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...

As young consumers of media, it is important for high schoolers to explore concepts of bias and prejudice, and how they may be present in media. After discussing ideological messages that media can contain, individuals complete a warm-up...

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...

Young journalists use the E.S.C.A.P.E. (evidence, source, context, audience, purpose, and execution) strategy to evaluate historical and contemporary examples of bias in the news. The class then uses the provided discussion questions to...

Critical thinking and social justice are central themes for this resource on bias and crime in media. The class views and discusses an incisive PSA that highlights assumptions based on race. Small groups read newspaper opinion pieces...

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...

See how bias operates firsthand. Half of the class reads one article while the other half reads another article on the same event. The obvious differences emerge when the two sides talk about their observations though. Several handouts...

Words are powerful ... can your class choose them wisely? Scholars evaluate news articles to discover the concepts of tone, charge, and bias during a media literacy lesson. The resource focuses on recognizing implicit information and...

How do journalists balance bias and ethical reporting? The final lesson in a series of five from iCivics examines the different types of bias and how they affect the news we read. Young reporters take to the Internet to find examples of...

In a time of fake news, media manipulation, and Internet trolls, a resource equips learners with the tools they need to recognize and combat resources that are designed to appeal to our cognitive biases. Introduce learners to five...

Life is not always fair. Who's heard that before? This same concept moves to a larger scale using prejudice and bias. Pupils discuss where prejudice attitudes derive and how they develop throughout life. Reading comprehension...

Young journalists learn how to identify bias in the news media.  First, they watch a video in which a Newseum expert identifies bias in a story about the 1919 Chicago race riots. They then use what they have learned to analyze a...

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...

If you are in need of a lesson on tolerance or the impact of media, this plan could be useful. The class begins with a brainstorming session in which they reflect on their own experiences with bias based on appearance. Next, they...

Teach kids how to watch television, specifically the news, with this creative idea for learners of all ages from the Media Awareness Network. The elementary school plan focuses on presenting news as a story and uses Jon Scieszka's story...

Demonstrate the importance of evaluating and citing sources. Pupils can complete the suggested assignment provided here, or one of your choosing, while focusing on checking that the resources are credible and citing those sources...

Break an article down with a SOAPSTone chart. Class members determine the speaker, occasion, audience, purpose, subject, and tone. The chart includes a question for each of these elements, provides some clarifying text for each, and...

Alternative facts? After watching the We The Voters film, "MediOcracy," viewers compare how cable news outlets CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC report the same story about politics or public policy. After a whole-class discussion of their...

Don't feed the Internet trolls! Using a thought-provoking resource, pupils brainstorm a whole-class list of the possible kinds of bias young people may experience online. Next, in small groups, scholars create posters illustrating how to...

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...

Not all southern newspapers covered the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Young journalists investigate how The Lexington (Ky. Herald-Leader and The Jackson (Tenn.) Sun re-examined their coverage of the movement. After...

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...

When we watch news broadcasts on television, we receive a much more visual perspective than when we read the newspaper. How do sets, clothing, and music contribute to our understanding of the story? Compare American and Canadian news...

A lesson plan instills the importance of locating reliable sources. Scholars are challenged to locate digital sources, analyze their reliability, search for any bias, and identify frequently found problems that make a source unusable.