K-12 Materials on the Web

General Integration Resources | Advertising and Consumerism | Commercialism | English and Language Arts | Gender, Race, Class and Diversity | Health and Body Image | Math and Science | Media Production | Politics | Social Studies

General Integration Resources
Cable in the Classroom Online
Lesson plans plus schedules of programs that can be taped free of charge for educational use
CBC4Kids
CBC4's site provides a great starting point to work with students
Discovery Channel School
Teaching resources plus information about Discovery television programs
John Merrow Documentaries
A collection of Education documentaries from renowned educational correspondent John Merrow.
The Media History Project
History of media from cave paintings to the internet and everything in between
The New York Times Learning Network
Media Smarts (formerly Media Awareness Network)
Lesson plans for teaching media and media issues

Advertising and Consumerism
Adbusters
Canadian magazine dedicated to stopping the unlimited spread of our commercial culture
AdCouncil
Company that creates social activist advertisements
Ad Critic
Interactive site is an excellent resource for free television commercials; available in the QuickTime format (a fast internet connection helps)
Advertising Age
A major advertising industry site; good resource for industry information
The Advertising Century
A look-back at the past century of advertising developments (part of Advertising Age)
Advertising World
Complete directory of worldwide advertising resources created at the University of Texas; good jump page for advertising information
Bad Ad 2000 Contest
Sponsored by the New Mexico Media Literacy Project, this offers students a chance to deconstruct their favorite "Bad Ads" in an essay. Click on BadAd contest.
Better Business Bureau Code of Advertising
Lengthy and cryptic, but informative
Brand Asset Valuator
Young & Rubicam (advertising agency) describes general advertising goals; an excellent "insider" statement
Caught in the Web: Online Advertising Targets Kids
Analyzes how the web is used to market to children; provides many classroom activities to help children become better web consumers
Deadly Persuasion
Why women and girls must fight the addictive power of advertising; online review of the definitive book by Jean Kilbourne
Dick Orkin's Radio Ranch
Humorous radio advertising archives
The Language of Advertising Claims
A lengthy but very informative site which explains how advertisers use language to subjugate the viewer
Linguarama: Language Training for Business
Good insider statement of how to use advertising language
Advertising Literacy
A module from Terry Dugas, a media literacy expert
The NOTMILK Homepage
Countering some of the claims made in the Got Milk? ads
Stereotypes in Context
Sex sells! But how? This interactive multimedia web site will help you understand what stereotypes are and introduce you to basic media literacy skills.

Commercialism
Commercialism in Education Research Units
A good resource for information on commercialism in schools at Arizona State University.
Education Industry Reports
A collection of reports on commercial pressures at schools maintained by CorpWatch.
Center for Commercial-Free Education
Excellent starting point for people who want to stop the growth of commercialism in our schools
Channel One: Perverting the Integrity of Education
A large critique of Channel One from Obligation Inc.
Commercial Alert
A good jump site for articles and research on commercialism in schools
Corporate Watch
A generalized corporate watchdog site
E is for E-Commerce
A brief critique of the ZapMe! network in MotherJones magazine
E-Biz Races to Lure Kids
A discussion of the trials and difficulties of marketing to kids online
Kids and Commercialism
Resources for fighting commercialism from the New American Dream site
Obligation Inc.
Reminding Businesses and Governments of Their Responsibility to Children
Stay Free
Non-profit magazine investigating commercialism and American Culture
Who Owns What?
Columbia Journalism Review guide to what the major media companies own
ZapMe! Exploits Schoolchildren
Collection of articles and letters regarding the ZapMe! network (warning-some of these articles are a bit hysterical)

English and Language Arts
Thinking Critically about Research Sources
This page provides a unique way for students to brainstorm research possibilities while the teacher can elaborate on the credibility of each source mentioned

