Curated OER
Who influences the development of the laws?
Ninth graders explore how laws are created. They examine how committee members are selected. Students assess the influences that affect the voting of Congressional Committee Members. They identify the formal majority and minority leaders...
Curated OER
What's The Big Deal?
Fifth graders examine the role of the Gutenberg press and its effect on society. Using this information, they write a persuasive paper discussing which form of copying is easier to mass produce. They share their opinions with the class...
Facing History and Ourselves
How Journalists Minimize Bias
Class members are challenged to write a neutral news story about the events they observe in a short video. After sharing their stories in groups and discussing the different perceptions, the class concludes with a video of journalists...
Facing History and Ourselves
The Nazis in Power: Propaganda and Conformity
The Nazis used the power of propaganda to encourage confirmative views and the discrimination of Jews. A social studies resource illustrates these issues through discussion, image analysis, and a writing exercise.
Curated OER
Elements for Disaster Reporting
Students identify the elements of natural disasters and gain an understanding on how the media influences people's responses to disasters. In this natural disaster lesson plan, students study the impact of natural disasters, and the...
C-SPAN
Title IX
There's more to Title IX than equality in sports. The federal statute—aimed at preventing gender discrimination—guides how schools handle everything from sports to sexual assault. A series of clips from athletes and schools delves into...
Gateways
Teaching the Easter Story
If you are looking for a secular approach to teaching about Easter, this may just be the resource for you. Pupils read a paraphrased text depicting the last supper, arrest, and crucifixion of Jesus Christ as told in the Bible, while also...
Curated OER
Hip-Hop History and the Beastie Boys
So what about those Beastie Boys? Kids read a New York Times article relating the history of hip-hop and rap icons the Beastie Boys. They then answer eleven who, what, when, where, and why questions about the text they read.
Curated OER
Checking the Boxes
Checking boxes on any admissions application is par for the corse. How much does race selections factor into admissions decisions? Kids read a New York Times article on the topic and then answer seven who, what, when, where, and why...
Curated OER
Markets in Action
Have your class apply concepts from lectures and use from simple examples to discuss more complex problems that have been reported in the news. This is a lecture driven instructional activity with a lot of interesting information.
Curated OER
The Environment In The News
Students explore environmental issues. Using a newspaper, students scan headlines for articles related to environmental or sustainability issues. From the article title, students predict the article's intent and then read the article for...
Curated OER
Exploring the Global Security Matrix
Using online and newspaper resources, small groups explore the issue of global security. They answer 13 different questions on three pages that have them consider multiple risks posed by a global security system.
Curated OER
Got the Picture?
Students explore the power of photographic images to influence public opinion. Then, using both news images and personal photographs, they create dual timelines documenting their own life experiences and memories.
Curated OER
Walter Cronkite: Witness to History
Students brainstorm a list of news sources. They interview people about today's media and discuss their results. After watching segments of a film about Walter Cronkite, they role play as reporters and subjects from an historic period...
Curated OER
I'm a Celebrity, Get Me out of Here
Students examine the presence of the paparazzi. In this media awareness lesson, students visit the noted Web sites to determine the influence and support that the paparazzi enjoys in modern society. Students create guides to the paparazzi.
Curated OER
Is Seeing Believing?
Pupils study different photographers who started the concept of battlefield photography. In this media activity students explore how to "read" a photograph and relate the use of photography during the Civil War to current use today.
Curated OER
Violence on TV and Our Response
Students examine violence on television. In this media awareness lesson, students discuss the types of fictional and realistic violence shown on American television. Students participate in a Congressional simulation activity on the...
Curated OER
One Event: Different Perspectives
Watch selected scenes from the mini-series, The Path to 9/11, and then have your class download and explore the 9/11 Commission Report. How are these two sources similar and different? Have your learners summarize each source and compare...
Curated OER
The Influence of Media on Decision Making: Exploring Ideas of Bias in Media with a Committee of the Legislative Assembly
Eleventh graders participate in a role play about the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia. They write an essay evaluating the influence (if any) the media has on decision-making.
Curated OER
The Campaign: Issues and Strategies. What do you think?
Students research a candidate in an election and discuss how the media portrays that candidate and how the media influences voters. In this candidate lesson plan, students also distinguish fact from opinion, look at political cartoons,...
Curated OER
Art to Zoo: India-Where Remarkable Differences Are Ordinary
Students "visit" India to learn about its culture and the lives of children in India. In this India lesson, students conduct research and report on the lives of Indian children in the form of a mock interview between a journalist and an...
Curated OER
Media And Foreign Policy
Students examine the impact and importance media has in shaping public views by examining poll surveys, comparing video clips and participating in a role-playing exercise.
Facing History and Ourselves
Confirmation and Other Biases
As the investigation into the reporting of the events in Ferguson, Missouri, continues, class members consider how bias influences perception, how the tendency is to collect evidence that supports preconceived notions. The big idea...