Make your scholars more aware of stereotypical portrayals in film and television. Discuss the definition of "stereotypes" and how they are used to present a story. High schoolers look at specific television shows and complete a chart...

Students observe human psychology by completing a media analysis worksheet. In this parent and teen communication lesson, students identify the main programs on television today and how sex is used to sell the program as well as...

Young scholars discuss the relationship teenagers have with the television. In groups, they watch different excerpts from various television shows and note every instance of violence including children. They also discuss the instances...

Are your students aware of the effect advertising can have on their self-image, self-esteem, and happiness? This lesson from the Media Awareness Network is aimed at increasing that awareness and mitigating any negative effects it might...

In this journal writing worksheet, students brainstorm about violence they have seen on TV and in video games. Students write about the harmful effects this violence can have on society.

A study of how public perception is both reflected and influenced by film and television, this instructional activity helps students develop an awareness of audience as well as a critical view of media. Depictions of police in television...

Even young children watch sports and like team logos and products. It's never too early to think critically about what's onscreen. This exercise develops awareness that media communicate values (i.e. who participates in sports and who...

Students consider what makes a movie, television show, musical talent, or artist a cult classic and create descriptive lists of items from these phenomena that may be sold at auction.

Propagandists have many tools at their disposal to influence thinking and behavior. Among the most powerful are the visual tools, posters designed to grab the attention and stir the emotions of viewers. Check out this collection of...

Dora, Buzz Lightyear, Mufasa. Swiper, Dr. Porkchop, Scar. The six lessons in this unit packet focus on how good and evil, and violence, are portrayed in children's animation. The lessons encourage kids to consider how violence is...

Visit the Magic Treehouse and take your class on a trip through time with a reading of the children's book Mummies in the Morning. Using the story to spark an investigation into Egyptian culture, this literature unit engages...

Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass serves as the anchor text for a lesson on symbolism. Readers use the provided worksheets to examine the symbols in the novel as well as in the world around them.

Get the bat facts with a short nonfiction reading passage. After reading the passage, readers respond to questions that focus on main idea, inferencing, vocabulary in context, and author's purpose.

Learners explore Teaching the American Twenties, noting fashion, life styles, Hollywood, key authors, key people, and key events. They explore the sites and note what they can identify from the time period for this collection. They write...

To develop their reading comprehension skills, learners read short paragraphs, summarize the passage in one sentence, and then develop an appropriate title that indicates the main idea of the selection.

Should that pause in your sentence be long, short, or somewhere in between? Practice using commas and semicolons with a series of grammar activities. High schoolers read a series of sentences and paragraphs and decide where they should...

High schoolers view commercials from American and Latin American cultures and discuss the values and selling strategies used in each commercial.

Get your class on track with their affixes by covering prefixes, suffixes, and root words in depth. This short three-lesson unit includes vocabulary lists to study, detailed plan procedures, and some accompanying worksheets.

The artistic choices Art Spiegelman made in his graphic novel, Maus, are the focus of an exercise that asks class members to compare classic comic book forms with Spiegelman’s panels and frames. Directed to specific pages and guided by a...

Imagine being one of the painters in 1910 at the Lyme Art Colony in Connecticut. Using the Florence Griswold Museum's on-line resources to gather information about the daily life of artists at the boardinghouse, learners write a letter...

Once the class learns about the hero's journey, they'll find it in every story and movie they see! Take characters from their humble beginnings to their atonement and apotheosis with a set of lessons about the hero's journey...

Although students are aware of news as information that influences their perceptions of the world, they are often unaware of the various ways to present that information. Encourage them to investigate, discuss, analyze and make valuable...

Experiment with multimedia storytelling. After watching a segment of American Family, first, middle and high schoolers tell a story about their families, clarifying the setting, characters, and script. They work on setting...

Polish preposition usage with this practical grammar reference sheet and exercise. This hand-out provides a brief breakdown of when to use the basic prepositions at, on, in and to as well as example sentences that include these basic...