Lesson MINI

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LESSON MINI

Messages That Matter: Creating Media with Purpose

Grade:

6-12

Topic:

Media Literacy

Unit:

Teaching for Tomorrow
Eye icon in white on red background

Overview

Two hands reaching toward an orange speech bubble with three white dots, surrounded by two yellow paper airplanes.
© deagreez/stock.adobe.com

In this lesson mini, students explore how media messages are created, shared, and interpreted. They examine emotional and ethical choices in content, consider how digital footprints shape privacy and identity, analyze shifts from private to public opinion, and compare ethical versus misleading messages. Through headline creation, digital trail mapping, and PSA design, students reflect on how media influences trust and audience response.

Ideas for Implementation
English
Social Studies
Digital citizenship/technology
STEAM programs
Library media
Journalism/media production
Library/information science
Key Vocabulary & Definitions
bias (noun): a tendency to favor one perspective or outcome over others, often in a way that is unfair or unbalanced
credibility (noun): the quality of being trusted and believed in, especially in relation to information sources
digital footprint (noun): the trail of information you leave online, such as posts, photos, and data about what you do on the Internet
distortion (noun): the alteration or twisting of facts, images, or language in a way that misrepresents reality
ethical (adjective): adhering to principles of honesty, fairness, and responsibility in media creation
framing (noun): the way information is presented by media sources, which influences how audiences interpret and understand events, issues, or people by highlighting certain aspects over others
intent (noun): the creator’s purpose or desired effect behind crafting and sharing a piece of media
perspective (noun): a particular attitude, background, or point of view that influences how someone interprets information
Authentic Learning Extensions
Authentic learning opportunities for studying the impact and purpose of media messages involve real-world experiences and practical applications that help students understand how media influences perception, decision-making, and societal values in meaningful ways. Here are some examples:
Ethics-in-Action Campaign: Students identify a relevant school or community issue (such as reducing waste, supporting mental health, or promoting kindness) and develop a campaign that models ethical messaging. They test its effectiveness by gathering audience feedback through surveys or social media engagement.
Local Voices Interview Project: Students interview school staff, local journalists, or community organizers about how media messages affect decision-making or public opinion in their roles (e.g., school policies, community campaigns). Students create a podcast episode, blog post, or short video to highlight real-world insights.
Media Myth-Busting Challenge: Students collect examples of viral misinformation or misleading memes (appropriate and preapproved) and analyze why they spread. They then design a “myth-busting” post or short explainer video to clarify the truth, focusing on respectful and ethical corrections.
Student-Created Media Guidelines: Working in groups, students draft a short “Ethical Media Creation Guide” for peers that outlines best practices for fairness, accuracy, and audience awareness. This can be shared in digital or print format with student clubs, journalism teams, or library programs, making it useful beyond the classroom.

Choose Activity

4
Messages That Matter: Creating Media with Purpose

Activity

1 :

Media Maker Mindset

By the end of the activity, students will be able to analyze how media messages influence emotions and responses, evaluate the potential impact of messages on different audiences, and create purposeful messages that reflect thoughtful design choices.

>40

Minutes

Materials

Notebook paper (one sheet per student)
Visual examples (three or four; e.g., advertisement, science infographic, public-awareness poster, museum exhibit image)
Whiteboard and display
Writing utensils

