The Role of Media in United States Politics ‖ Three Forms of Media

53 minutes, one class period

Goals & Objectives

Goals:
 Students will distinguish between broadcast, print, and electronic media, and give
examples of each.
 Students will understand the unique roles that each form of media has in promoting
communication and political awareness in America.
 Students will evaluate the pros and cons of each form of media’s effectiveness in
reaching all Americans.
Objectives:
 Students will answer a warm-up question that will self-assess their own sources of
obtaining information about American politics.
 Students will use Frayer model guided notes to organize information about
broadcast, print, and electronic media.
 Students will reflect on what they have learned by writing a paragraph about which
form of media they believe is most effective for relaying the most accurate
information to the largest audience.

California State Content Standards

12.8 – Students evaluate and take and defend positions on the influence of the media
on American political life.
2. Describe the roles of broadcast, print, and electronic media, including the
Internet, as means of communication in American politics.

Common Core Literacy Standards

Common Core Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Sciences 11-12
10. Write routinely over extended time frames and shorter time frames for a range
of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

Common Core Reading Standards for Literacy in History/Social Sciences 11-12

7. Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse
formats and media in order to address a question or solve a problem.

Driving Historical Question

How do different forms of media adapt to better suit their audiences?

Lesson Introduction (Anticipatory Set/Hook/Accessing Prior Knowledge) ‖ Time: 8-10

min
Students will begin by answering their daily Warm-Up question in their Warm-Up template
on Google Classroom. For this specific lesson, students will answer the question: “Where do
you get most of your information about politics? (TV, radio, newspaper, social media) Do
you think the types of information given on different sources of media are all the same?”
This Warm-Up also serves as a lesson introduction by allowing students to access their
prior knowledge of various media sources, even if they do not know the exact terms to
describe the various sources. This will also let students begin to think about their own
awareness of media input and their own tendencies or biases when viewing United States
politics. They will take the first five minutes to think and answer on their own, then share
with partners. Finally, they will share their answers to the entire class; the teacher will ask
students to raise their hands to their preferred media source when she names the source.

Vocabulary (Content Language Development) ‖ Time: integrated throughout lesson

Broadcast Media – the fastest and most accessible means to transmit information
immediately to the widest possible audience (e.g., radio, television, Internet advertising)
Print Media – means of gathering and publishing news in the form of newspapers or
magazines
Electronic Media – means of communication by the use of media devices and networks or
social media sources (e.g., online newspapers, Social Media – Facebook, Twitter, etc)

Content Delivery (Method of Instruction) ‖ Time: 30-35 minutes

The teacher will present a PowerPoint lesson that introduces the basic definitions,
examples, formative assessment quizzes, and discussion questions for the students to learn
and stay engaged in the lesson. The PowerPoint will mainly aim to help students
distinguish broadcast, print, and electronic media sources and also to evaluate the pros,
cons, and reliability of the various forms of government.

Student Engagement (Critical Thinking & Student Activities) ‖ Time: 30-35 minutes
Students will be given guided notes in the form of a Frayer model to organize their
information about broadcast, print, and electronic media into categories of “Examples,”
“Pros,” “Cons,” and “Unique Roles.” Students are also required to partake in the Think-Pair-
Share and class-wide discussions spread out throughout the PowerPoint lesson, so the 30-
35 minutes will not be entirely lecture-based, causing students to lose focus or interest.

Lesson Closure ‖ Time: 5-8

To finish off the lesson, students will summarize their thoughts and what they have learned
by writing a paragraph about which form of media they believe is most effective for
relaying the most accurate and updated information to the widest audience possible.

Assessments (Formative & Summative)

Entry Level Assessment: The class-wide sharing out of which is their preferred media
source will allow the teacher to understand the current level of the students’
understanding of various media forms, and will help the teacher pace the lesson to help
students understand.
Formative Progress Monitoring Assessment: In the PowerPoint lesson, after teaching
students the definitions of each media source, there will be various slides showing images
of different types of media (e.g., a Facebook post, a CNN broadcast, the OC Register, etc).
Students will be called on random to decide what form of media the picture represents.
This will allow the teacher to decide whether or not to move on to the next part of the
lesson if all the students are correct, or if the teacher needs to spend more time and review
the basic terms with the students.
Summative Assessment: The students will write a paragraph that requires them to
synthesize all the main ideas from the lesson and form their own opinions and discuss
which form of media is the best way to relay the most accurate, updated information to the
widest possible audience. This will allow the teacher to know how well the students have
mastered the ideas from the lesson and how well they can apply content to real life
situations.

Accommodations for English Learners, Striving Readers and Students with Special Needs
Students can be given the teacher’s copy of the notes if the PowerPoint is unclear or too
difficult for them to follow along with the definitions. The teacher copy can further have
simpler definitions for these students to easily understand. The PowerPoint and guided
notes will have a variety of images and visuals to aid students in learning content. There
will also be different examples of media (for example, when explaining broadcast media,
there will be a video clip of a CNN news broadcast). The teacher will also provide sentence
frame scaffoldings for students who find it difficult to formulate their own sentences.

Resources (Books, Websites, Handouts, Materials)

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/10/03/judge-blocks-trump-
administration-deporting-immigrants-under-tps/1517268002/