Georgia's law S.B. 202 is at the center of a lesson that asks young scholars to examine what critics say are Georgia's attempts to limit voting access to Black voters. Groups then investigate the voting laws in their own state, as well...

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...

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.

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...

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.

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...

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...

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...

Be curious! Seek out different opinions! Be conscious of your thinking process! After reading an article about confirmation bias and motivated reasoning, class members apply these strategies to the topic of school start times. They read...

To understand the importance of the wording of the articles of the First Amendment (freedom of religion, freedom of speech and the press, and freedom to assembly and petition), teams argue before a jury for draft amendments of one...

To understand how personal perspectives can affect policy and politics, scholars examine the woman suffrage media map and historical artifacts to analyze arguments for and against women's suffrage. Class members then take on the role of...

Working in teams, pairs, or individually, scholars select one resource from a gallery of historical sources and consider which examples might be considered propaganda, the techniques used to persuade audiences, and evaluate how the...

Is it news or not? That is the question young journalists must consider in a lesson about newsworthiness. Class members watch a short video that details five key characteristics of quality, credible news. Individuals then use these tips...

Young journalists are presented with scenarios that involve media ethics. They must decide in each case whether to cover the story, what they would cover, and if covered, what the angle would be.

Do not try this at home! At school! Or any other place! Groups of young journalists discuss the ethics of publishing photos of school peers performing dangerous stunts. They share their decision with the class and explain their reasoning.

"Fake News" (stories that are entirely fabricated/fictional) is the subject of a case study of the search for Jestin Coler, the creator of some of the most famous fake news stories. After reading NPR's investigative report, scholars...

As part of a study of the First Amendment, young historians research instances when individuals or groups used the First Amendment to change the United State's laws or policies. Teams are each assigned a different case study. With the...

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...

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...

Scholars use the E.S.C.A.P.E. (Evidence Source, Context, Audience, Purpose, Execution) strategy to analyze a historical source to determine why mistakes happen in news stories. They then apply the same strategies to contemporary flawed...

Frontpage photographs are the focus of four activities that ask young journalists to consider what the images reveal about a newspaper and its community. To begin, groups compare what images different papers from across the country use...

With the advent of photo manipulation software, it is possible to digitally edit a photograph in a way that is virtually undetectable. The question asked of young journalists in this instructional activity is whether such manipulation is...

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...

After reviewing persuasion techniques, young historians examine how a specific technique was used in the pro- or anti-suffrage messages. They then examine how that same technique is used in modern-day media messages.