| 1 | What IS Media? | What counts as media, and who makes it? | Media identification | media, audience, message, medium | Name five types of media you encountered today | Find one piece of media made by a person your age |
| 2 | Who Made This and Why? | What are the four purposes behind media? | Purpose identification | inform, entertain, persuade, sell | Take one piece of media and identify which purpose it serves | Find one example of each of the four purposes |
| 3 | The Invisible Choices | How do production choices change how a story feels? | Production technique analysis | framing, tone, angle, word choice | Describe how one production choice changed your reaction to a media piece | Take the same photo with two different framings |
| 4 | The Re-Edit | Can the same material tell different stories? | Media construction activity | perspective, editing, narrative, bias | After the activity: what did you notice about how editing changed the story? | Find two news stories about the same event -- compare the choices |
| 5 | The Price of Free | How do free websites and apps actually make money? | Business model analysis | advertisement, data, engagement, platform | How does YouTube make money if it is free? | Spend 10 minutes counting ads on a free platform |
| 6 | The Clickbait Machine | How are headlines designed to capture attention? | Headline analysis | clickbait, curiosity gap, thumbnail, engagement | Identify three techniques in one clickbait headline you find | Rewrite three clickbait headlines to be accurate instead |
| 7 | The Ad Tracker | How many persuasion attempts do I encounter in one hour? | Persuasion tracking activity | persuasion, advertisement, sponsored, endorsement | From the tracking activity: what surprised you about the count? | Keep a one-day persuasion log |
| 8 | Selling Ideas | How does media sell opinions and behaviors, not just products? | Ideological media analysis | narrative, ideology, frame, values | Find one piece of media that sells an idea rather than a product | Compare how two different media sources frame the same social issue |
| 9 | Is This Real? | Why does false information spread, and how do we slow it down? | Misinformation analysis | misinformation, verification, source, lateral reading | Name two things you check before believing a surprising claim | Practice lateral reading on one unfamiliar news story |
| 10 | The Fact-Check Sprint | How do you trace a claim to its original source? | Fact-checking activity | primary source, verification, original report | Describe your verification process for one claim you traced | Find a claim that was originally accurate but became distorted as it spread |
| 11 | Spotting Fakes | How do manipulated images and AI-edited content differ from real ones? | Manipulation detection | deepfake, reverse image search, context, manipulation | Name two techniques for spotting manipulated media | Use reverse image search on one suspicious image |
| 12 | How Does My Feed Know Me? | How do algorithms decide what I see next? | Algorithm analysis | algorithm, engagement, recommendation, personalization | Explain in your own words how a social media algorithm works | Notice how your feed changes after intentionally engaging with different content |
| 13 | The Echo Chamber | Why does our brain prefer familiar ideas? | Filter bubble analysis | filter bubble, confirmation bias, echo chamber, diversity | What is confirmation bias? Give a real example | Intentionally find a source that challenges one of your existing beliefs |
| 14 | The Feed Swap | What does a completely different perspective feel like? | Perspective-taking activity | perspective, viewpoint, bubble, diversity | After the simulation: what surprised you about a different feed? | Spend 15 minutes reading a news source you normally avoid |
| 15 | The Spec Sheet | How do you plan media you create responsibly? | Media production planning | specification, audience, goal, ethical choice | Describe your project's audience, goal, and main ethical choice | Research one real example of media that was created with a clear ethical framework |
| 16 | Building Your Message | How do you apply what you learned to create media? | Media production activity | draft, message, technique, revision | Share your draft and get one piece of feedback | Reverse-apply the "Who made this and why?" test to your own draft |
| 17 | Testing and Refining | How do you improve media based on feedback? | Revision and fact-checking | peer review, revision, fact-check | What is one change you made based on feedback? | Fact-check one claim you made in your own project |
| 18 | The Signal Broadcast | What did I learn about media and about myself as a consumer and creator? | Synthesis and presentation | reflection, broadcast, media literacy | Name one thing that changed about how you consume media over this curriculum | Create a one-paragraph "media manifesto" for yourself |
| Ext. 1 | AI-Generated Media | How do I recognize AI-generated content? | AI media analysis | generative AI, deepfake, synthetic media | Name two techniques for spotting AI-generated images | Find and analyze a piece of AI-generated media |
| Ext. 2 | Journalism Deep Dive | How do professional newsrooms work? | Journalism analysis | editorial independence, sourcing, newsroom, credibility | What is editorial independence? Why does it matter? | Research the funding model of one news organization |