This unit was created by Katherine Smith, an English 3 and ESL 3 at Back of the Yards College Preparatory High School in Chicago, IL as part of the 2023-2024 Pulitzer Center Teacher Fellowship program. It is designed for facilitation across 3 weeks or 15 51-minute class periods. For more units created by Pulitzer Center Teacher Fellows in this cohort, click here.
Objectives:
Students will be able to….
- Identify and analyze the source of a text and its message for an intended audience
- Present findings of their analysis of print text and social media posts
- Reflect on their relationship with news, technology, and social media
Essential Questions:
Factual:
- What is a fact?
- What is bias?
Conceptual:
- Can facts be biased?
- Can an issue truly be two-sided?
- How does audience and context change how a person views an issue?
- What should you do with information you encounter?
- What is "too much" information?
Debatable:
- What is real? How do you know?
- Is any information free of a social imperative?
Unit Overview:
The goal of this unit is to have students evaluate the messages they see all day, every day on screens. Often these messages are chosen by an algorithm, not the person who interacts with the message. Throughout the unit, students will be asked to reflect on whether technology is a tool or a distraction. Students will evaluate what the algorithm chooses for them through a project.
In this project, students will be grouped based on a self-selected topic. They will read an aligned piece of Pulitzer Center reporting and then research that topic on their social media platforms. Students will analyze the reporting and the results of their social media searches using text analysis strategies.
Finally, they will determine if bias was present in the information they interacted with throughout the unit. They will also determine if any of the messages drive reader/viewer action as a result of determining a social imperative. Students will summarize their findings in a presentation, ultimately reflecting on the role of social media in their lives.
**Educator notes:
An important element of this unit is metacognitive reflection. I want them to metacognitively reflect on how the technological tools impact them personally. Throughout this unit, students will be asked to track their daily phone use, and how much of that time is on social media. I also ask them to write how it makes them feel every day. On a personal level, I want them to start thinking about how to use their phones as a tool and I want them to evaluate the effect of screens on their lives, especially in their relationships, mental health, grades, and safety.
Before starting this unit, spend time directly teaching text analysis by introducing the following: message, audience, purpose, speaker, and context. Introduce the text analysis technique through analyzing images, watching short videos, and reading speeches. Students should focus on evaluating the message, audience, purpose, speaker, and context through their analysis while reading the Pulitzer Center reporting and the research of their topic. We also watched the movie “The Social Dilemma” to introduce the idea of “the algorithm” and to help students begin reflecting on their relationship with social media.
Performance Task:
Formative Assessments:
Formative assessment #1: Pulitzer Center Reporting Analysis Tool [.docx][.pdf]. Students will complete this tool each time they analyze a piece of Pulitzer Center reporting. Students will use this slightly different Analysis tool for social media posts [.docx][.pdf]. These tools assess reading and writing.
Formative assessment #2: Peer feedback on practice presentations [.docx][.pdf]. Students will practice presenting before the final presentation. Students will give each other feedback. This tool assesses speaking and listening.
Summative Assessments:
Summative Assessment: Fake News Analysis Project and Presentation [.docx][.pdf]. Students will choose an issue and read Pulitzer Center reporting on this topic. Then, students will conduct research on this topic through their social media platforms. All articles will be analyzed using text analysis strategies. The information will be curated and presented through a Google Slides presentation. Students will be required to present this to the class as a group. Students not presenting will be giving each group feedback. This project assesses reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
Individual reflections: Students will complete individual reflections [.pdf] on how they can take action on their topic, on the social media algorithm's place in their lives and society, and on their relationship with social media.
Assessment / Evaluation:
Students will be assessed with both formative assessments and summative assessments. The formative assessments will use the same rubrics as the summative assessment so students receive feedback before completing the summative assessment. Rubrics are included in the assignment documents.
After the students are formally assessed using the rubrics, students will complete a reflection. This reflection will be a tool to evaluate student's thoughts on the role social media plays in their lives. This reflection serves as an SEL tool to gauge student's understanding of the practical application of the concepts introduced in the unit.
