How many treats do you buy each week? Learners investigate diets and how the media tricks consumers into purchasing unhealthy snacks. They will investigate the designs and logos affiliated with cereal boxes and identify specific phrases...

High schoolers deconstruct advertising messages by analyzing parody ads and exploring the purpose of satire. Then they create their own parodies based on real ads discussed in class. A creative activity to extend any study of media,...

Explore concepts of audience, purpose and symbols in this lesson from Media Smarts that asks students to consider all the functions of music. Through a series of discussions and activities, your class will brainstorm possible functions...

Help learners understand their own biases and how their perspectives may have been influenced by biased media sources. They keep a journal while viewing videos, exploring websites, and engaging in class discussions related to gay and...

Eighth graders demonstrate the ability to select and evaluate media. Apply appropriate skills to collect, organize and interpret data. They research a variety of ways to make correct career choices.

Take advantage of Banned Book Week to pique learners' interest and get them reading! Create a classroom display of previously banned books and allow each member of your class to choose one to read. After they have read their book, get...

This compelling plan based on the letters in the book Dear Miss Breed engages readers in learning what it was like for Japanese Americans following the attacks at Pearl Harbor. After reading the letters, young scholars will...

A great idea for showing language arts pupils the universality of themes, even in the real world! Have class members choose an idea-noun (peace, justice, war, love, etc.) at the beginning of the year or semester. They complete weekly...

Students develop their technology skills by accessing web sites and evaluating information.  In this research lesson students research forestry topics and write a paragraph on the accessed websites.

Students research harvesting of trees in the United States and write a summary.  For this informative lesson students state whether they agree or disagree with an article and write a summary on why. 

While the ideas for Ancient Greek research are solid, there is little detail to help make your job easier. The focus here is familiarizing your class with online databases and print resources in their school library. After direct...

Learners investigate how written media and word of mouth helped foment rebellion during the Revolutionary War. They compare and contrast that with the role of the news media in the war in Iraq focusing on cause and effect relationships.

Students explore how Americans were affected by news coverage of World War II.

Students use research skills and primary sources to complete a equal educational opportunities scavenger hunt activity in pairs. They locate key facts, examples, and information about the inequities in U.S. schools and create projects...

Students design a train route using a topographical map. For this historical and spatial thinking lesson plan, students must plan a route through the Sierra Nevada mountains that a train could physically travel. Links to printable...

Fourth graders research Ellis Island and Angel Island. In this library media activity, 4th graders use resources from the library to locate facts about Ellis Island and Angel Island. Students construct a Venn diagram to compare and...

Help young researchers find credible sources online. Modeling with a Google search for information about Shakespeare’s Macbeth, use a computer projector or Smart Board to show class members how weak the top three search results are....

Students analyze the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights. In this U.S. government instructional activity, students examine books, movies, and music that influence them today and then investigate writings that influenced the framers...

Get high school historians to step outside their own shoes by responding to JFK's inaugural address from the perspective of a civil rights activist, a soviet diplomat, or a Cuban exile. After a class discussion about the address,...

Everybody's a critic—even your pupils! Using the included resources as a guide, screen films related to social justice and ask film enthusiasts to critique them. Publish the reviews for your school community or develop a film festival...

Jackie Robinson's attempt to earn a spot on the 1946 Brooklyn Dodgers provides learners with an opportunity to examine the Jim Crow laws and revisit issues of segregation and integration. "The Unconquerable Doing the Impossible: Jackie...

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...

Fourth graders see why people came to Wisconsin and what life was like in their new home. They engage in a wonderful series of lessons, which use a variety of multi-media resources. They plan a heritage day party as a culminating event.

Upper elementary and middle schoolers research and analyze some different types of governments. Democracies, Monarchies, and Dictatorships are some of the types that are looked at. Learners use the Internet to gather information that...