Curated OER
Are We Scaring Ourselves to Death?
Interesting! Have your high schoolers watch this 13-minute clip from the documentay, "Are We Scaring Ourselves to Death?" It examines the fear we have as a culture about death and whether or not the media increases those fears. The focus...
Curated OER
Student Opinion: How Should Schools Address Bullying?
Spark a disscussion about a current issue, bullying, in your classroom. This resource, published by The New York Times, provides a short article discussing a Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights passed into law in the state New Jersey followed...
Curated OER
Media Literacy Skills
You're on camera! Third graders find a news story and research it to get more information. Everyone uses their found information to write a script and create their own news broadcast!
Curated OER
Stamps are Making News
Students analyze the cost of mailing a letter since 1917, then read a news article about the increasing stamp price and new Star Wars stamps that will be available. In this current events lesson, the teacher introduces the article with a...
Curated OER
Media Coverage
Students research news coverage to examine how a local issue does not receive fair attention in the news. For this new coverage lesson, students discuss where they get their information and why some issues are ignored. Students research...
Curated OER
Getting the Word Out: From Gutenberg's Press to Zines
Learners examine the effects of Gutenberg's printing press on the world. Using this information, they create their own Zines or internet magazines about a social issue of their choice. They share their magazine with the class for...
NOAA
Stressed Out!
Are our oceans really suffering due to the choices humans make? The sixth and final installment in the volume of activities challenges research groups to tackle one of six major topics that impact ocean health. After getting to the...
Curated OER
News to the Core Reported by Very Special Students
Students create news articles that help them build their knowledge, skills, and academic confidence. In this special education lesson, students use previous knowledge to write a newsletter and demonstrate their understanding of various...
Curated OER
Role Play Debate
Suggested topics for a role play debate include school uniforms and culpability for drunk driving, but any issue of interest to your class will work. What are the hot issues in your community or on the news right now? Class members...
Social Media Toolbox
Law Review
How can your journalism class ensure they use social media responsibly and legally? The sixth lesson in a 16-part Social Media Toolbox series asks pupils to dig deep into the legal aspects of social media use by school publications....
Curated OER
Keeping News Trustworthy
Students analyze media sources. In this media awareness lesson, students consider media outlets as businesses and discuss how they present information. Students keep media logs and analyze selected newspapers, magazines. or television...
US House of Representatives
Hispanic-American Members of Congress in the Civil Rights Era, 1945–1977
New ReviewDebates around immigration in the news are not new, but they are a defining feature of the Hispanic American experience throughout the twentieth century. Looking through the lens of Hispanic Americans in Congress, class members explore...
Curated OER
Media Literacy: TV - What You Don't See!
Students examine how to evaluate what they are watching on television. They discuss hip hop music videos, compare/contrast them to other types of music videos, write a letter or press release about promoting positive teen stories, and...
Curated OER
Kids' Newsbreaks
Group learners together to identify a question relating to an issue and create a 60-second kids news break highlighting information that begins to answer the question. They research and answer issue questions in a news story format.
Curated OER
How Often Do You Interact with People of Another Race or Ethnicity?
Is interacting with people from different backgrounds part of a well-rounded education? A big question awaits young readers as they explore two New York Times articles that discuss modern-day segregation, population statistics, and...
Penguin Books
An Educator’s Guide to Chraisma by Jeanne Ryan
Often, science fiction makes a lot of connections to real life. An educator's guide for the novel Charisma by Jeanne Ryan, has readers discuss many of the real-life issues that come in the text. A brief summary helps garner interest in...
Public Media for Northern California
An Educator’s Guide to Teaching Gun Control Issues | The Lowdown
The topic of gun control is vast, controversial, and difficult to introduce to learners. This gem of a resource covers both sides of the issue and provides topic background, various multimedia and print resources, analysis questions, and...
Curated OER
Eisenhower: The Cold War
Young scholars participate in a news conference simulation. In this Cold War lesson, students research events of the conflict during Eisenhower's presidency and use the information to script and participate in a news conference with...
Curated OER
Tabloid Tales
Students write news stories to accompany tabloid headlines. In this tabloid lesson plan, students learn the power of persuasion and exaggeration by writing stories based on actual tabloid headlines.
Curated OER
Be the Press: Local Interviews, National News
Pupils examine two formats for newspaper articles, the "straight news" article and the "in depth" news article. formats for newspaper articles, the "straight news" article and the "in depth" news article. They write a newspaper article.
Judicial Learning Center
Your 1st Amendment Rights
Why should classes care about the First Amendment? An engaging lesson serves as a powerful tool for answering just that. As all four cases in the lesson relate directly to freedom of expression in schools, young scholars explore the...
Curated OER
Election 2005: Campaign Issues
Students take a closer look at the election of 2005. In this British politics lesson, students listen to a lecture about the 2005 campaign and active citizenship. Students then create collages and news boards about the election. Older...
ARKive
Galapagos Conservation
The Galapagos Islands inspired Darwin to develop his theory of evolution. These wonderful islands will also be the topic of a lesson on habitat and conservation. In small groups, learners will collect and synthesize information regarding...
National Constitution Center
Creating Your Own Town Hall Poster
Middle and high schoolers are walking into a world rife with strong political viewpoints and vocal opinions. Help to prepare them for controversial discussions with a lesson in which they choose, research, and learn more about a...