Three week unit plan for teachers, including pacing, presentations, worksheets, texts, performance task instructions, and a grading rubric for the unit.
| Pulitzer Center Reporting | "The Black Box," Peering Into the Black Box by Arijit Douglas Sen and Derêka Bennett for The Dallas Morning News “Tracked: How Colleges Use AI To Monitor Student Protests,” Peering Into the Black Box by Arijit Douglas Sen and Derêka Bennett for The Dallas Morning News “Indigenous-Led Seed Bank Protects the Amazon’s Biodiversity,” Seeds for a Sustainable Future: Hyperlocal Solutions in Indigenous Lands by Amanda Magnani for The Latin America News Dispatch “News Analysis: Illinois Protects Library Books; Missouri Removes Them,” From AI to Book Bans: What is the Role for Regulation and Its Impact? by Jane Wiertel for Gateway Journalism Review “In Taiwan, Finding Solace—and Identity—in Traditional Healing,” Portraits of Indigenous Health in Taiwan by Brendan Ross and Nathaniel Brown for The Washington Post “Migrants Face Uncertainty Throughout Journey—Even in the United States,” On the Border: Latin American Migrants on the Border by Madison Powers for The Pulitzer Center "Climate Change Is Driving a Global Youth Revolution,” The Climate Generation: Born Into Crisis, Building Solutions by Sara Miller Llana and Stephanie Hanes for The Christian Science Monitor |
| Teacher-created materials | Daily Google Slides: 2-6 [.pptx][.pdf] Pulitzer Center Reporting Analysis Tool [.docx][.pdf] Analysis Tool for Social Media Posts [.docx][.pdf] Fake News Analysis Project and Presentation [.docx][.pdf] The Black Box -Jigsaw article [.docx][.pdf] Jigsaw note catcher [.docx][.pdf] Social Media Sharing Note Catcher [.docx][.pdf] Information Analysis Research Project: Peer Feedback Form [.docx][.pdf] |
RI.9-10.8: Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; identify false statements and fallacious reasoning.
W.9-10.1: Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
SL.9-10.3: Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric, identifying any fallacious reasoning or exaggerated or distorted evidence.
RAG.01: The student will identify claims and counterclaims explicitly stated in text or determine implicit claims and counterclaims from text.
LCON.01: The student will revise text as needed to improve the economy of word choice (i.e., to eliminate wordiness and redundancy).
CER
B.iii (reading): analyze connections
D. i (writing): communicate all the required information with a clear sense of audience and purpose to suit the context
Presentation
A.iii (listening): analyze connections
C.i (speaking): use a wide range of vocabulary
ELD-LA.9-12.Argue. Interpretive Multilingual learners will interpret language arts arguments by analyzing use of text analysis and details to advance point of view or purpose.ELD-LA.9-12.Narrate. Expressive Multilingual learners will construct language arts narratives that orient audience to context and one or multiple point(s)* of view.
MYP Context and Statement of Inquiry
GLOBAL CONTEXT (+ possible exploration)
- globalization and sustainability: commonality, diversity, and interconnection
KEY CONCEPT
- communication
RELATED CONCEPTS
- purpose
- audience
STATEMENT OF INQUIRY
The presentation of commonality, diversity, and interconnection are communicated with a specific purpose and impacts audience reactions.
MYP ATL Statements
B.iii: thinking: recognize unstated assumptions and bias
In order for students to analyze connections in reading for MAPS-C, students must be able to recognize unstated assumptions and bias.
D.i: take effective notes in class
In order for students to communicate all the required information with a clear sense of audience and purpose to suit the context to complete a MAPS-C analysis, students must take effective notes in class and while reading.
A.iii: social: listen actively to other perspectives and ideas
In order for students to analyze connections in listening during the small group discussions and presentations, students must listen actively to other perspectives and ideas.
C.i: communication: negotiate ideas and knowledge with peers and teachers
In order for students to use a wide range of vocabulary in small group discussions and presentations, students must negotiate ideas and knowledge with peers and teachers.
Smith's high school students chose an issue and read Pulitzer Center reporting on this topic. Then, students conducted research on the topic through their social media platforms. The information was curated and presented through a Google Slides presentation.
Students Presenting:
Smith's students presented their social media analysis of global issues covered by Pulitzer Center reporters. Students in the audience provided feedback using the Information Analysis Research Project: Peer Feedback Form [.docx][.pdf].
