Spark an animated debate in your class! Young adults consider some of the fads or trends that are prevalent at their school, as well as their own level of participation in them. Just how much of a role does popular culture play in their...

Students work in groups to prepare a brief broadcast or print news report from one of five possible viewpoints about an environmental contamination scenario. Students are given basic information about a chemical spill in a small town and...

Once learners are ready to choose a bank, how do they make a smart decision for their financial needs? Scholars help each other by jigsawing the research in groups. After introducing checking and savings accounts with the attached...

Drama is ever-present in our daily lives and eloquently depicted on stage. Middle schoolers practice writing scenes based on different prompts and frameworks, and then perform those creative scenes for their classmates. The...

John Q. Public was a notable cartoon representation of the average American; but how accurate was this portrayal? Emergent analysts consider several topical points as they take a critical look into a cartoon portrayal of the American...

Compound words are important for kids to understand. At first, they are a bit intimidating becaue they look so big! However, once they understand that a compound word is just two short words put together, they aren't so scary. Each of...

Compound words sure do come in handy! For young readers, learning how two words can go together to make one word is a big deal. It's also a confidence builder because they are suddenly able to read "big" words. This sweet presentation...

Given the two-sentence skeleton of a news story about a car theft/joy ride, budding writers create their own version of the story varying diction and sentence structure to heighten interest and complexity in their writing. Resource...

Dealing with the very topical subject of cyberbullying, this lesson plan will surely create some engaged discussion in your classroom. Young learners discuss the laws concerning cyberbullying in Canada, and then respond to a series of...

High schoolers explore the relationship between video games and actual population. Example: A 2005 study showed Latino youth play at higher rates than other groups, but there are no Latino playable characters. They watch a brief video...

Stress the importance of authenticating online resources and understanding the sources of websites' information with this activity. Using a Web-based activity, the lesson prompts young learners to think critically about determining the...

Young learners explore gender roles in advertising by taking an ad campaign they have seen which is specifically directed to one gender, and redesigning the campaign to target the opposite gender. After leading a guided discussion about...

An introductory instructional activity shows learners how pervasive and influential advertising is in our culture; particularly, how teenagers are actively targeted by advertisers. As teenagers, your students already have all the...

See the changes, controversy, and innovations that define postwar American art. The onset of the modern art era in American history is well-defined in this slide-show. You'll see how Abstract Expressionism shifted into conceptual, pop,...

Op art is fun to look at, and it's fun to make. Kids learn about the origins of op art and the op art master, M.C. Escher. They view simple to complex examples of op art to see how it works and then create an optical piece of their own....

Empower your readers by modeling for them the steps for retelling a story. Designed as a teacher resource, Dr. Cummins argues that shifting responsibility for retelling to the learners increases their comprehension. The procedure is...

students discuss the vehicles used by media to feed images to consumers. In small groups, 9th graders are given magazines and asked to pick out the ads that appeal to them. They write responses to the questions:

Seventh graders investigate media protrayal of railroad trespassing incidents. They write a legal action letter against one of the media companies.

Eighth graders determine how mass media influences human sexuality by looking at advertisements for their sexual content and how the ads affect their decision making. After evaluating the advertisements in a PowerPoint presentation they...

Ninth graders analyze media messages. For this media messages lesson, 9th graders identify techniques in television commercials that appeal to the senses and emotions. Students analyze the elements in example ads. Students keep journals...

Ninth graders examine money management. They study percentages, inequalities, fixed and variable expense calculations in order to develop an understanding of how these concepts apply to budgeting a lifestyle for a specific career.

Students discuss what the media portrays as the perfect physically active image. They discuss how this affects them. Students watch a video on body image. They look through a magazine to find one misleading advertisement and explain why...

In this numeric and visual patterns worksheet, students continue the numeric and visual patterns given to them. Students are given 16 patterns.

Students explore the concept of philanthropy. In this personal finance instructional activity, students consider economic choices and why people donate to causes. Students investigate the processes of borrowing money and investing money...