Lesson Planet
Search educational resources
  • Sign In Try It Free
  • AI Teacher Tools
    • Discover Resources Search reviewed educational resources by keyword, subject, grade, type, and more
    • Curriculum Manager (My Content) Manage saved and uploaded resources and folders To Access the Curriculum Manager Sign In or Join Now
    • Browse Resource Directory Browse educational resources by subject and topic
    • Curriculum Calendar Explore curriculum resources by date
    • Lesson Planning Articles Timely and inspiring teaching ideas that you can apply in your classroom
    • Our Story
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Testimonials
    • Contact Us
  • Pricing
  • School Access
    • Your school or district can sign up for Lesson Planet — with no cost to teachers
      Learn More
  • Sign In
  • Try It Free

Hi, what do you want to do?

Create a lesson plan
Create a lesson plan
Generate resources with 80+ AI teacher tools
Generate resources with 80+ AI teacher tools
Search 200,000 instructional videos
Search 200,000 instructional videos
Find a teaching resource
Find a teaching resource
News Confusion: What Is News? Lesson PlanNews Confusion: What Is News? Lesson Plan
Publisher
Newseum
Resource Details
Curator Rating
Educator Rating
Not yet Rated
Grade
4th - 8th
Subjects
21 Century Skills
1 more...
Resource Type
Lesson Plans
Audience
For Teacher Use
Duration
45 mins
Lesson Plan

News Confusion: What Is News?

Curated and Reviewed by Lesson Planet
This News Confusion: What Is News? lesson plan also includes:
  • Newseum: Today's Front Pages
  • Join to access all included materials

Use headlines to help your learners understand what news is. First, present a list of categories to your class. Then instruct small groups to play a game in which they sort headlines into the categories. Discuss the result and examine front pages from today's news to extend the lesson.

11 Views 15 Downloads

Concepts

news media

Additional Tags

news, Learning Game, social studies

Classroom Considerations

  • While designed to be conducted before a visit to Newseum, a news museum in Washington DC, this could be used on its own as an introduction to news
  • Different instructions are included for grades four through six and six through eight

Pros

  • Includes headlines and categories for the headline sorting game that you can copy, cut out, and provide for groups
  • See the materials tab for a link to a page that collects the front pages of news sources

Cons

  • None

See similar resources:

Activity

Informative Speech Assignment

Curated OER
Allow your pupils to take on the role of the instructor with an informative speech that covers a new topic related to your unit of study or new information on a subject your class has already studied. Pupils fill out the provided outline...
8th - 12th English Language Arts
CCSS: Adaptable
Lesson Plan

Today's Front Pages

Newseum
Take a close look at a number of newspapers with collection of lessons and activities. Using a poster (which can be found under the materials tab), learners examine the hard copy of a local newspaper. This leads into an exploration of...
6th - 12th 21 Century Skills
Lesson Plan

The Newspaper Front Page

Media Smarts
Hot off the presses! A perfect instructional activity idea for a journalism class or even a language arts class looking to incorporate some informational texts. Young writers analyze the front pages of various newspapers to determine the...
7th - 10th English Language Arts
Lesson Plan

From the Front Page to the History Books

Newseum
Young journalists compare news coverage of four major events with how the same events are covered in historical accounts. The ensuing discussion asks class members to compare and contrast the role of a reporter and the role of a historian.
6th - 12th English Language Arts
CCSS: Designed
Lesson Plan

Newspapers in Your Life: What’s News Where?

American Press Institute
Big news isn't necessarily newsworthy everywhere! How do journalists decide what to cover with so much happening around them? A instructional activity on media literacy examines the factors that affect the media's choice of stories to...
6th - 12th English Language Arts
CCSS: Designed
Lesson Plan

Compare Coverage of Brown v. Board Ruling

Newseum
Young journalists analyze how The Topeka State Journal, the Jackson Daily News, and The Providence Journal reported on the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v Board of Education. Scholars scrutinize the headlines, photographs,...
7th - 12th English Language Arts
CCSS: Designed
App

Bitsboard - Education, Games, and Flashcards for Learning Reading, Spelling, and more

Happy Moose Apps
Learn everything from sight words to French vocabulary with this versatile study app. While the material that comes pre-loaded on the app is mostly based on learning how to read and spell, the app has the potential to be useful for any...
K - 8th English Language Arts
Lesson Plan

Collateral Damage? Researching a Connection Between Video Games and Violence

The New York Times
Hook your class into an exploration of and discussion about violence in video games with a cute animal clip and a video game trailer. After a quick discussion about how media can affect mood, class members read a related article and...
7th - 12th English Language Arts
CCSS: Designed
Interactive

Sortify: U.S. Citizenship

iCivics
What is the difference between a right and a responsibility? Scholars consider the question while sorting characteristics of citizenship into buckets using a video game. After playing, class members see how effectively they sorted the...
6th - 12th Social Studies & History
CCSS: Adaptable
Lesson Plan

Challenging Stereotypes: A New Look at Old Age

Curated OER
Combine a lesson on the elderly with grammar instruction. Before viewing a series of provided video clips, class members brainstorm a list of words related to senior citizens and organize these words into categories that correspond with...
8th - 10th English Language Arts
CCSS: Designed
Try It Free
© 1999-2026 Learning Explorer, Inc.
Teacher Lesson Plans, Worksheets and Resources

Sign up for the Lesson Planet Monthly Newsletter

Open Educational Resources (OER)

  • Health
  • Language Arts
  • Languages
  • Math
  • Physical Education
  • Science
  • Social Studies
  • Special Education
  • Visual and Performing Arts
View All Lesson Plans

Discover Resources

  • Our Review Process
  • How it Works
  • How to Search
  • Create a Collection

Manage Curriculum

  • Edit a Collection
  • Assign to Students
  • Manage My Content
Contact Us Site Map Privacy Policy Terms of Use