ReadWriteThink
Critical Media Literacy: Commercial Advertising
Commercial advertising—we can't get away from it, but do we realize just how often we are being advertised to? With this lesson plan, scholars analyze mass media to identify how its techniques influence our daily lives. Learners browse...
Museum of Tolerance
Developing Media Literacy
To protect young people from questionable content, many schools limit access. This resource suggests that because learners can so readily avail themselves to unrestricted Internet access, it is vital for 21st century learners to develop...
Facebook
Online Presence
What happens when an online post gets the wrong kind of attention? Learners evaluate the good, the bad, and the occasionally ugly side of social media posting with a instructional activity from a vast digital citizenship series. After...
Facebook
Social Media and Sharing
Whether it's cute cat videos or pictures from an epic vacation, scholars love to check out what's happening on social media! But, how much sharing is too much? A instructional activity from a vast digital citizenship series poses some...
Curated OER
Beyond Media Messages: Media Portrayal of Global Issues
Take a close look at news reporting techniques and global issues. Begin by creating a graphic representation of developing nations and defining the term. After class discussion, the second day's activities pick up by deconstructing news...
Newseum
The Medium Shapes the Message
Where do you get your news? Have learners examine four different publications and decide which one they would choose to read on their own time. The resource includes a list of publication types to supply and a worksheet for groups to...
Newseum
Are You a Publisher?: Free Press and You
What kinds of media do your pupils use to read and publish information? After a discussion about what publishing means, and about the freedom of the press, class members interview one or two other people about their publishing habits....
Curated OER
The Function of Music
Explore concepts of audience, purpose and symbols in this lesson from Media Smarts that asks students to consider all the functions of music. Through a series of discussions and activities, your class will brainstorm possible functions...
J. Paul Getty Trust
Exhibiting Common Threads
Artists working in different media often explore the same themes—to model how these same themes weave their way through different forms of artistic expression, scholars analyze images by Dorothea Lange, identifying key themes in her...
Facebook
Who Do You Want to Be?
Can posting art or music online lead to the career of your dreams? Inquisitive individuals consider their social media presence with a lesson from a series focusing on identity exploration and digital citizenship. Pairs put their heads...
Facebook
Healthy Relationships Online
Chatting, texting, commenting—there are so many options for online communication! How do teens know what's appropriate? Social scholars collaborate to define the elements of a healthy online relationship during an activity-packed digital...
Curated Video
Online Reputation and Cyber-bullying
Combat cyberbullying with information. During this plan, learners watch a couple of videos, consider online behavior scenarios, brainstorm long- and short-term consequences, and discuss how to react to bullying in order to build up to...
Curated OER
Information Overload: Looking at News
How do events reported in mainstream newspapers, on television news, blog posts, and social network sites differ? Ask your class to investigate the way the same news item is presented in the many information sources available. Groups...
Federal Reserve Bank
Banking on Debit Cards
What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a credit card versus a debit card? What are the costs of using a debit card irresponsibly? Here you'll find a lesson on key concepts that every learner should know regarding personal...
Facebook
Different Perspectives
What do people's social media profiles say about them? Explore diverse perspectives and digital citizenship in an activity designed with self-identity in mind. Pupils reflect on their own profiles, then collaborate to examine...
NPR
Suffrage Lesson Plan
Has life changed for American women in the last century, or are there common themes between the lives of 21st century women and the struggle of suffragettes from the 1910s? Explore the ways media reflects the position of women in the...
California Department of Education
Learn to Reach Out
How can social media help my career? Explore the world of networking through a lesson about professional organizations. The fourth of six career and college readiness lessons has seniors research organizations in their professions of...
Curated Video
Privacy Part 2
Why is online privacy so important? Explore privacy with a group assignment for which pupils create word clouds with words they associate with privacy. A discussion and online activity follow. Learners will read articles, explore the...
Curated Video
Reporting - Safety and Abuse Tool
Keep your charges safe online with instruction on how to report problems on YouTube. After providing learners with information on the Safety and Abuse Tool, demonstrate how to use the tool and discuss the feature. In groups, learners...
K20 LEARN
The Bank Of Justice: Civil Rights In The US
To launch a study of racial segregation and integration, young historians first watch a news video about a prom in Georgia that was first integrated in 2013. They then compare the goals in Lincoln's Gettysburg Address to King's "I Have a...
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...
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....
Social Media Toolbox
Cyberbullying
What can we do to make our school community more aware of cyberbullying? From The Social Media Toolbox, lesson 10 of 16 takes on the tough topic of bullying. Learners research cyberbullying through online research, then create an...
Media Smarts
Looking at Newspapers: Introduction
A scavenger hunt introduces class groups to the different sections of newspapers and the different types of articles found in each section.