Educator edition
IB Diploma Programme: Language A: language and literature
IB Diploma Programme Language A: language and literature classes at SL and HL, using selected cases for Paper 1 practice and one individual-oral rehearsal.
10 cases
How to use this educator editionDP Lang and Lit educator edition
- The student page, reduced, with the same page number as in the student edition.
- Sample answers are blue, italic and start with a key symbol.
- The educator column names the case, the page and this edition.
- Blocks for this page, always in the same order.
How to use this educator edition
Each sheet shows one student page on the left and notes for you on the right. Student pages keep their page numbers in this book. Each case starts with a Case plan sheet.
The educator column
Answers
A sample answer Each answer is a complete response a strong student could write. Your students’ wording will differ.
Heat check
- Low: most students can discuss this without personal stakes.
- Medium: the talk can turn personal. Use the cool-down.
- High: plan the cool-down before class.
Plan the courseDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Plan the course
| Case | Task | Students make | Full chapter, min | One period, min | Code of ethics | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Is the screening canceled? | Write a guided textual analysis of the group-chat screenshot and its caption in response to the guiding question. Treat it as a non-literary text: analyze the crop, the caption’s punctuation, the placement of “canceled?” and the reader it assumes. | Guided analysis, 600–800 words, written in 75 minutes | 120 | 75 | SPJ Code of Ethics | Strong |
| 3 What should a group do after a public mistake? | Write a guided textual analysis of the crew’s published correction, reading it against the caption it replaces. Then apply the same guiding question to one longer real correction or apology statement the teacher selects. | Guided analysis, 600–800 words, written in 75 minutes | 116 | 75 | PRSA Code of Ethics | Partial |
| 6 What can your family see in your college records? | Write a guided textual analysis of the university’s parent-access guide in response to the guiding question, treating it as an institutional text written for families and students at once. | Guided analysis, 600–800 words, written in 75 minutes | 113 | 75 | AACRAO Ethics and Practice | Partial |
Plan the course, continuedDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Plan the course, continued
| Case | Task | Students make | Full chapter, min | One period, min | Code of ethics | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 Did one complaint get the novel banned? | Rehearse the individual oral. Choose a short extract from Matilda, such as the library scene with Mrs Phelps, and a short extract from a body of non-literary work on book challenges, such as a library association’s public statements or a district’s reconsideration notices. Prepare a 10-minute response examining how the global issue of who controls young people’s access to books is presented through the content and form of both extracts, followed by 5 minutes of teacher questions. | 10-minute recorded oral plus 5 minutes of teacher questions, with a one-page outline | 110 | 90 | ALA Code of Ethics | Strong |
| 8 Is it a recommendation or an ad? | Write a guided textual analysis of Gia’s first-cut review (spoken script, on-screen text and caption) in response to the guiding question, treating it as a multimodal non-literary text. | Guided analysis, 600–800 words, written in 75 minutes | 117 | 75 | FTC Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255) | Strong |
| 9 What is on your ballot, and where do you check? | Write a guided textual analysis of an educator-selected voter guide aimed at young or first-time voters, responding to the guiding question. | Guided analysis, 600–800 words, written in 75 minutes | 115 | 75 | SPJ Code of Ethics | Partial |
Plan the course, continuedDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Plan the course, continued
| Case | Task | Students make | Full chapter, min | One period, min | Code of ethics | Fit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 When can a school limit what students say? | Write a guided textual analysis of a passage from Justice Fortas’s majority opinion in Tinker (1969) that includes the “schoolhouse gate” sentence, responding to the guiding question. | Guided analysis, 600–800 words, written in 75 minutes | 112 | 75 | ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct | Partial |
| 15 Is Rafa’s unpaid internship really a job? | Write a guided textual analysis of the studio’s internship listing in response to the guiding question, then test your reading against one real internship listing the teacher selects. | Guided analysis, 600–800 words, written in 75 minutes | 113 | 75 | NACE Principles for Ethical Professional Practice | Partial |
| 16 Who wrote the new building rule? | Write a guided textual analysis of the unsigned notice, then apply the same guiding question to one longer real building or institutional notice the teacher selects. | Guided analysis, 600–800 words, written in 75 minutes | 113 | 75 | ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct | Partial |
| 20 Can the crew post this image as true? | Write a guided textual analysis of an educator-selected, clearly labeled AI-generated image post and its caption, answering the guiding question, then test your analysis against the case’s courtyard post and its reposts. | Guided analysis, 600–800 words, written in 75 minutes | 104 | 75 | RTDNA Code of Ethics | Partial |
Standards in this editionDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Standards in this edition
Common Core codes come from our standards map for this grade band. Each code links to its official page.