Resources

1
Tell students that today’s activity will help them explore how creators of media messages make design and content choices that can affect what audiences notice, remember, or respond to. Ask students to recall a social media post, an advertisement, or a headline they still remember and consider why it might have stood out to them. Invite them to share answers to questions such as the following:
What was the message?
What made it stand out?
How did it make you feel?
Encourage students to notice patterns in what makes messages stick, such as tone, visuals, or word choice. Guide them to recognize that media creators use intentional strategies to attract attention and communicate clearly so that they can shape understanding and engagement.
2
Show three or four varied visual examples from Britannica School, ImageQuest, or another royalty-free resource. Possible examples include an advertisement for a product, a science infographic, a public-awareness poster, or a museum exhibit display. Prompt students to analyze each example by asking these questions:
What is this message trying to communicate?
Which emotions or reactions might it prompt?
Which design elements help focus attention on the message?
3
Ask students to work with a partner. Provide each pair with a blank sheet of notebook paper, and challenge them to write a headline of 10 words or fewer designed to spark curiosity or interest. Offer neutral classroom-appropriate examples such as “Scientists Explore Ocean Under Ice” or “New Invention Changes How We Learn.” When finished, read a selection aloud and have the class identify the tone or emotion the headline might evoke. Highlight how the most effective headlines are often concise, purposeful, and carefully crafted.
4
Keep students in pairs and distribute the Inverted Pyramid of Impact graphic organizer to each group. Tell students they will use the organizer to evaluate the potential influence of the headlines they created. They will start by recording their personal responses at the base and move upward to community, national, or global effects. Model the process with an example headline such as “City Takes Action to Reduce Plastic Waste.” Guide students to think about both emotions and the possible actions or conversations the headline might spark.
5
Have each pair select the level of the pyramid they believe their headlines affect most and explain their reasoning in a one-minute share-out. Conclude the discussion by reflecting on questions such as the following:
Which impact levels were most common?
Which were unexpected?
What does this suggest about how audiences interpret media differently?
6
Ask students to revise their headlines for a different audience or tone without changing the core idea. For example, a headline that creates urgency for peers could be rewritten to inform families or inspire community action. Invite pairs to share their original and revised versions to show how tone, language, and audience awareness shape media effectiveness.
7
Distribute the Headline Connection exit ticket. Have students individually write a new, original headline that expresses their biggest takeaway about media messages and their impact. Encourage intentional, reflective statements such as “Every Message Has Meaning” or “Media Shapes How We View the World.” Collect responses or invite volunteers to share. Use this reflection to reinforce the shift from passive consumer to thoughtful creator.
8
After students share their revised headlines and as time permits, guide them into a reflective discussion. Begin by inviting them to think silently and then pair-share. Consider using questions such as the following:
What surprised you about how your message changed when you shifted the audience or tone?
Did this make you think differently about how media influences reactions?
What might happen if someone misunderstood your headline?
Could the same message affect different people in different ways? Why?
End by emphasizing that these questions don’t have one answer, but that they are part of learning to think critically about media rather than just consuming it. Encourage students to carry these questions into how they read, share, and create content in the future.
Language Scaffolds for Multilingual Learners: Provide multilingual learners with a visual glossary of key terms (e.g., headline, audience, impact, intention) in their home languages when possible. Offer sentence starters such as “Our headline is meant to make people feel ___ because ___.” Pair students strategically to support idea sharing. For students who need additional scaffolding, supply a brainstorm bank of sample words and tones.
Collaborative Thinking Support: Offer a headline brainstorm bank for students who need help getting started. Consider including examples categorized by emotion (e.g., surprise, concern, excitement). Use color-coded sticky notes or word cards to help students experiment with tone and word choice. This supports students in generating ideas and testing emotional impact before committing to a final message.
Advanced Challenge: Students who benefit from more complexity can select a current media headline and rewrite it for three different audiences or emotional tones. They can then map each version using the Inverted Pyramid of Impact and compare how the message’s ripple effects change. This extension promotes advanced skills in perspective-taking, media framing, and critical audience analysis.
One Teaching, One Assisting: For collaborative teaching and learning environments, this learning activity is well suited to a One Teaching, One Assisting strategy. In this model, one teacher leads the activity while the other circulates, assisting individual students as needed. This ensures that when students encounter difficulties, they receive immediate help in the form of personalized support and answers to their questions. By addressing students’ unique needs and keeping them on track, this approach enhances individual learning experiences and fosters a supportive classroom environment. Studies indicate that immediate feedback and individualized attention can significantly enhance student understanding and retention of material.
Activity Introduction: The lead teacher introduces the Media Maker Mindset activity and prompts students to recall and describe a memorable media message, focusing on how it influenced their emotions or attention. The assisting teacher listens for students who may need vocabulary support or prompting and encourages quieter students to share ideas with partners or in small groups.
Image Analysis: The lead teacher displays selected media images from Britannica School or ImageQuest and asks students to analyze creator choices and possible emotional responses without providing direct answers. The assisting teacher circulates to clarify questions, prompt deeper thinking (“What makes you say that?”), and note patterns or misconceptions to revisit later.
Headline Creation: The lead teacher leads the headline-writing challenge and encourages students to apply observed strategies to their own headlines. While students work in pairs, the assisting teacher checks in with groups, offering support on word choice, tone, or clarity of message and ensuring all pairs are participating.
Graphic Organizer and Discussion: The lead teacher introduces the Inverted Pyramid of Impact and guides students through mapping the potential influence of their headlines. The assisting teacher listens to group reasoning, helps clarify levels of impact, and flags ideas that could enrich the whole-class discussion.
Wrap-Up and Reflection: The lead teacher prompts students to complete the Headline Connections exit ticket, encouraging them to summarize what they learned about media impact. The assisting teacher provides quiet support to students who may need help phrasing their ideas and collects informal observations about overall understanding.
Messages That Matter: Creating Media with Purpose

Activity

2:

Following the Footprints: Privacy in the Digital World

By the end of the activity, students will be able to explain how digital footprints are created, examine their impact on personal privacy and public identity, and consider ethical questions.

