Facing History and Ourselves
The Nazis in Power: Propaganda and Conformity
The Nazis used the power of propaganda to encourage confirmative views and the discrimination of Jews. A social studies resource illustrates these issues through discussion, image analysis, and a writing exercise.
Curated OER
Fact and Opinion Lesson Plan
How are fact and opinion different? Middle schoolers explore fact and opinion and write articles pertaining to a football match, eliminating all opinion statements in order to focus on the facts. Then they discuss bias in the media....
Anti-Defamation League
Sneakers and Prejudice: Letters to Challenge Bias
After learning that NBA player Stephen Curry's shoes only come in boys' sizes, Riley wrote a letter sharing her concern, highlighting the gender bias and inviting Curry to take action. Scholars view a news clip, review the letters,...
K20 LEARN
The Bank Of Justice: Civil Rights In The US
To launch a study of racial segregation and integration, young historians first watch a news video about a prom in Georgia that was first integrated in 2013. They then compare the goals in Lincoln's Gettysburg Address to King's "I Have a...
Curated OER
American Media: Addicted to Scandal?
Students examine media coverage of George W. Bush's refusal to answer questions regarding past illegal drug usage in the 1999 campaign. They consider the role of rumor, scandal, audience and relevance in political media coverage.
Curated OER
How Media Shapes Perception
Students explain the impact that the media may have in shaping their intellectual and emotional responses to current events. They examine broadcast and Web-based news sites to find subtexts through the use of language, audio, and visual...
Curated OER
Parliamentary Newsroom : Developing Media Literacy
Learners explain and examine the selection, development, sources, transmission and impact of news on the public. They write a brief essay on the topic: "The Public Must Be Critical In Their Assessment of the News Before Drawing...
Curated OER
The Eye of the Beholder: A Media Literacy Activity
Students explore the impact the news media have on shaping perceptions and opinions in general and in their coverage of the presidential campaign.
Curated OER
Your Angle on the Story
Students review several articles on same current event, and then cover news issues themselves while assuming secret identities of various individuals who have vested interests in issue. Students write newspaper articles from these...
Southern Poverty Law Center
Evaluating Online Sources
All sources are pretty much the same, right? If this is how your class views the sources they use for writing or research projects, present them with a media literacy lesson on smart source evaluation. Groups examine several articles,...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: “Making History” by Marilyn Nelson
What makes an event newsworthy, worth a reference in a news magazine or textbook? Who decides? These are questions Marilyn Nelson asks readers of her poem "Making History" to consider. To begin, class members list details they notice in...
Curated OER
Get in the Newspaper Habit
Dive into journalism with your high schoolers! The resources provided here will help your learners write unbiased, clear, and succinct newspaper articles. First they spend time sifting through stacks of articles, filling out a graphic...
Curated OER
Exploring Media: Understanding and Identifying Editorial Perspective in Television and Radio News
Young scholars research the topics Boat People: A Refugee Crisis, Dr. Henry Morgentaler: Fighting Canada's Abortion Laws, and CANDU: The Canadian Nuclear Reactor on the CBC Radio and Television Archives Web site.
Curated OER
Not Getting the News about the Stamp Act
How did American colonists react to the Stamp Act of 1765? Your young historians will examine primary source material by reading excerpts from a transcription of the Pennsylvania Gazette and then identifying the sentiments expressed by...
iCivics
Lesson 2: Misinformation
Fake news is a hot topic right now ... but what is it? Intrepid young investigators track down the facts that separate journalistic mistakes and misinformation through reading, research, and discussion. Part three in a five-lesson series...
Anti-Defamation League
Understanding and Analyzing “The U.S. of Us” by Richard Blanco
Current immigration issues and the rhetoric surrounding the controversies come into focus with a activity that uses Richard Blanco's anthem, "The U.S. of Us," written after the August 2019 attack in El Paso, Texas, to open a discussion...
Curated OER
Listening and Speaking Skills, Strategies, and Applications
Twelfth graders summarize a speaker's purpose and point of view. In this speaker's purpose lesson, 12th graders watch a video clip from one of the major morning news programs to observe the speaker's point of views. Students determine...
Curated OER
In the News
Students research a report using a local or national news story. They exchange reports with a partner in order to examine an issue. They work together to create a report on a global issue.
PBS
Amid Rising Economic Inequality, Does America Need a Third Reconstruction?
Young political scientists investigate the Poor People's Campaign protest held in Washington, D.C., on June 18, 2022. They research how the event was reported in various news outlets and consider their stance on whether "poverty is...
Newseum
The Women Who Made the Movement
Granting women the right to vote was a long time coming and took many efforts. Young historians select one woman involved in the suffrage movement to research. They compare and contrast the depictions of their subject in mainstream and...
Constitutional Rights Foundation
History of Immigration Through the 1850s
Everyone living in the United States today is a descendant from an immigrant—even Native Americans. Learn about the tumultuous history of American immigration with a reading passage that discusses the ancient migration over the Bering...
Curated OER
Bias in Journalism
Students evaluate the credibility and reliability of various sources. Students survey the coverage of a particular event in different newspapers, select a current event and compare different perspectives. They write an article...
Willow Tree
Data Sampling
Some say that you can make statistics say whatever you want. It is important for learners to recognize these biases. Pupils learn about sample bias and the different types of samples.
Curated OER
Bias
High schoolers apply techniques of distinguishing between fact and opinion. Students identify words associated with persuasion and argument. High schoolers read and categorizer a variety of newspapers and articles. Students identfy bias...