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Lesson Plan
Newseum

You Can’t Say That: Right to Know vs. Security Risk

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Print or block? That is the question young journalists debate as part of their study of the freedom of the press. Half the class represents the journalists' legal team, and the other half represents the government's legal team. Teams...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Quick Skim or Deep Dive? Picking the Right Search Strategy

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
To search online to find answers to some questions requires only a quick skim, while others demand deep research. Scholars engage in a lesson that teaches them the difference and how to craft questions that produce the best online search...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Is It Fair?

For Teachers 7th - Higher Ed Standards
Young journalists learn how to analyze word choice, context, and counterpoints to judge the fairness of a news story. They practice using these tools to judge a series of headlines for the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. They...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Civil War: Encoding the News

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Young journalists learn to appreciate the advantages of how modern media technology enables rapid news delivery as they compare today's media revolution to how the telegraph and Morse Code revolutionized news coverage during the Civil...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Bias Through History: Analyzing Historical Sources

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young journalists use the E.S.C.A.P.E. (evidence, source, context, audience, purpose, and execution) strategy to evaluate historical and contemporary examples of bias in the news. The class then uses the provided discussion questions to...
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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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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Anonymous Sources in Our Daily News

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young journalists search for two examples of news stories, either published or online, that use anonymous or unnamed sources. They then consider the possible motives for why the sources remain unidentified, the types of stories that use...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Give Women the Vote? Analyzing Suffrage Propaganda

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Propaganda is often used to shape public opinion. Scholars investigate the persuasive techniques used by the pro- and anti-suffrage movements. Groups compare how these devices were used during the suffrage movement with how the same...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Search Boosters: How Content Creators Can Game the System

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Scholars examine the techniques content creators use to boost their search rankings. After watching a short "Search Boosters" video, groups select a story from the "News or Noise? Media Map" and analyze the devices used in the story. The...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Civil Rights: Turning Points

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
As part of a civil rights movement study, groups select an event from an interactive timeline that they feel marks a turning point in the struggle. After collecting evidence to support their choice, the teams develop a multimedia...
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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. 
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Persuasion Portfolios

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
After class members brainstorm a list of current social and political issues, groups each select a different topic from the list to research. Teams create a portfolio of at least 10 examples of stories about their issue, stories that...
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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.
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Civil Rights: Knowns and Unknowns

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Class members generate a list of research questions to review the civil rights movement and determine what scholars still need to learn. Groups then select a different compelling question, create a hypothesis and find evidence to support...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Photo Ethics: News Independence

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young journalists read a case study about an annual school tradition of a streaker running across the football field after the homecoming game. Small groups then decide whether or not to cover the story and whether or not to include a...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Breaking News: Tracing the Facts

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Breaking news reports can be short of facts. Young journalists select a pair of news articles about a disaster; one published within hours of the event and the second published the following day. They examine whether facts in the report...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Before and After: Analyzing Turning Points in History

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Scholars examine front-page news stories to gather evidence about significant historical events. They hypothesize how these events changed people's lives who lived through them and how they continue to impact lives today.
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Introduction to the First Amendment: What’s a Violation?

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Young historians take an in-depth look at the five freedoms granted by the First Amendment. Groups apply their knowledge of the freedoms to a series of scenarios to decide if the depicted actions represent a violation of the amendment.
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

The Women Who Made the Movement

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Granting women the right to vote was a long time coming and took many efforts. Young historians select one woman involved in the suffrage movement to research. They compare and contrast the depictions of their subject in mainstream and...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

News About My Community

For Teachers 6th - 8th
After researching statistics about their community in local census reports, young journalists interview a resident about their interests and then analyze a local newspaper or homepage to see how similar the stories are to the residents'...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

The First Amendment in Action Today

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Young activists research a community issue and apply the rights defined in the First Amendment to develop a proposal that would solve the issue—using Pinterest's board "The Freedom to Make A Change Posters" as examples, groups design a...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Is This Story Share-Worthy?

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young journalists use a "Is This Story Share-Worthy?" flowchart graphic to decide whether a story is worth sharing online. Instructors provide groups with fake news, poor quality stories, opinion pieces, biased news, and high-quality...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Making a Change: Letter From Birmingham Jail

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter From Birmingham Jail" was written in response to "A Call for Unity," written by eight white ministers from Birmingham and published in the local newspaper. After reading both letters and following a list...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

You Can't Say That in School? The Case of Lee v. Weisman

For Teachers 7th - 12th
The Supreme Court case Lee v. Weisman is the focus of a lesson that examines religion in public schools. After reading a summary of the case and before reading the verdict, pupils use their knowledge of the First Amendment to discuss the...