>40

Minutes

Materials

Devices such as Chromebooks or tablets (one per pair)
Whiteboard and display
Writing utensils

Resources

1
Tell students that today’s activity will explore how every click, post, and search online leaves a trace that forms a digital footprint. Invite them to imagine this through a reflective prompt: “Picture an invisible version of yourself that keeps track of everything you have ever done online. What might it reveal? Where would it travel?” Encourage volunteers to share their thoughts, and use their responses to introduce the idea that online actions leave lasting traces, even after people stop thinking about them.
2
Help students identify what makes up a digital footprint. Ask: “What traces do we leave behind online, even when we do not post directly?” Invite students to turn and talk with a partner. Then, after a few minutes, invite volunteers to share their thinking with the class. Record their responses on the board. If students need additional prompting, offer examples such as posts, comments, likes, follows, search history, or location data. Explain that some of this information is visible while other parts are hidden, yet all can be stored, shared, or analyzed in ways people may not expect.
3
Tell students that they will now work with a partner to investigate a bit further. Organize students into pairs and assign each pair a public or historical figure. Explain that they will search online using Britannica School and other approved search engines to find three examples of content that reveals something about this person’s digital presence (such as a quote, an image, or a headline).
4
Distribute a Digital Trail Tracker handout to each student, and tell students that in Part 1 of the handout they will record what they find about their assigned person and how these items could influence how others view the individual. Remind students to think about context and whether the footprint might tell the complete story.
5
Once pairs complete Part 1, ask them to select one piece of information to share anonymously with the class. As “online investigators,” they will present the information as a clue without naming the individual. For example:
“A photo of someone standing in front of a university building in 1963.”
“A headline about a major sports win from 2008.”
“A quote about teamwork that is shared widely online.”
6
Classmates will guess who the digital footprint belongs to. Follow up with questions such as these: “What assumptions might we make from this single clue?” and “How could someone misinterpret it without full context?” Emphasize how digital content can lead to judgments, sometimes inaccurate or incomplete.
7
Shift focus to students’ own digital footprints. Ask them to search for themselves online using district-approved public platforms (e.g., Google search). Their task is to identify whether anything appears and record it in Part 2 of the handout. If nothing appears, students should reflect on what they would want their digital footprint to communicate and why.
8
Transition to a discussion of digital privacy. Explain that, in the online context, privacy means controlling what is shared, who can see it, and how long it remains accessible. Have students form small groups to share one insight from their search and discuss questions such as the following:
What felt personal or private?
Who might control that information?
How much of our footprint can we truly manage?
9
Encourage neutral, reflective thinking rather than judgment. Highlight how ethical considerations arise when balancing personal privacy with public sharing.
10
Invite students to complete Part 3 of the handout, which includes space for reflecting on what they learned, why it matters, and how their perspective has shifted. Afterward, pairs will share one insight and create a short slogan about digital responsibility, writing it at the bottom of their handout. Conclude the activity by inviting a few pairs to present their slogans to the class.
Multilingual Learner Integration: Support multilingual learners during investigation and discussion by encouraging the use of bilingual dictionaries or translation tools when analyzing content. Provide sentence frames such as “This content might affect someone’s opinion because…” and “This post is part of the footprint because…” to help scaffold academic language around digital identity. Allow students to label their Digital Trail Tracker findings in both English and their home languages.
