Subject: English Language Arts

CCSS Indicators: ​CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.8​,

​ CSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.6​,
C
​CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.9-10.5
Materials Needed: ​PowerPoint slideshow, propaganda analysis handout
Statement of Objective:
Students will be able to identify and critically analyze examples of fake news and propaganda as
well as draw connections between modern examples and representations of fake news within
George Orwell’s ​1984.

Focusing Student Attention: ​10 minutes

Part 1
● Do you believe most of what you see on the internet? Social media?
● Before beginning the lesson, the teacher ask for volunteers to quickly answer these two
guiding questions.
Part 2
● Display the imgur flower picture used in the Stanford fake news study regarding
adolescent media literacy. Students will be asked to brainstorm and write down what
information the image provides them about the situation at the Fukushima power plant in
Japan. After coming together as a group, students will be asked to volunteer their
answers.
● After discussing what they observed, the teacher will ask students, if they came across
this image online, whether they would be likely to believe it as truth or not. Finally, the
teacher will reveal to students that the image is an example of fake news, comprised by
Stanford as part of an observational study. The class will listen to a brief NPR clip
summarizing the method and results of the study.

Developmental Activities (Teacher-Directed): ​5 minutes

Students will be shown a short video clip of President Obama discussing the importance of
media literacy and reliable news. The teacher will offer a comprehensive, dictionary definition of
“propaganda,” a term used by Obama in his address.

Guided Practice Activity: ​5 minutes

As a class, students and teacher will analyze an artistic depiction of a propaganda poster from
1984 (“​ Big Brother is Watching You.”) Students will identify rhetorical tactics that are being
used to persuade viewers within the context of the novel to act a certain way or accept a desired
ideology. They will also unpack the role that Big Brother propaganda plays within the
post-apocalyptic society of ​1984.

Independent Activities/Meaningful-Use Tasks: ​15 minutes

Once students have displayed familiarity with analyzing propaganda, they will be divided into
small groups. Each group will receive a handout with one of four historical propaganda posters
(British draft poster from WWI, American anti-Nazi poster from WWII, German anti-American
poster from WWII, American anti-communist poster from the Cold War.) After discussing
rhetorical and persuasive strategies in groups, each group will share their observations with the
class. A short class discussion will follow about the historical context and observed differences
between each propaganda poster. The class will unpack the effects and importance of
propaganda throughout history (outside of a fictional, literary landscape.)

Teacher-Directed Activity: ​10 minutes

The teacher will discuss the difference between fake news and propaganda. A short, slide-guided
lecture will follow about the three different categories of fake news: satire or parody, clickbait/
misleading information, and completely false news. The teacher will provide visual examples of
each type of fake news, as well as potentially unreliable websites. Students will also be
encouraged to offer examples of fake news they have personally witnessed.

Closure Activity: ​15 minutes

The teacher will show a side-by-side image of the crowds in attendance at Obama’s and Trump’s
inauguration ceremonies. Following observation and comments on the photographs, the teacher
will play Sean Spicer’s speech about fake news following the inauguration. The class will
discuss the role that fake news plays in the media within today’s modern society.

Assessment Activities:
The teacher should be able to grasp each student’s understanding of the lecture material during
small group work. After being broken into smaller groups, the students will work more
autonomously, displaying retention and understanding of the persuasive, rhetorical strategies
used in historical and literary propaganda posters. This activity will also prepare students for the
summative assessment at the end of the unit, an argumentative, persuasive essay.