Bias is defined as a particular tendency, trend, inclination, feeling, or opinion, especially one that is preconceived or unreasoned. All people have bias in favor of some things and against some things. That is alright as long as it doesn’t lead to prejudice or discrimination against people that have different beliefs. Bias against Native American people in the United States has been a very harmful aspect of our history and has had a negative impact upon Native Americans. This lesson focuses on the concept of bias and helps students to analyze materials to look for examples of bias in today’s world.

The purpose of Brave Dialogues: A Guide to Discussing Racial Equity in Career Technical Education is to provide state Career Technical Education (CTE) leaders with tools to engage in discussion around racial equity in CTE and to support state CTE leaders in creating an environment in which all stakeholders have the language and comfort to discuss challenges and opportunities related to racial equity in CTE. 

The lesson and activities teach students to recognize and explore bias and media stereotyping and be able to identify and analyze propaganda techniques in magazine and//or TV advertising.

The day after Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed, a teacher in a small town in Iowa tried a daring classroom experiment. She decided to treat children with blue eyes as superior to children with brown eyes. FRONTLINE explores what those children learned about discrimination and how it still affects them today.

Is the justice system in the United States responding to increased extremism appropriately? What is at stake? Who should address increasing violence? Students will engage in the inquiry process by developing questions related to extremism, building contextual knowledge, and assessing the effectiveness of interventions to address extremism.

Content Advisory:
This film and accompanying resources deal with sensitive topics that may be triggering for some students. The exploration of hate groups, white supremacy, and violence are topics that should receive great care in the classroom. Some school districts may employ YouTube content filters that block the material. If you need access, please email David Olson at dolson@retroreport.com.

This lesson and its accompanying seven-minute video introduce students to a professional fact-checker, who describes the methods and processes he employs to verify information that appears in news stories. The video explains which claims can be fact-checked, and why some sources are more reliable than others. How do fact-checkers engage in analysis of contemporary and historical claims? How do we distinguish between “bad facts” and “bad narratives” when critiquing media sources? Examine the tools that fact-checkers use to identify and interrogate claims, and put those skills into practice.

This lesson gives background to the rise of the National-Socialist German Workers' Party Party (Nazi Party) and in particular to their annexation of Austria through a powerpoint.  It then asks students to analyze three primary source documents to act as evidence in answering an historical question: How did the Nazi party convince 99% of Germans to vote in favor of the annexation of Austria?  Student then write a short argument based on their understanding of the texts and visuals.

This is an animated short that functions as both a persuasive text warning consumers about the dangers of factory-produced food and a commercial for Chipotle Mexican Grill. In the video, our central character, a scarecrow, realizes the horrors of factory produced food products and can no longer work for the food corporation. The scarecrow decides to start a new food business afresh - producing foods made from fresh, sustainable ingredients.This wordless animation requires students to infer the author's central message and purpose, find evidence to support their ideas, and discuss the role of characterization and setting in the theme. Please note: this is a primary text resource. Guidelines for implementation in the classroom can be found in the "Guidance for Teachers in Using this Resource" section.

Learning Objectives
Students will be able to
Describe what stocks are, how you can earn profit from stocks, and the risks of investing.
Summarize long-term trends in the stock market
Analyze the performance of individual stocks over time
Consider how personal values may influence investing decisions

Approximate Time
Lesson length: 130 mins