Gender, Race, Class and Diversity
About Face
Exploring issues from the female perspective
A Different World: Children's Perceptions of Race & Class in Media
Comprehensive review of the 1998 book which surveyed children's responses to media images
Black Storytellers Alliance
Great page supporting the original form of media
Challenging Online Hate
Resources for students and teachers to deal with the spread of hate sites on the internet
Good Minds
Providing educational materials regarding indigenous peoples
The Great Peace
Site provides information about the Great Peace CD-ROM (a living history of the Iroquois Nation)
HYPE: Monitoring the Black Image in the Media
Critical essays on black portrayals in the media
Misconceptions and Stereotypical Views
Proper methods for teaching indigenous cultures
National Women's History Project
Curricular resources for integrating women's history
Portrayal of Diversity
An analysis of minority portrayals in the media

Health and Body Image
Study of Entertainment Media and Health
Reports and fact sheets published online by the Kaiser Family Foundation
About-Face!
Challenging negative and distorted images of women
Direct to You: TV Drug Ads That Make Sense
Interesting FDA report on the advertising of prescription drugs
Healthteacher.com
Online health teacher's companion
Inequality.org
Examines the inequalities in Americans' health, wealth and income
In The Mix
Companion web site to the award winning PBS series
Join Together Online
Helping you reduce substance abuse and gun violence
Public Agenda
The Inside Source for Public Opinion and Policy Analysis; public opinions on drugs, alcohol and health care
Vintage Cigarette Ads
The advertising pundits at chickenhead.com have catalogued these classic tobacco ads from the 1940s & 50s

Math and Science
Cornell Math & Science Gateway
Comprehensive listing of lesson plans and links for math and the sciences
Discovery Channel's Science Fair Central
Creative investigations into the real world
Figure This!
Math challenges for families; bridges math with the everyday world
Home Science Experiments
Extensive listing of science projects that can be done at home
Newton's Apple
Web site of the PBS science show
The Why Files
Explaining the science behind the news

Media Production
Current Online: Youth Radio
Article discusses the empowerment of children through radio by Youth Radio (airing on NPR); make sure to visit the Youth Radio web site
How Are Hollywood Films Made?
Annenberg/CPB presents this site where visitors can write their own scripts and try their hand at producing a film
Listen Up! Youth Media Defined
Messages from America's Youth
Media Education Foundation
Provides support for media production
NETAOnline
National Education Telecommunications Association web page provides ideas for public television productions
Youth Radio
Empowering youth through public radio

Politics
America Strikes Back? Critical Media Literacy in Times of War
An extensive and annotated multi-media website designed to engage readers to think critically about how news sources tell contradictory stories about such events as war
C-SPAN
Political network's web site brings us the daily happenings of politics
Daily Lesson Plan
The New York Times offers lesson plans on issues that caused controversy and received heightened media attention.
Daryl Cagle's Professional Cartoonists Index
Provides political cartoons from many different sources
Inequality
Discusses our nation's inequalities in health and income
New American Dream
How to get involved in combatting the state of affairs in America
Paper Tiger TV
Smashing the myths of the information industry; a more radical approach to media literacy
Political Cartoons.com
More Political Cartoons
Public Agenda Online: Clarifying the Issues
Provides more informed public opinions on a range of issues
Red Files
Online companion to the PBS documentary on Soviet intelligence

Social Studies
Challenging Online Hate
Resources and guides for parents and teachers
Films.com
Films for the Humanities and Sciences
Good Minds
Resources for teaching about indigenous cultures
Great Peace: the Gathering of Good Minds
Proper teaching methods relative to Native Americans
Howard Zinn Page
Excerpts from the works of Howard Zinn, radical historian and author of A People's History of the United States.
Living the Legacy 1848-1998
The legacy of women's history; teaching materials available
National Women's History Project
Offers a catalogue of women's history
The New Americans
Modern documentary of immigration from PBS; site includes teacher resources
New Deal Network
A complete online history of FDR's new deal from the Franklin &Eleanor Roosevelt Institute
Media Stereotyping
Resource archive for this topic
Internet Scout Project
A Smart-Search engine for the social sciences; educators and librarians have previewed relevant sites to save time in your searches
Understanding the Kosovo Conflict
A lesson in media literacy for grades 9-12