Curated OER
Create a Magic Lantern Show; Freed People in the Reconstruction South
Engage your scholars by having them create "magic lantern shows" inspired by the film Dr. Toer's Amazing Magic Lantern Show: A Different View of Emancipation. As they study the South's Reconstruction through primary...
Smarter Balanced
A New Kind of News
Newspapers and broadcast news. Social media, blogs, and blogospheres. Class members generate a list of news sources they use to get information about events. The big idea here is to introduce the necessary vocabulary and to establish a...
Mark Twain Media
Understanding Informational Text Features
Everything you need to know about informational text features can be found in this resource. Recognizing these types of text features and how they are used in text allows readers to better understand information. Teachers...
Curated OER
Myth and Truth: The First Thanksgiving
Encourage learners to think critically about common myths regarding the Wampanoag Indians in Colonial America. They discover that behind every myth are many possible explanations—and that learning more about American history helps them...
National Geographic
Altitude: What's in the Air?
Introuduce your scientists to the differences in air at varying altitudes with a colorful explanatory graph. After some discussion, they view unbelievable footage of mountain-climbing Leo Houlding and a narrative about how he might do...
Fluence Learning
Writing About Literature: What Is Happiness?
Jack London's heart for adventure has come to define the spirit of America and its frontier. Selected passages from the foreword The Cruise of the Snark take eighth graders through London's construction and voyage of his ship before...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
The Day the Mesozoic Died
While this is not the traditional, step-by-step lesson plan, it is chock-full of material that you can easily incorporate into your earth history unit. Its main purpose is to serve as a guide to using a three-part film, The Day the...
Teaching Tolerance
Film Festival
Everybody's a critic—even your pupils! Using the included resources as a guide, screen films related to social justice and ask film enthusiasts to critique them. Publish the reviews for your school community or develop a film festival...
Curated OER
Interpreting & Verifying the News in an Era of Info Overload
Students practice their critical thinking skills. In this media awareness instructional activity, students read articles about media overload and interpretation of media. Students respond to discussion questions and discuss how...
Curated OER
Evaluating Web Sites for Bias
Students become familiar with checklist they use to evaluate Web content for bias. They use the checklist to evaluate two Web sites from very different sources.
Curated OER
Radio Free America?
Students explore the controversy over the recent FCC vote to loosen restrictions on media ownership. After researching the background and position of local radio stations, students evaluate and make recommendations about free speech.
Curated OER
Teen Scene
Students examine what teenagers value most, and discuss the trend of decadent sixteenth birthday parties. They read an article, analyze forms of teen-focused media, and create a visual presentation on their media analysis.
Curated OER
Do You Know Your Health IQ?
Students define common medical terms. they prepare quizzes on health-related topics to administer to both peers and adults. They write analysis papers based on their findings.
Curated OER
Le Grand Voyage
Eighth graders work in collaborative groups to research a country of their choosing. Groups use the internet to their country and plan a trip to that location. Students complete a multi-media presentation of their country, following a...
Curated OER
Lessons from the Holocaust
Students investigate the horrors of World War II by participating in a role-playing activity. For this holocaust lesson, students read handouts describing the atrocities committed against the Jews in Germany during the mass...
Curated OER
Straight Talk On Tough Issues
Students engage in a lesson plan that is focused upon the concept of breast cancer and research is conducted using a variety of reference sources. They reflect upon how different people deal with the tragedy of cancer and then students...
Curated OER
The Art of Violence
Violence and human suffering, as represented in art and film, are the focus of an investigation of the power of visual images and the moral implications of such representations. Class members examine “Guernica,” Pablo Picasso’s massive...
Curated OER
Tutors & Readers Theater
Students complete literacy service learning projects. In this literacy lesson, older students work with younger students to tutor them in reading and writing. They help prepare a Readers Theater for the younger students.
Curated OER
Children's Media and Censorship
Students examine the point of censorship when dealing with Students. They explore essays by Stephen King.
NPR
Distracted by Everything - Being Wired at All Times
This multimedia activity challenges media-savvy learners to look at the critical issue concerning the inundation of technology and multitasking in the classroom, and its effects on the education of themselves and others. The tasks...
Curated OER
Scapegoating and Othering
Scapegoating and "Othering" is the focus of a series of activities that ask groups to consider how these behaviors contribute to hatred and intolerance. Groups are given a scenario and discussion questions based on the situation. Whether...
Curated OER
Water: From Neglect to Respect
The goal of this collection of lessons is to make middle schoolers more aware of the ways in which they are dependent upon water to maintain their standard of living. Learners compare water use in Lesotho to water use in the United...
Curated OER
Understanding Different Views on Death
A thought-provoking lesson presents how different cultures view death. Upper elementary through high school pupils engage in a series of activities that will leave them with a new understanding of how death is dealt with globally....
Curated OER
Modern Interpretations
To conclude an eight-lesson study of the events that occurred in the early colonial period in Deerfield, Massachussetss, class members evaluate the point of view and bias found in late 19th and early 20th century retellings.