Social Media Toolbox
Verification
When you're putting together a great story, you've got to consider the source! Scholars discover the dangers of errors in reporting during the 14th activity in a 16-part Social Media Toolbox series. Groups collaborate to create a source...
Facebook
Privacy and You
The stuff I share goes where? Social media scholars discover how sites collect and use metadata during a lesson about privacy and reputation. The activity demonstrates smart privacy settings and promotes good digital citizenship.
Media Smarts
The Citizen Reporter
Ripped from the headlines! Discuss topical social issues like racism, discrimination, and diversity while exploring the concept of citizen journalism. Begin with a professional-looking presentation on the history of citizen journalism....
NPR
Suffrage Lesson Plan
Has life changed for American women in the last century, or are there common themes between the lives of 21st century women and the struggle of suffragettes from the 1910s? Explore the ways media reflects the position of women in the...
Media Smarts
Thinking like a Citizen
Explore the influence social activism can have on important issues, and create a class full of young citizen activists. This plan calls for learners to participate in a whole class discussion and brainstorm about ways to effectively...
Health Smart Virginia
Social Networking and You
The positive and negative impacts of social networking are the focus of a powerful instructional activity for high school freshmen. Class members explore the risks of oversharing online and watch a video of one girl's experience. The...
Georgia Standards
Sociology Unit Six: Socialization Within the Group
How do we learn the rules of society? How do beliefs and ideas affect these rules? Introduce your young sociologists to the factors that socialize individuals with a unit that uses observation and experimentation to analyze how factors...
Humane Education Advocates Reaching Teachers
Justice for All - Educating Youth for Social Responsibility: Grades 6-8
Teach middle schoolers how to develop healthy relationships with activities and lessons designed to create a kind and inclusive
classroom. Pupils create guidelines to develop a safe and civil learning environment. They learn how to...
Media Smarts
Authentication Beyond the Classroom
In an age of fake news, alternative facts, and Internet trolls it is essential that 21st Century learners develop the skills they need to authenticate the facts in viral news. Here is a great way to begin with a resource that provides...
National History Day
Uncovering a World at War
Has media always had an influence on public policy? After researching and reading news articles written during World War I, learners understand the influence of communication and media. They discuss articles in small groups and as a...
Federal Reserve Bank
It's Your Paycheck
Beyond reading and arithmetic, one of the most important skills for graduating seniors to have is fiscal literacy and responsibility. Start them on the right financial track with nine lessons that focus on a variety of important personal...
iCivics
Step Nine: Action Campaign
It's time to take action! Learners strategize their action campaigns by using the resource and past brainstorming activities from the series that help them pinpoint problems in their communities. They use included templates to get the...
Curated OER
Information Overload: Looking at News
How do events reported in mainstream newspapers, on television news, blog posts, and social network sites differ? Ask your class to investigate the way the same news item is presented in the many information sources available. Groups...
Social Media Toolbox
Law Review
How can your journalism class ensure they use social media responsibly and legally? The sixth lesson in a 16-part Social Media Toolbox series asks pupils to dig deep into the legal aspects of social media use by school publications....
Fluence Learning
Writing an Argument: Is Electronic Communication Helpful or Harmful?
Technology has undoubtedly improved the lives of people around the world—but has it improved communication? Seventh graders read two informative passages about the rise of texting and emailing versus in-person conversations before...
Social Media Toolbox
Twitter Time
Tweet all about it! Junior journalists explore the Twittersphere to determine its effectiveness as a news broadcasting tool in the 12th installment of the 16-part Social Media Toolbox. Participants follow and record their observations of...
The New York Times
Should Anthony Weiner Resign?
The news regarding congressional representative Anthony D. Weiner's scandalous online communications was a hot-button topic in public media in 2011. Use this article to review the timeline of events surrounding the situation, and then...
Teaching Tolerance
Using Photographs to Teach Social Justice | Exposing Racism
Photographs capture a moment in time. And some of the best pictures demand that viewers not only ask questions about why the photo packs such an emotional wallop, but also about what happened before and after it was taken. A photograph...
Teaching Tolerance
Using Photographs to Teach Social Justice | Showcasing Your Understanding
The final instructional activity in the series asks class members to demonstrate what they have learned about how photographs can revel injustice and how they can encourage people to take action against injustice. Either as a class, in...
Newseum
Today's Front Pages
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...
Minnesota State University
Media Portrayal of the Vietnam War
History classes can explore two different depictions of the Vietnam War experience with this engaging resource. While watching clips of Platoon and reading excerpts from the comic, The 'Nam, students take notes for use in completing a...
Radford University
How Is Your Gender Represented?
Does the media shape people's views on gender? Scholars use data on gender portrayal in magazines to explore the idea. They use a spreadsheet program to create bar graphs and perform a chi-square test. They also use provided data to...
Teaching Tolerance
Using Photographs to Teach Social Justice | Advertisements Promoting Activism
Activism can create real change. Class members examine a series of photographs that represent a different form of activism. Individuals then craft a persuasive speech in which they argue why the photo they chose is the best example of...
Teaching Tolerance
Using Photographs to Teach Social Justice | Affirming Our Commonalities and Differences
Photos can challenge stereotypes. To gain an understanding of the big picture, groups examine a series of photographs and analyze how a photographer's choices can shape a viewer's reaction to an image. For the first set of photographs,...