Advanced Analysis and Application: Challenge advanced learners to dig deeper by examining intent versus impact in digital content. Ask: “Was this content meant to be public? Did it have consequences beyond what the person expected?” They can also explore real-world cases of public figures whose digital footprints were misunderstood or misused. This extension encourages critical thinking about visibility, interpretation, and long-term consequences of digital content.
Creative Expression Options: Offer flexible options for the final slogan activity to support diverse communication styles. Students can create a visual slogan, design a digital badge, or compose a short jingle that reflects their message. This variation empowers students to take ownership of their learning and express their understanding of digital responsibility in a creative, personalized way.
One Teaching, One Assisting: For collaborative teaching and learning environments, this learning activity is well suited to a One Teaching, One Assisting strategy. In this model, one teacher leads the activity while the other circulates, assisting individual students as needed. This ensures that when students encounter difficulties, they receive immediate help in the form of personalized support and answers to their questions. By addressing students’ unique needs and keeping them on track, this approach enhances individual learning experiences and fosters a supportive classroom environment. Studies indicate that immediate feedback and individualized attention can significantly enhance student understanding and retention of material.
Activity Introduction: The lead teacher introduces digital footprints using the “invisible version of yourself” prompt and guides the class discussion. As students share, the assisting teacher observes engagement and identifies who may need support. The lead teacher then explains the paired investigation, in which students research a public or historical figure’s digital footprint and record findings on the Digital Trail Tracker. While students work, the assisting teacher circulates to clarify questions, provide examples, and ensure understanding before the class shares anonymous “clues.”
Class Brainstorm and Direct Instruction: The lead teacher facilitates a group brainstorm on what makes up a digital footprint and introduces terms such as privacy, visibility, and exposure. The assisting teacher assists students who may need help with vocabulary or who need prompting to contribute examples without suggesting specific answers.
Partner Investigation: The lead teacher explains how to complete Part 1 of the Digital Trail Tracker handout and assigns public or historical figures for the investigation. The assisting teacher supports pairs by clarifying which types of content qualify as digital footprint examples and ensuring they record their findings accurately. The assisting teacher also helps students anonymize examples so that they remain neutral and appropriate for sharing.
Class Presentations: The lead teacher moderates the “online investigator” guessing activity as pairs present anonymized clues. The assisting teacher helps students phrase their clues clearly and encourages participation from quieter students.
Independent Search and Group Debrief: The lead teacher transitions students to an individual search of their own digital presence using approved tools (Part 2 of the Digital Trail Tracker handout). The assisting teacher checks in with students who may need help navigating searches or understanding what qualifies as public content. In small-group discussions, the assisting teacher listens for insights and misconceptions about privacy and control that can be addressed during the larger class debrief.
Exit Ticket and Creative Wrap-Up: The lead teacher introduces Part 3 of the Digital Trail Tracker handout, and the assisting teacher helps students in summarizing their learning and crafting a slogan that captures their takeaway about digital responsibility and ethical decision-making online.
Messages That Matter: Creating Media with Purpose

