Letter to the Editor

Encourage your young citizens to make a difference. Using Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America as a starting point, class members watch documentaries, investigate issues, and then write letters to...

Middle schoolers aren't too young to feel strongly about politics, social issues, consumer rights, or environmental problems. Demonstrate the first steps toward social change with a project about action-oriented writing. Eighth graders...

Can your class convince the townspeople to support the rally in Carl Hiaasen's Hoot? Have your young writers exercise their persuasive writing skills in a lesson that prompts them to write a letter or a speech based on Chapter 18 from...

This learning experience fosters awareness of representations we see, and don't see, in the media. Learners list TV programs, games, and films they enjoy, identify characters' ethnic, religious, (dis)ability, and sexual orientation...

When Earth Day rolls around, a lot of kids ask why recycling is so important. Middle schoolers find out their own answers by examining 10 ordinary household items, working in a group to estimate how long it would take for each to break...

Seventh graders write letters to the editor about global warming. In this persuasive writing lesson, 7th graders analyze the content of strong and weak letters to the editor. Students research global warming and then write a strong,...

Part of a series aimed at breaking down cultural bias from the Canadian Media Awareness Network, this activity identifies where opinions do and don't belong in a newspaper. Pupils review handouts about the purpose of editorial comments...

The teenagers in your class have seen dozens of media messages between the last time you saw them and the moment they walk through your classroom door again. Help them make sense of what they are being told by corporations, news outlets,...

Analyze the motivation, purpose, and value of letters to the editor by examining letters written in response to the violence at Columbine High School. For homework, middle and high schoolers write their own letters to the editor about an...

How do facts and opinions impact the news? After reading "How to Cover a War" from the New York Times, middle schoolers evaluate the claims in the article. They also consider the media's responsibilities in reporting during wartime....