English Language Arts · 10th Grade

Active learning ideas

The Impact of Social Media

Active learning is essential here because social media operates in a student’s immediate experience, making abstract concepts feel distant. When students manipulate real feeds, debate real posts, or redesign real platforms, they translate critical distance into concrete understanding.

• Common Core State Standards
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.7

• 20–40 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Think-Pair-Share
• 20 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: Algorithm Audit

Students spend 3 minutes documenting what appeared on their social media feed that morning (topics, tone, whether content confirmed or challenged existing beliefs). Partners compare and identify patterns. Class discussion asks: what do our feeds have in common, and why might that matter for informed citizenship?

Analyze how social media algorithms shape individual perceptions of reality.

Facilitation Tip

During the Algorithm Audit, ask students to screenshot their feeds before the activity so they can compare curated content to their initial reactions.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'How might the algorithm of a platform like TikTok influence a user's perception of a specific historical event?' Have students discuss in small groups, citing specific examples of content they have seen or imagine they might see.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 02

• Inquiry Circle
• 40 min · Small Groups

Inquiry Circle: Viral Fact-Check

Groups receive a screenshot of a viral claim that spread widely on social media. They have 15 minutes to verify or refute it using three different sources and document their process. Groups share findings and identify which platform features , retweet counts, engagement metrics, verified badges , made the claim appear credible.

Evaluate the impact of 'cancel culture' on free speech and public discourse.

Facilitation Tip

For the Viral Fact-Check, require students to verify at least one claim using primary sources, not just secondary summaries.

What to look for

Provide students with a short, anonymized social media post. Ask them to identify: 1) The intended audience, 2) The primary persuasive technique used, and 3) One potential bias present in the post or its context.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Self-Awareness

Activity 03

• World Café
• 35 min · Whole Class

Structured Discussion: The Cancel Culture Debate

Present two op-ed excerpts arguing opposite positions on whether public accountability campaigns protect or threaten free speech. Students read independently, then discuss using a structured rule: state the strongest point from the piece you disagree with before arguing your position. This models counterargument skills directly.

Predict the long-term societal effects of constant digital connectivity on human interaction.

Facilitation Tip

In the Cancel Culture Debate, assign roles based on evidence, not opinions, to keep the discussion grounded in analysis rather than personal attack.

What to look for

Ask students to write down one way their own digital footprint might be shaped by social media algorithms and one strategy they could use to seek out diverse perspectives online.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Social Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 04

• Role Play
• 30 min · Small Groups

Role Play: Platform Design Ethics

Groups are social media platform designers deciding whether to implement three algorithmic features: engagement-optimized ranking, anonymous accounts, and health misinformation warning labels. For each feature, they argue both for and against the design choice before making a recommendation with a rationale grounded in civic values.

Analyze how social media algorithms shape individual perceptions of reality.

Facilitation Tip

During Platform Design Ethics, have students present their proposed fixes to the class and defend them with specific design principles.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'How might the algorithm of a platform like TikTok influence a user's perception of a specific historical event?' Have students discuss in small groups, citing specific examples of content they have seen or imagine they might see.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers should treat students as experienced users who need frameworks, not novices who need basic awareness. Avoid lecturing about risks; instead, guide them to discover patterns in their own feeds using the tools of ELA. Research shows that when students analyze familiar systems, they retain strategies better than when they study them abstractly.

Success looks like students applying analytical tools to their own digital lives: spotting biases in their feeds, testing claims with evidence, and recognizing how algorithms shape their worldviews. They should move from passive scrolling to active interrogation of content and systems.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During the Think-Pair-Share Algorithm Audit, students might believe their feeds reflect reality because the content feels familiar and personal.

  During the Algorithm Audit, ask students to compare their screenshots with peers’ feeds. Direct them to note discrepancies in content, tone, or sources, highlighting how engagement metrics—not truth—dictate visibility.

• During the Viral Fact-Check, students may assume false information looks obviously fake due to poor formatting or spelling errors.

  During the Viral Fact-Check, present polished misinformation examples from trusted accounts. Have students trace the post back to its original source and cross-reference with primary documents to reveal the flaw in appearance-based credibility.

• During the Structured Discussion Cancel Culture Debate, students may claim cancel culture is a new social phenomenon with no historical roots.

  During the Cancel Culture Debate, provide excerpts from pre-digital public shaming texts (e.g., McCarthy-era blacklists). Ask students to compare consequences in scale, permanence, and audience asymmetry to challenge this assumption.

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Methods used in this brief

• Think-Pair-Share
• Inquiry Circle
• World Café
• Role Play