Allegedly

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

1. What is media bias, and who does it affect the most? How might media bias impact a person’s life, as well as democratic and legal processes?

Teaching Suggestion: To encourage class discussion and engagement, it may help to discuss a specific instance of media bias before students respond to the prompt; some examples can be found here. These Short Answer questions can be used before, during, and after exploration of the following sources to help contextualize the novel and guide discussion on the topic.

• This article from FAIR examines the lack of diversity in media and its social, political, and economic implications for the underrepresented.
• This post from the America Bar Association defines bias and explores the impact of media on jurors.

Short Activity

What are the different types of cognitive biases? Conduct research and then create a poster that explains the major cognitive biases, how to recognize them, and what to do to mitigate their impact on people’s perception of the world.

Teaching Suggestion: This activity can be done individually, in pairs, or in small groups. To ensure a wider scope of research, consider assigning groups specific cognitive biases to research in more depth. As an alternative approach to this activity, students might present their posters to the class. It may also be helpful to display posters in the classroom as reference resources throughout the unit and beyond.

• This article from Cleveland Clinic offers an overview of cognitive biases and methods for identifying and overcoming them.
• This TEDx video may serve as a helpful introduction to recognizing one’s own biases (Note: Students may also benefit from exploring this resource during the Personal Connection Prompt).

Personal Connection Prompt

This prompt can be used for in-class discussion, exploratory free-writing, or reflection homework before reading the text.

Explore your own experiences related to cognitive bias in a written reflection. When have others’ biases positively and/or negatively impacted you? When have you responded to a situation strongly because of a bias? How might learning about bias and exploring your own be beneficial?

Teaching Suggestion: Consider allowing students the opportunity to share or discuss their reflections if they choose. Some students may be initially uncomfortable discussing or learning about biases, which may limit their responsiveness. In this case, you might review the resource below prior to introducing the Personal Connection Prompt.

This teacher-facing resource from the National Library of Medicine includes 12 tips for teaching, recognizing, and managing implicit bias.