Activity

3:

Exploring Media’s Role in Public Opinion

By the end of the activity, students will be able to investigate how private opinions become public, analyze how media influences beliefs and actions, and reflect on the ethical considerations, such as accuracy, fairness, and potential harm, of media messages.

>40

Minutes

Materials

Devices such as Chromebooks or tablets (one per group)
Whiteboard and display
Writing utensils

Resources

1
Tell students that during today’s activity they will investigate how opinions shift from being private thoughts to public ideas, and how the media can shape which opinions gain attention and influence others. Write this guiding question on the board:
What can turn a private opinion into a public one?
2
Allow students time to reflect silently and then time to turn and talk with a partner. After partners have shared together, invite volunteers to share initial ideas. Record their responses on the board as a support and introduction to the concept of public opinion without assigning value to any specific view.
3
Have students work in pairs to read the Public Opinion article using a shared device. Distribute a copy of the Making Ideas Public handout to each student, and ask them to complete Part 1, which focuses on defining public opinion, understanding how it forms, and considering the role of communication in shaping it.
4
After pairs complete Part 1, combine two pairs into one group of four students. Explain to students that each group will now work together to complete Part 2 of the handout, which includes an organizer for mapping how a private opinion can spread and gain influence. As students work, invite them to think about the following question: “How do ideas move from one person’s mind to something that shapes what others believe or do?” (Note: Students should work together to create a diagram using labeled steps and brief descriptions. Although students will brainstorm as a group, each student will be responsible for recording information on their individual handout. Emphasize that the goal is clear thinking, not artistic design.)
5
When diagrams are complete, have each group tape their work to the wall. Organize a gallery walk in which students, working with their original partners, circulate to review other groups’ diagrams. As they review, each pair should identify the step where they think that media exerts the greatest influence and mark that step with a star. After the gallery walk, invite volunteers to share any patterns they noticed, and highlight a few examples for discussion.
6
After the gallery walk discussion, bring the class together and revisit the guiding question on the board: “What can turn a private opinion into a public one?” Ask students to reflect silently for 1 minute on whether their thinking has changed since the beginning of the activity. Then invite them to share with a partner how their ideas evolved and what they found most surprising about the diagrams or discussions. Next, open a whole-class discussion using questions such as the following:
Where did you notice media having the most influence in the diagrams?
What positive outcomes can happen when media brings attention to an idea?
What challenges or ethical concerns, such as accuracy, fairness, or potential harm, should be considered when opinions are made public?
7
Record key points from the discussion on the board, grouping related ideas together (e.g., benefits, risks, or strategies for responsible media use).
8
Wrap up by asking students to write a brief reflection on their handouts or in their own notebooks in response to the following question:
How does understanding the way opinions become public help us think about the role media plays in shaping beliefs and actions?
Encourage students to include one insight about ethical considerations that stood out to them during the activity.
Language Scaffolds for Multilingual Learners: Adding general supports—such as visual aids, simplified instructions, and structured discussion prompts—can help make complex concepts about public opinion and media influence more accessible. Providing word banks, graphic organizers, and sentence starters benefits students by reducing language barriers, allowing them to focus on understanding and contributing ideas, and promoting confidence in both collaborative discussions and written reflections.
Handout Navigation Aids: For students who benefit from more structure, break each part of the Making Ideas Public handout into clear checkpoints and use checklists or completion boxes to guide progress. Teachers or aides can circulate with neutral guiding prompts, such as “What message do you think this image is sending?” and “Where in this process do you see opinions gaining public traction?” These prompts encourage students to clarify their thinking and stay engaged without influencing their conclusions.
Evidence-Based Reasoning: Incorporating evidence-based reasoning into the activity helps students strengthen critical thinking skills by requiring them to justify their ideas with concrete examples rather than general opinions, which deepens their understanding of how media shapes public opinion. This can be added by asking students to cite specific evidence from the article or real-world examples when labeling steps in their diagrams or explaining why they marked a particular point as the moment of greatest media influence during the gallery walk.
Parallel Teaching: For collaborative teaching and learning environments, this learning activity is well suited to a Parallel Teaching strategy. In this model, the class is divided into two groups, and each teacher delivers the same activity simultaneously to their group. This reduces the student-teacher ratio, allowing for more interaction and individualized attention. With smaller groups, students are more likely to participate actively and receive immediate feedback, which fosters a deeper understanding of the content and promotes a more engaging learning experience. Evidence suggests that small-group instruction leads to increased student engagement and improved academic outcomes.
Messages That Matter: Creating Media with Purpose

Activity

4:

Can Media Be Fair? Designing Ethical Messages

By the end of the activity, students will be able to analyze how ethical and unethical choices in digital media creation influence audience interpretation and will demonstrate this understanding by creating and comparing two versions of a public service announcement (PSA).

>40

Minutes

Materials

Devices such as Chromebooks or tablets (one per group)
Whiteboard and display
Writing utensils

