Media Literacy Program Provides Presidential Campaign Lesson Plans

Media Literacy Program Provides Presidential Campaign Lesson Plans

With media outlets and digital platforms shaping public perception at breakneck speed, the ability for students to "decode" the sourcing, credibility, and bias of political messaging is a vital skill.

To address this need, the Project Look Sharp media literacy program at Ithaca College is making available over 140 free lessons that help educators integrate non-partisan media decoding into their teaching about U.S. presidential campaigns. Spanning campaigns from 1800 to 2024, these lessons empower students to critically evaluate media messages and understand the intersection of politics, history, and media. They can be downloaded from the Project Look Sharp website at www.projectlooksharp.org.

"In a world where every soundbite and tweet can sway or reinforce opinion, teaching students how to critically dissect campaign narratives, and reflect on their own thinking, has never been more essential," said Cyndy Scheibe, executive director of Project Look Sharp and Dana Professor of Psychology at Ithaca College.

Lessons on the 2024 election include:

• Harris & Trump Video Biographies: Students analyze the video campaign biographies of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris to explore messages about presidential leadership, media creation, and how political bias shapes interpretation.
• Break the Glass Ceiling: Students examine political campaign ads, focusing on female presidential candidates, the historical and cultural context of these campaigns, and persuasive techniques used in the media.
  

From the Project Look Sharp website, educators can easily search for lessons using keywords or phrases such as "Presidential Campaign." Filters allow further customization by keyword, date, media type, educational standard, lesson duration, and age or grade level.

A downloadable classroom kit on Media Construction of Presidential Campaigns, appropriate for students in high school through college, contains materials ranging from posters and political cartoons to audio and video clips of songs, debates, commercials, and even comedic TV portrayals. Students will learn how to analyze historical documents, the history of presidential campaigns, the crafting and marketing of campaign messages, and the impact of new technologies and new media on presidential campaigns.

About Project Look Sharp
Project Look Sharp is a not-for-profit educational initiative of Ithaca College dedicated to promoting critical thinking and media literacy skills in K-12 and college settings. By providing curriculum materials, training, and support, Project Look Sharp empowers educators to engage students in decoding media messages across all grade levels in history, science, English, math, library, etc. With decades of experience in media literacy education, Project Look Sharp has developed an extensive library of over 800 free lessons that address core standards in diverse subjects and teach habits of critical thinking about all media messages. Our mission is to prepare students to navigate today's hypermediated environment and become informed, active participants in civic life.

For more information, contact [email protected].