I can’t say enough about the PBS teachers site (www.pbs.org/teachers).  “Discover the power of social media while promoting your students’ civic engagement” through  Access, Analyze, Act: A Blueprint for 21st Century Civic Engagement.

The site contains curriculum guides and lesson plans designed for k-12 (the higher level lessons can easily be tweaked for college freshmen). I’m especially interested in the following lesson plans, all of which could be adapted for use in Critical Thinking or Advanced Research courses:

Access, Analyze, Act: Changing Media, Changing Campaigns

Explore how media technologies have played a role in presidential campaigns throughout history; research how media has been used in the 2000, 2004 and 2008 elections; identify key events and compile information, photos, and videos illustrating media use during these campaign years; and create timelines using an online timeline tool. (PDF)

Access, Analyze, Act: Connecting Politics to Everyday Life

Compare people’s knowledge of celebrities to their knowledge of politicians, learn about your local, state and national representatives, and recognize important links between political issues and your everyday life. Then gather information about the views of your Congressional representative(s) as they relate to political issues that affect you. (PDF)

Access, Analyze, Act: Create an Advocacy Video

Choose a political issue and design a short persuasive video that demonstrates your knowledge and position regarding the issue and encourages viewers to take action. Then post your video online. (PDF)

Access, Analyze, Act: Debate with the Devil’s Advocate

Use an online devil’s advocate tool to expand your thinking about key issues in the 2008 election. Learn how people interpret issues differently, identify persuasive techniques, and determine what information is missing. (PDF)

Access, Analyze, Act: Express Your Views in a Vlog or Podcast

Choose a campaign issue and develop a persuasive extemporaneous speech that you record as audio or video files and share online. (PDF)

Access, Analyze, Act: Identifying Genres and Persuasion in Political Discourse

Learn about six genres of political discourse in the media and three persuasive appeals based on Aristotle’s classical rhetoric, then find and analyze examples of the genres and persuasive techniques on the Web sites of the 2008 presidential candidates. (PDF)

-LF