Resources

1
Tell students that today’s activity will investigate how digital media can shape perceptions and why ethical considerations matter. Clarify that the focus is not on labeling ideas as right or wrong but on noticing how choices in words, images, and tone can influence meaning.
2
Start with a class discussion using open-ended questions:
What does “ethical content creation” mean to you?
Why might someone create media that bends the truth or leaves things out?
Who gets hurt when content is misleading, even slightly?
As students respond, write recurring ideas or themes on the board, such as truth, fairness, bias, influence, and responsibility. Encourage students to ask follow-up questions to each other and build on one another’s ideas. Prompt deeper thinking with questions such as “Can a meme influence someone’s opinion?” and “Does intent matter if the result misleads?” without suggesting your own answers.
3
Explain that students will work in small groups of two or three to create a public service announcement (PSA) focused on a school or community issue. Examples include cyberbullying, vaping, school safety, or mental health. Remind students that all topics must be approved to ensure they are appropriate for the classroom environment. As they plan, encourage reflection on questions such as the following:
What tone does your message convey?
How do your images and words work together?
Are you being respectful and accurate?
4
Circulate during this time and prompt students to explain their reasoning. Ask guiding questions such as “How might different audiences respond to this?” and “Could this be interpreted in more than one way?” instead of offering judgments.
5
Once the ethical PSA is complete, tell students they will create a second version of the same message that intentionally breaks one or more ethical principles, to explore how meaning changes when ethics are ignored. This second version should exaggerate, mislead, or use biased language. Clarify that this is not meant to offend but to help them notice how easily messages can be distorted. Model examples briefly:
Ethical PSA: “Pause Before You Post” with a calm image of someone pausing before sending a message. The tone is thoughtful and encourages reflection.
Unethical PSA: “Everyone Will Hate You If You Post That” with a dramatic image of students pointing and laughing. The tone is exaggerated and designed to provoke fear.
6
Before students begin, lead a quick brainstorm using the following prompts:
What are some ways in which media can exaggerate or distort messages?
Have you seen examples that aim to provoke emotion rather than inform?
Record students’ responses (e.g., shock value, selective framing, clickbait) to support their work.
7
When students have completed both of their PSAs, have groups present them without identifying which version is ethical or unethical. Invite classmates to guess and explain their reasoning. Provide a 2-Circle Venn Diagram graphic organizer with the circles labeled “ethical” and “unethical,” and the intersecting section labeled “shared,” so that students can compare features of each version during presentations, adding observations as each group presents.
8
Wrap up with a reflective class discussion. Consider using the following questions to guide the discussion:
What differences did you notice between the two PSAs?
How did tone and imagery affect how you interpreted the message of each?
What signs will you look for in the media you consume to evaluate whether it might be misleading?
Support for Multilingual Learners: Offer key vocabulary with visuals and simple definitions (e.g., bias, fairness, exaggeration) and encourage students to discuss ideas in their home languages before sharing in English. Provide translated sentence starters when available (e.g., “This PSA makes me feel…”), and allow students to include images or symbols to express meaning when words are challenging. This ensures that language differences do not limit participation in inquiry or creativity.
PSA Topic Support: For students who may benefit from extra guidance when selecting or developing a PSA topic, provide a short list of preapproved school or community issues with brief context (e.g., “Cyberbullying: harmful behavior online between students,” “Vaping: growing concern about health and peer pressure”). This helps students begin with a clear direction while still preserving choice.
Higher-Level Thinking: Invite students who are ready for a greater challenge to analyze preselected school-appropriate real-world PSAs or social media posts and compare them to their own creations. Ask them to identify techniques used to influence audiences, such as emotional appeal, selective wording, or visual framing. They can annotate these examples on sticky notes or directly on slides and then share one insight with the class during reflection. This enriches critical thinking and transfers concepts without adding extra workload.
Alternative Teaching: For collaborative teaching and learning environments, this learning activity is well suited to an Alternative Teaching strategy. In this model, one teacher instructs most of the class while the other works with a small group of students who need specialized attention or remediation. This provides targeted instruction for students who need extra help, ensuring they can keep up with their peers. It also allows for enrichment activities for advanced students, addressing diverse learning needs and ensuring that all students receive the appropriate level of challenge and support. Studies have shown that differentiated instruction significantly benefits students who have varied learning needs, leading to more equitable educational outcomes.
Activity Introduction: Teacher A explains the activity’s purpose: understanding how media shapes perceptions and exploring ethical versus unethical messaging. Teacher B monitors misconceptions, prompts clarifying questions, and identifies students who might need support in later group tasks. Both teachers record student-generated themes (e.g., bias, fairness, influence) and summarize them before transitioning to the PSA activity.
Ethical PSA Design: As groups begin creating their ethical PSAs, Teacher A works with a smaller group of students who may need additional guidance to understand key principles such as fairness, accuracy, and respect. This group receives more modeling and examples to ensure they are prepared to create their PSA. Teacher B supports the rest of the class as they begin planning, prompting them to reflect on tone, word choice, and imagery while encouraging students to explain their reasoning rather than offering answers.
Unethical PSA Construction: During the second phase, Teacher A facilitates a brief class brainstorm about ways in which media can mislead or exaggerate. Teacher B simultaneously works with students who may need more help distinguishing between ethical and unethical messaging or setting appropriate boundaries for their work. Both teachers focus on guiding students to notice how changes in language or images can shift meaning without telling them what is correct.
Presentations and Reflection: Teacher A moderates presentations, asking students to identify ethical versus unethical versions and explain their reasoning. Teacher B helps students complete the Venn Diagram graphic organizer, highlighting shared elements and differences. Both teachers lead a concluding discussion, reinforcing key insights on tone, imagery, and media evaluation.
Messages That Matter: Creating Media with Purpose

Activity

5:

Minutes

Materials

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Resources

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