - Higher Ed
The trial of Derek Chauvin, former Minneapolis police officer charged in the death of George Floyd, is the focus of a lesson that asks pupils to compare how local, nationial, and international news organizations reported the testimony of...
Lesson Plan
Newseum

Fake News — What's the Big Deal?

For Teachers 5th - 12th Standards
In a time of fake news and alternative facts, young people must have the ability to identify it and its role. Scholars watch a video of teens reflecting on the concept of fake news and the impact of sharing fake news stories. They then...
Lesson Plan
Newseum

The Speed of News: Where Do We Get the News?

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Times are changing. One change is the way people get and share the news. Class members pair up and interview one another to find out how their peers get news. After compiling their findings, young reporters interview an adult, compile...
Lesson Plan
Newseum

Covering a Catastrophe: Press Conference Simulation

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young journalists have an opportunity to experience the challenges of covering a catastrophe by staging a mock press conference. Half the class acts as reporters while the others act as officials from the mayor's office.
Lesson Plan
Newseum

Are You a Publisher?: Free Press and You

For Teachers 4th - 8th
What kinds of media do your pupils use to read and publish information? After a discussion about what publishing means, and about the freedom of the press, class members interview one or two other people about their publishing habits....
Lesson Plan
Newseum

E.S.C.A.P.E. Junk News

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Fair, balanced, and reputable information? There's an acronym for that! Scholars learn the E.S.C.A.P.E. method for evaluating news sources. Then, pupils work in small groups to read and analyze a news story and discuss the activity to...
Lesson Plan
Media Smarts

Definitions and Comments about the News

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Enable your class to construct a definition of the word "news" and compare it those provided from other sources. The activity, worksheet, and discussion that ensues would make a strong introduction to any media study you undertake.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Television News

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Different media sources portray news in a variety of ways. In groups of three, learners look at different news sources, bringing in all the findings the next day. Three handouts help scholars compare sources, define specific terms used...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

News Journalism Across the Media: Introduction

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Although students are aware of news as information that influences their perceptions of the world, they are often unaware of the various ways to present that information. Encourage them to investigate, discuss, analyze and make valuable...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Johannes Gutenberg and the Printing Press

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students use library or online resources to create time lines on the life of Johannes Gutenberg and tell the impact his invention, the printing press, had on the development of newspapers.
Unit Plan
American Press Institute

Introductory News Literacy

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Aspiring journalists learn about media literacy, journalism, and the press. Units come complete with handouts, assignment rubrics, notes, and extension suggestions. Each unit also comes with a list of vocabulary words and learning...
Lesson Plan
2
2
Facing History and Ourselves

Citizen Watchdogs and the News

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
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...
Lesson Plan
Newseum

Fake News Through History: Analyzing Historical Sources

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Unfortunately, fake news, fuzzy facts, and bogus news stories are not new phenomena. Class members use a "Fake News Through History" worksheet to analyze historical examples of false, invented, made-up news. Researchers share their...
Lesson Plan
Newseum

The Fundamentals of News

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
A short video introduces middle schoolers to different media-related news terms. Viewers then complete a worksheet and discuss the differences between news and journalism, between facts and opinions.
Lesson Plan
Newseum

Free Press Challenges Through History: Analyzing Historical Sources

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The debate over the integrity of stories in media is not new. Young journalists analyze historical sources that reveal freedom of the press controversies and draw parallels to challenges freedom of the press faces today. 
Lesson Plan
Newseum

The Press and the Presidency: Friend or Foe? How the President Is Portrayed

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
In theory, news reports should be fair and unbiased. Young journalists test this theory by selecting a current news story covered by various media outlets about the President of the United States. They then locate and analyze five...

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