Museum of the Moving Image
Political Ads in Historical Context
Campaign ads target both timely issues and general themes. Presidential campaign ads from 1952 and 1988 provide class members an opportunity to compare how the topics ads choose to address can dramatically influence election outcomes.
Macmillan Education
Study Skills
Good study habits are key to success in school. The activities in this packet are designed to get kids thinking about improvements they could make in their study habits.
iCivics
Mini-Lesson: Congressional Committees
How exactly do both houses of Congress come to a formal decision on an issue? Scholars research the use of congressional committees as part of the legislative process. By using current events to analyze information, they see the role...
Teaching Tolerance
How Fair Use Works
What's fair is fair! Using the resource, scholars discuss the key differences between fair use and copyright. Next, in small groups, pupils create and present projects that demonstrate fair use of copyrighted material, such as a song,...
Teaching Tolerance
How Online Communication Affects Privacy and Security
Digital footprints leave a lot of clues behind! Pupils discuss the positives and negatives of having a digital footprint and what it means. Then, using a handout, scholars learn ways to protect their online privacy.
C-SPAN
Evaluating Historical Presidential Campaign Ads
Political ads flood the airwaves each election cycle. An activity including more than a dozen political ads from iconic presidential campaigns helps learners unpack how the sausage gets made during election "silly season." Using the...
Curated OER
Peer Pressure
Eleventh graders analyze the social impact media plays in relation to peer pressure. In this peer pressure lesson, 11th graders listen to Afroman's "Lets All Get Drunk" and read the lyrics. Students write about the song and view a party...
Curated OER
Can I Be Swayed?
High schoolers identify loaded words and examples of bias in print media. They describe how media can be used to manipulate public opinion. Students identify examples of interest groups that use media to sway public opinion in order to...
Curated OER
Haiti: Still in Crisis, but No Longer in the News
Students study the Haitian crisis and learn about the needs and ways to help the situation. In this Haitian crisis lesson, students study the Maslow's "Needs Pyramid". Students study the media coverage of the earthquake and then answer...
Curated OER
Signs Signs - Everywhere Signs
Students examine advertising techniques. In this media literacy lesson, students collaborate to create PowerPoint presentations that feature multimedia formats to share advertising that is present in their community.
Curated OER
Media Literacy
Students watch a video a pre-taped TV commercials. They define propaganda and re-watch the video. Students choose a poster from Posters American Style and journal about their observations. Students use the computer lab to develop tape...
Curated OER
What's In the Shopping Bag?
Young scholars explore the techniques used by advertisers to sell toys and snack foods, increase awareness of consumer habits and media influences and differentiate between information and selling.
Curated OER
Outbreak!
Students investigate their knowledge about HIV/AIDS and read an online article about treatments that have been prolonging lives of sufferers. They create media campaigns to promote HIV/AIDS awareness.
Curated OER
Virtual Chat Study Groups
Students explore studying habits by utilizing technology. In this social networking instructional activity, students utilize a virtual chat program to connect with students from a nearby school. Students ask and answer study...
Curated OER
Getting the Story from Libya
High schoolers examine the state of Libya in the face of civil unrest. In this global issues lesson, students listen to audio clips, watch video clips, and read media publications to gain an understanding of the uprising in the nation....
Curated OER
Library Media Center Research Learning Unit for 6th, 7th, & 8th Grades
Students focus on the process of and skills necessary for researching a topic. They study the topic of immigration while practicing note taking skills, organizing information and writing conventions.
Curated OER
Girl Power
Seventh graders explore the role of women. They contrast their empowerment from Confederation until 1920. They compare that to the role and empowerment of women in today's society through their own experiences, media, and music.
Curated OER
Journalists Under Fire
Students examine journalism in extreme conditions. In this war-zone journalism lesson plan, students research media coverage of Vietnam, Grenada, the Gulf War, and military actions in Somalia and Kosovo. Students compare coverage in...
Curated OER
Messages in Art Work
Observe images and discuss what messages they convey. In this critical thinking lesson plan, young scholars determine whether works of art are trying to persuade their audience. They also consider the media and how they communicate...
Curated OER
You Are What You Wear
Learners, after analyzing interactions between groups/societies, effects of causality/change over time, forms of imaginative writing and utilizing art media to conveying messages/meaning, examine the relationship between clothing and...
Curated OER
National Tragedy, Global Response
Students explore how different people on local, national and international levels respond to a destructive natural disaster and the needs of its victims and how various facets of the media cover such an event. The August 1999 earthquake...
Curated OER
Introduction to Sexism
Students develop an understanding of sexism, its effects, and the ways in which messages in society (in media, texts, schools, families, et cetera) reinforce stereotypical beliefs.
Curated OER
Making It Personal: Gender And Identity in Art
Eighth graders study the role of gender in art. They examine aspects of personal identity. They assess and utilize the properties of a variety of art media and their ability to convey messages and meaning.
Curated OER
Cartoon and Political Poster Analysis
Students explore the late 1800s as a time of demographic change in the US. They view the role of media during this time in the form of posters and political cartoons. They create a political poster/cartoon that deals with current...