Unit Plan
Humane Education Advocates Reaching Teachers

Justice for All - Educating Youth for Social Responsibility: Grades 6-8

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Teach middle schoolers how to develop healthy relationships with activities and lessons designed to create a kind and inclusive classroom. Pupils create guidelines to develop a safe and civil learning environment. They learn how to...
Unit Plan
Department of Education (Ireland)

Assertive Communication

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Assertive communication is an acquired skill. Teaching young people to ask for what they need and to believe that they have a right to ask is at the core of a unit on assertive communication. Over the course of the unit, middle and high...
Interactive
DocsTeach

WWI Propaganda and Art

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Uncle Sam wants you! During World War II, the US government and military created a propaganda campaign to gain public support. The activity uses primary documents such as photos to explain how and why the propaganda campaign was...
Lesson Plan
2
2
Workforce Solutions

Thank You Letters

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
An important step in the job search process is sending a thank you note to any professional that has been of help. First, pupils discuss the etiquette of thank you notes, then draft a practice letter.
Lesson Plan
Newseum

Media Mix-Ups Through History: Analyzing Historical Sources

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Scholars use the E.S.C.A.P.E. (Evidence Source, Context, Audience, Purpose, Execution) strategy to analyze a historical source to determine why mistakes happen in news stories. They then apply the same strategies to contemporary flawed...
Lesson Plan
Newseum

Front Page Photographs: Analyzing Editorial Choices

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Frontpage photographs are the focus of four activities that ask young journalists to consider what the images reveal about a newspaper and its community. To begin, groups compare what images different papers from across the country use...
Lesson Plan
Newseum

Getting to the Source

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Reliable news stories are based on facts from reliable sources. Young journalists learn how to evaluate the reliability of news sources by watching a short explainer video. Teams apply their new source-digging skills to a current news...
Lesson Plan
Newseum

The Fundamentals of News

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
A short video introduces middle schoolers to different media-related news terms. Viewers then complete a worksheet and discuss the differences between news and journalism, between facts and opinions.
Lesson Plan
Newseum

Fake News Through History: Analyzing Historical Sources

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Unfortunately, fake news, fuzzy facts, and bogus news stories are not new phenomena. Class members use a "Fake News Through History" worksheet to analyze historical examples of false, invented, made-up news. Researchers share their...
Lesson Plan
Newseum

Fake News — What's the Big Deal?

For Teachers 5th - 12th Standards
In a time of fake news and alternative facts, young people must have the ability to identify it and its role. Scholars watch a video of teens reflecting on the concept of fake news and the impact of sharing fake news stories. They then...
Lesson Plan
Newseum

Civil Rights News Coverage: Looking Back at Bias

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
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...
Lesson Plan
Newseum

The Making of Fake News: A Case Study

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
"Fake News" (stories that are entirely fabricated/fictional) is the subject of a case study of the search for Jestin Coler, the creator of some of the most famous fake news stories. After reading NPR's investigative report, scholars...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Decoding Media Bias

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
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...
Activity
News Literacy Project

Fact-Check It!

For Teachers 7th - Higher Ed
Here's a lesson designed to help learners develop their digital verification skills. First, expert groups study specific digital verification skills, and in a jigsaw activity, share what they have learned with classmates. The jigsaw...
Lesson Plan
News Literacy Project

Democracy’s Watchdog

For Teachers 7th - Higher Ed Standards
As part of a study of the importance of the First Amendment, expert groups research different historic case studies of investigative reporting, and then the experts share their findings with jigsaw groups. The case studies include Nellie...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Newseum

Reporting Part III: Staying Objective

For Teachers 7th - Higher Ed Standards
The third and final lesson in the Reporting series tests young journalists' ability to be objective in reporting contentious topics. After brainstorming a list of contentious topics that interest them, the class selects one, and...
Lesson Plan
Newseum

Is It News?

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Is it news or not? That is the question young journalists must consider in a lesson plan about newsworthiness. Class members watch a short video that details five key characteristics of quality, credible news. Individuals then use these...
Lesson Plan
Newseum

Covering a Catastrophe: Evaluating Disaster News

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young journalists investigate the various ways to share news about a disaster and evaluate the pros and cons of each of these types of news. Individuals then select two different forms of media reports of a recent disaster. Using the...
Lesson Plan
Newseum

'The Press and the Civil Rights Movement' Video Lesson

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed Standards
Scholars watch a video featuring journalists who covered the civil rights movement, then respond to questions on a viewing guide. The video features interviews with participants and original news footage from the 1950s and 1960s. In...
Lesson Plan
Newseum

Is This Story Share-Worthy?

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young journalists use a "Is This Story Share-Worthy?" flowchart graphic to decide whether a story is worth sharing online. Instructors provide groups with fake news, poor quality stories, opinion pieces, biased news, and high-quality...
Lesson Plan
Newseum

Free Press Challenges Through History: Analyzing Historical Sources

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The debate over the integrity of stories in media is not new. Young journalists analyze historical sources that reveal freedom of the press controversies and draw parallels to challenges freedom of the press faces today. 
Lesson Plan
Newseum

Covering a Catastrophe: Press Conference Simulation

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Young journalists have an opportunity to experience the challenges of covering a catastrophe by staging a mock press conference. Half the class acts as reporters while the others act as officials from the mayor's office.
Lesson Plan
Newseum

Breaking News: Tracing the Facts

For Teachers 4th - 8th Standards
Breaking news reports can be short of facts. Young journalists select a pair of news articles about a disaster; one published within hours of the event and the second published the following day. They examine whether facts in the report...
Lesson Plan
2
2
National Endowment for the Humanities

Themes in Lord of the Flies

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
William Golding's Lord of the Flies is the anchor text for a lesson that teaches readers how to distinguish between a literary topic and a literary theme. Using the provided worksheets, groups first chart some themes and propose a...

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