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...

Long before the term fake news, media outlets offered competing narratives of events at the time. Looking at newspaper reports from the Battle of Vicksburg, class members consider two different versions of the strategic siege—one...

Seventh graders study events leading to, during and resulting from the American Revolution. They review elements of a political cartoon. They create and dramatize a scene from a Revolutionary War novel.

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...

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...

Although not a complete lesson plan, this set of emotionally powerful texts could be used in a variety of lessons. From The New York Times' Learning Network site, the resource includes a poem, an excerpt from a New York Times article and...

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...

Let your learners be the judges for a series of case studies that focus on broadcast codes in Canada. In order to familiarize your class with the codes and guidelines that govern the broadcasting industry, in particular Canada's...

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...

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...

Can you believe there have already been 100 days in the school year? Help your learners document their time in your class with a newspaper format. They write about the 100 Day celebrations, as well as drawing what they will...

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:

High schoolers examine how the French and American revolutions influenced and emergence of free press in these countries. Students explore the link between government control of the press and the type of government. They compare and...

Students study words in the news. They explore vocabulary including "climate change" and discuss its meanings and related meanings. They read a text about climate change and carbon dioxide emissions and answer questions. They complete...

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

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...

Students write headlines expressing the main idea of a group of de-headed news stories.

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...

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...

Students differentiate between generalizations and stereotypes and compare and contrast gender representation. Finally, they critically analyze media for gender stereotypes. They look at magazines and create collages to focus in on the...

Students take on the role of journalists. In this Iran lesson plan, students explore the condition of the country at this point in history and collaborate to create a news magazine that features current events and cultural issues...

Sixth graders use the web to find and download photos, images, and clip art to create a large library of images in a short time. They survey audio and video files and other media by using various search engines. Remember to follow...

Students discover that news and documentaries are never completely objective because, like all other visual messages, they are the result of a process of selection and organization. They study the headlines from a variety of newspapers...