Students learn why news matters and how to distinguish between the different media-related terms they might hear being thrown around.
Source: Can I Trust the Creator?
Students dig into an article to determine whether they can trust the story by investigating its producers and the sources within. In doing so, they gain tools for evaluating news articles outside of class for accuracy and reliability.
Weed Out Propaganda
A bold digital poster outlines a simple acronym — S.E.E.D. — to help students learn to spot propaganda by recognizing four of its key techniques. Students analyze historical propaganda and understand that it is a marketing tool used to promote a variety of causes.
Evidence: Do the Facts Hold Up?
This Common Core aligned lesson plan for middle and high school asks students to dig into an article to determine whether they can trust the information by verifying the evidence it presents.
Is This Story Share-Worthy? Flowchart
Students use an infographic to gauge the value of a news story and weigh what they should do with it. This also teaches students about their personal responsibility to evaluate news articles before passing them on.
E.S.C.A.P.E. Junk News
Students learn a handy acronym to help them remember six key concepts for evaluating information, then test the concepts in teams.
The Northwest Ordinance and Westward Expansion
The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 changed American history. It provided that new states shared coequal status with the original thirteen states. It set out the process for territories to become states and it was the first and only federal anti-slavery policy pre- Civil War. While the Ordinance also established the orderly westward expansion it did so at the expense of Native Americans already living in the territory.
Is Our Democracy in Trouble?
According to many scholars, modern liberal democracy has advanced in waves. But liberal democracy has also had its setbacks. Some argue that it is in trouble in the world today, and that the young millennial generation is losing faith in it.
Equal Justice Under Law
In its first constitutional challenge to the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to hear a case brought by a Chinese immigrant, not an American citizen. Yick Wo believed city ordinances had been unfairly applied to him, so he challenged their constitutionality under the equal protection clause, and took his case all the way to the Supreme Court.
Actions That Changed the Law
In 1998, when Lilly Ledbetter filed her complaint of wage discrimination against the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, her goal was to get equal pay for equal work because that was the law. She had no idea that her decision would eventually involve all three branches of government and result in a law with her name on it – the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009.