As part of a study of media ethics, young journalists apply a fairness formula to news reports. They look at accuracy, balance, completeness, detachment, and ethics to determine if the reporting is fair.

After listening to a story called The Pot that Juan Built about Mexican clay pot maker Juan Quezda, learners discuss this artistic process. Then, they discuss the special techniques used to make clay pots. And, finally, they make their...

Put economics and currency exchange rates into a real-world application kids can understand. They'll compare bus fares from various cities around the world. Each child selects three international cities to research. They determine the...

Here is a set of advertising lessons, explore language, techniques, representation, and target audiences. Discuss the impact ads have on our daily lives. What do we see and how do they make us feel? Observe ads from around the...

Students make several models of the solar system to learn the positions of the planets in the solar system as well as relative distances and sizes. Creation of these models will help them identify the planets by size, shape, color,...

Students research 1920's US History.  For this historical literature lesson, students use the novel The Great Gatsby as a tool to examine the era.  They work in individually to create newspaper articles based on different...

Fifth graders explore geometric building blocks in the real world in order to describe the characteristics and relationships of points, lines, line segments, rays, and planes. This is the first lesson plan in a series of lessons in...

Students browse occupations that interest them. In this career lesson plan, students examine the features of jobs as they explore career interests and learn how to find career information.

Roll the presses! Or at least have your class members participate in the time-honored tradition of the student press by creating their own newspapers or journalist pieces on a social problem. After conducting research and collaborating...

Is journalism more or less reliable with the influx of Internet sources? Learners investigate the issues of freedom of speech, journalistic ethics, and social responsibility in the age of Twitter and Facebook. After examining the...

Young historians investigate and evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies the Civil Rights Movement used to end segregation in the United States. After watching an video interview with Carl Matthews and Bill Stevens who participated...

This is the culminating activity for a unit on energy balance for 3rd-5th graders created by Together Counts. Young learners make a plan to balance their energy in and their energy out for one month. They use the SMART steps in creating...

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....

Young historians discover the experiences of runaway slaves after reading the brief biography and narrative excerpt of Henry "Box" Brown, who escaped slavery by having himself shipped away in a crate and popularized his...

Encourage your young citizens to make a difference. Using Tyson Miller's Dream of a Nation: Inspiring Ideas for a Better America as a starting point, class members watch documentaries, investigate issues, and then write letters to...

Although young scholars 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...

Students write news stories to accompany tabloid headlines. In this tabloid lesson plan, students learn the power of persuasion and exaggeration by writing stories based on actual tabloid headlines.

Students examine the roles of mothers and grandmothers by looking at black-and-white photographs of one American family and comparing that family's multi-generational story with their own. In this mothers and grandmothers lesson plan,...

Observe images and discuss what messages they convey. In this critical thinking lesson plan, students determine whether works of art are trying to persuade their audience. They also consider the media and how they communicate messages to...

Fix the Articles of Confederation or develop a new constitution? That was the question facing the Founding Fathers. Several of those in favor of a new constitution published a series of essays, collected in the Federalist...

Students discuss acts of kindness. For this character education lesson, students use a large sheet of poster paper, tempera paint, and markers to create a graffiti wall. Students write down their ideas of kindness and share their wall...

Fifth graders read and write equations. In this equation writing instructional activity, 5th graders use real life scenarios to write equations. Students use manipulatives, draw pictures and make tables to understand how to write...

Students visualize census data on a map and use a map key to read a population map. In this census lesson, students use a map of the Virgin Islands and corresponding worksheets to gain an understanding of population density.

Teach your readers strategies for breaking down informational texts. Pupils develop and implement the tools they'll need to decode texts for the rest of their lives with an informational resource that focuses on the structure and...