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Your Search Results (179)
The Death of Kobe Bryant: How Viral Media Spreads Misinformation
In this media literacy activity students analyze screen grabs from a YouTube page, a Facebook post, a network news video page and online headlines, photos and captions for messages about credibility of Internet news reporting.
Middle School, High School, College
Whole Class
15-30 Minutes
The Face of Cereal: Using Cartoon Characters to Persuade Children
This is a media literacy and critical thinking activity in which students decode cereal packages for messages about health and advertising.
Lower Elementary
15-30 Minutes
The Magic of Stereotypes
Media literacy and critical thinking lesson analyzing stereotypes about Arabs by viewing an excerpt from the film, Aladdin.
This lesson is part of a "kit" or collection of media decoding lessons on a particular topic. You can explore that kit using the link below:
Playlist: Global StudiesUnit: Introducing the Middle East
Kit: Media Constructions of the Middle East
Middle School, High School, College
Whole Class
15-30 Minutes
The U.S. Exits Afghanistan: Lessons from the Newspaper Front Pages
Students analyze newspaper front pages from August 2021 for messages about media representation of the U.S. exit from Afghanistan.
Middle School, High School
Whole Class
30-60 Minutes
Throwaway Culture: To Buy or to Reuse?
This is a media literacy and critical thinking activity in which students decode web videos and commercials for messages about buying disposable products vs. reusing and reducing waste.
This lesson is part of a "kit" or collection of media decoding lessons on a particular topic. You can explore that kit using the link below:
Playlist: Elementary Critical Thinking Skill BuildingUpper Elementary, Middle School
Whole Class
15-30 Minutes
Tidal Waves & Tsunamis in Film: Fact & Fiction
This is a media literacy and critical thinking activity in which students analyze two short excerpts from a National Geographic video and a TV miniseries to examine credibility of information on the causes and impacts of tsunamis.
Upper Elementary, Middle School
Whole Class
15-30 Minutes
Time Magazine’s Person of the Year – How Selections Change Over Time
In this media literacy activity students compare Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” covers from 1965-1969 and 2015-2019 for messages about historical context in judgments of who is important across a half century.
Middle School, High School, College
Whole Class
15-30 Minutes
To Smoke or Not to Smoke?: Advertising & Persuasion
This media literacy activity was created to integrate the teaching of English language instruction with media literacy for educators in Panama. In this media literacy activity students analyze a poster from the 1970s and a webpage and product packaging from the 2010s for messages about smoking.
Middle School, High School, College
Whole Class
15-30 Minutes
Tracking Lies: Determining the Credibility of Internet Information
This is a media literacy and critical thinking activity in which students decode a tweet, a blog post and a factchecking webpage for credibility of Internet information.
High School, College
Whole Class
30-60 Minutes
Trusting Web Videos on COVID-19 (Or Not)
In this media literacy activity students analyze for credibility four video clips of people giving prevention advice during the Covid-19 crisis: President Donald Trump, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a New York City primary care doctor during an online family information session, and a naturopathic doctor during a televangelist TV program. These were all posted online in March of 2020.
Middle School, High School, College
Whole Class
15-30 Minutes
Twister: A Film Decoding Activity
Media literacy and critical thinking lesson reflecting on the concept of target audiences, and how messages can be crafted for a specific audience through visuals, language and sound.
Middle School, High School, College
Whole Class
15-30 Minutes
Twitter and Lies: How They Snowball
In this media literacy activity students analyze an excerpt from a research study published in a scientific journal and a news article about the study in an online magazine for messages about the spread of lies on Twitter and the differences in writing for different target audiences.
High School, College
Whole Class
30-60 Minutes
Two Views of an Insurrection: January 6, 2021
In this media literacy activity students analyze the choices made in constructing two news reports on the January 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol and how we interpret the bias of each.
High School, College
Whole Class
15-30 Minutes
Understanding Teen Media Use: Different Research Techniques
In this media literacy activity students analyze three articles about different approaches to social science research through polling data analysis, a longitudinal study and a literature review. Students explore the techniques used for data gathering and discuss the impacts of social media use on adolescents.
High School, College
Whole Class
30-60 Minutes
Vaccinations – What Role Does Social Media Play in Informing the Public?
In this media literacy activity students analyze an article from an anti-vaccination Facebook page, a public radio podcast and an international newspaper for messages about the role of social media in promoting public health as regards vaccines and immunization.
High School, College
Whole Class
30-60 Minutes
What Can You Tell From a Book Cover?
Students analyze pairs of different covers for the same children’s book for messages about techniques, purpose, impact and target audience.
Lower Elementary, Upper Elementary
15-30 Minutes
What Do We Do About Fake News?
In this media literacy activity students analyze three online articles for messages about the responsibility to ascertain credibility in news stories.
High School, College
Individual, Pair, Group - Small (3-5 Members), Whole Class
30-60 Minutes
What Do You Know? Sourcing, Credibility and Bias
Media literacy and critical thinking lesson reflecting on sourcing, credibility, accuracy and bias of information presented in the media while introducing students to vocabulary and issues addressed in Media Constructions of Sustainability lessons.
This lesson is part of a "kit" or collection of media decoding lessons on a particular topic. You can explore that kit using the link below:
Kit: Media Constructions of Sustainability: Food, Water, and AgricultureHigh School, College
Individual, Whole Class
30-60 Minutes
What Does the Dollar Bill Tell You About the United States?
Students analyze the imagery on the dollar bill for symbols and messages about the beliefs of the founders of the United States and about what constitutes media.
Lower Elementary, Upper Elementary
Whole Class
15-30 Minutes
What to Believe? Media Misrepresentations of the War in Ukraine
Students analyze social media and news videos for messages analyzing misinformation and bias in reports on Russia’s war on Ukraine.
High School, College
30-60 Minutes