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Lesson Plan
C-SPAN

Historical Presidential Campaign Announcement Analysis

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Using the announcements of presidential candidacies, pupils consider how contenders make their initial arguments to the public. A worksheet helps structure collaborative work to analyze 10 video clips. Writing prompts allow for extension...
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Lesson Plan
Literacy Design Collaborative

A Pale Blue Dot: That's Here. That's Home. That's Us.

For Students 5th - 8th Standards
21st-century learners live in such a visual world that many are unused to letting their minds imagine the picture that words create. An excerpt from Carl Sagan's lecture, "The Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space,"...
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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...
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Lesson Plan
Rockefeller Archive Center

Understanding Mass Media News

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
In an age of fake news and photoshopped images, it is vital that 21st century learners development the skills they need to evaluate mass media and assess its validity. A great way to launch such a study is with a carefully crafted lesson...
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Lesson Plan
Media Education Lab

The Ethics of Propaganda

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
What are the short and long-term consequences for consumers and producers of modern media propaganda? Class members ponder this essential question as their unit study of ethics of propaganda concludes. After examining two case studies,...
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Lesson Plan
Media Education Lab

Understanding Viral Messages

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Imagine advertising for a product but not being paid to do so. Welcome to the world of Viral Messaging. Class members first view a T-Mobile flash mob video that went viral and has been seen by over 14 million viewers. After analyzing the...
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Lesson Plan
Media Education Lab

Propaganda in Context

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
"Board Game Helps Fight Real World Ebola," a video produced by Voice of America, provides the text for a guided instructional activity that asks viewers to analyze the propaganda techniques used in the video. Groups then select a example...
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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...
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Lesson Plan
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Facing History and Ourselves

#IfTheyGunnedMeDown

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
As part of their continued investigation of the reporting of the shooting of Michael Brown class members analyze photos of Michael Brown and the social media response to these images. The class then develops a guide they believe news...
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Lesson Plan
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Facing History and Ourselves

The Power of Images

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
One picture but a thousand stories. As a part of a case study of how the death of Michael Brown was reported by professional news sources and on social media class members examine the reactions of various groups to a photograph taken by...
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Unit Plan
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MENSA Education & Research Foundation

Media Literacy

For Teachers 4th - 9th Standards
Young learners today are bombarded by media manipulation. Help them develop the skills they will need to become savvy 21st century media consumers with a unit on media literacy.
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Lesson Plan
iCivics

Propaganda: What’s the Message?

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
As class members progress through eight fully prepared learning stations, they will identify how bias is present in persuasive media, as well as differentiate among types of propaganda techniques like bandwagon propaganda and the use of...
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Lesson Plan
Media Smarts

Selling Obesity

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Learners examine health issues that are associated with our fast food culture, and the advertising of it. They begin with a snack-food survey to assess their own eating habits. Pupils are encouraged to think critically throughout the...
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Lesson Plan
Media Smarts

Perceptions of Youth and Crime

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Explore the potential for bias in the news and in scholars' own attitudes and opinions. Begin with a quiz on youth crime to see how learners perceive crime among their peers. After looking at the correct answers, put individuals in...
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Lesson Plan
Media Smarts

Images of Learning: Secondary

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Make your scholars more aware of stereotypical portrayals in film and television. Discuss the definition of "stereotypes" and how they are used to present a story. High schoolers look at specific television shows and complete a chart...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Amid Rising Economic Inequality, Does America Need a Third Reconstruction?

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young political scientists investigate the Poor People's Campaign protest held in Washington, D.C., on June 18, 2022. They research how the event was reported in various news outlets and consider their stance on whether "poverty is...
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Lesson Plan
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Anti-Defamation League

Dealing with the Social Pressures that Promote Online Cruelty

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Why do people engage in cyberbullying? What can be done about it? These are the questions middle schoolers consider in a very timely lesson. Participants view PSA announcements, read a case study, and participate in scenarios designed to...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Alienstock: Analyzing Information, Media, And Validity

For Teachers 7th - 8th Standards
One only has to watch MSMBC and FOX News to realize that media can present the same story in very different ways. Middle schoolers have an opportunity to test their ability to determine the validity and trustworthiness of information by...
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Lesson Plan
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Overcoming Obstacles

Listening Critically

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Eschew obfuscation!! High schoolers learn techniques that permit them to listen critically, sort through verbiage used to hide meaning or mislead listeners, and determine the message's validity.
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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
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Facebook

Metadata

For Teachers 9th - 12th
In previous lessons, young journalists learned about how to trace the original source of scrapes and memes. This interactive lesson plan teaches them another important step in the verification process. Participants learn how to analyze...
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Lesson Plan
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Facebook

What Is Verification?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
One of the most important skills news consumers and social media users must develop is the ability to determine the veracity of stories they read or view. Here's an interactive lesson plan that teaches high schoolers how to verify news...
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Activity
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Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library & Museum

Pearl Harbor Activity #5: The Medium Matters

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Young journalists learn that how we get our news and information matters in a collaborative social studies activity. The class is divided into three groups with the first analyzing a transcript of FDR's "Day of Infamy" speech, the second...
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Lesson Plan
Newseum

Stereotypes: Identifying One Form of Bias

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Class members brainstorm a list of people in the news (immigrants, millennials, etc.). Teams then select one to research. Using the provided worksheet and guided by a list of questions, the teams examine the stereotypes in news reports...