Mobilizing young voters through social media and best practices for online social activism
Overview
Do you remember the first social media account you made? What about the first time you read a news article or retweeted a tweet from your favorite politician? Have you caught your students feeling frustrated after a major event happens and they feel powerless? In this lesson, students will learn about democracy, voting requirements, and how to make a difference in politics. Using lateral reading (a strategy for investigating who's behind an unfamiliar online source by leaving the webpage and opening a new browser tab to see what trusted websites say about the unknown source) students will evaluate news articles or social media content to determine if it is credible to share online. This lesson plan includes a slide deck and lateral reading resources.
Lesson Plan
The lesson plan is attached. Initially used for a 30 minute lecture, but can be adapted for longer or shorter.
Vocabulary Words
Definitions for each word can be determined by the instructor, or as a class activity.
- Voting
- Democracy
- Generation Z
- Congress
- Lateral reading
- Upstream reading
- Site:congress.gov
Learning Outcomes
Students will demonstrate knowledge of the voter registration process and reflect on eligibility requirements.
Students will be able to recognize signs of misinformation and verbally explain steps to act responsibly when sharing online materials.
Students will evaluate methods of lateral reading and demonstrate the steps and effectiveness of lateral reading.
Teaching Materials
- Canva slide show (linked)
- Resources/articles to use for lateral reading excercise (linked in Canva slideshow, but could use your own to make them more timely)
- Kahoot links to gauge student knowledge before and after the lesson.
Before starting the lesson
- Make a copy of the lesson slides so you can edit as needed.
- Provide copies of any articles or internet resources if preferred by students.