Global politics — key concepts: power and legitimacy IB Diploma Programme. Uses the course’s key concepts of power and legitimacy to examine a political issue. Lessons 3 and 9
Global politics — key concepts: power and legitimacy; thematic study: Rights and justice IB Diploma Programme. Uses the course’s key concepts of power and legitimacy within its Rights and justice thematic study to examine a political issue. Lessons 7, 12 and 16
Global politics — thematic study: Development and sustainability IB Diploma Programme. Uses the course’s Development and sustainability thematic study to examine a political issue. Lesson 15
Global politics — thematic study: Rights and justice IB Diploma Programme. Uses the course’s Rights and justice thematic study to examine a political issue. Lesson 6
Language A: language and literature — Readers, writers and texts IB Diploma Programme. An area of exploration in the course: how readers, writers and texts interact to make meaning. Lessons 1, 3, 7, 8, 15, 16 and 20
Theory of Knowledge — Knowledge and politics (optional theme) IB Diploma Programme. An optional theme of the course: how political power and processes affect what counts as knowledge. Lessons 6, 9 and 12
Theory of Knowledge — Knowledge and technology (optional theme) IB Diploma Programme. An optional theme of the course: how technology shapes the way knowledge is produced and shared. Lessons 1, 8 and 20
Professional standards in this editionDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Professional standards in this edition
A code of ethics is a standard a profession sets for its own members. Codes for journalists and public relations are voluntary. The rules of professional conduct for lawyers are adopted in each state and can lead to discipline. The FTC guides are law-related guidance, not ethics codes.
SPJ Code of Ethics, Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). Professional code.
Revised September 6, 2014, at SPJ's National Convention in Nashville, Tennessee.
Who it binds: No one is legally bound. SPJ calls the code “not a set of rules” and says it is not legally enforceable under the First Amendment. SPJ encourages its use “by all people in all media.”
Seek Truth and Report It: Lessons 1, 9 and 20
RTDNA Code of Ethics, Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA). Professional code.
Revised code adopted June 11, 2015.
Who it binds: Journalists in broadcast and digital news, as guidance. RTDNA says the code “does not dictate what journalists should do in every ethical predicament.” It is not a law.
Truth and accuracy above all: Lessons 1 and 20
Independence and transparency: Lesson 3
Opening statement (before the guiding principles): Lesson 9
PRSSA Ethical Principles for PR Students & Professionals (professional values and member pledge), Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), the student organization of PRSA. Professional code.
No date shown on the page.
Who it binds: PRSSA student members. PRSSA asks members to follow its Code of Ethics and Conduct and encourages chapters to have members sign the pledge when they join. PRSSA lists the same six professional values as PRSA and says it “models its ethics guidelines after those of its parent organization, PRSA.” It does not say it adopts the PRSA Code word for word. The pledge says members who violate it may be barred from PRSA membership.
PRSSA Code of Ethics and Conduct (member pledge): Lesson 1
Professional standards in this edition, continuedDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Professional standards in this edition, continued
PRSA Code of Ethics, Public Relations Society of America (PRSA). Professional code.
First developed in 1950. The current code was adopted by PRSA members in October 2000, according to PRSA's Board of Ethics and Professional Standards handbook. The page shows no later revision date.
Who it binds: PRSA members. PRSA says the code “applies to PRSA members.” It is voluntary: PRSA says it has no legislative or government power to enforce it, though its board can bar or expel members sanctioned by a government agency or convicted in court for conduct that breaks the code.
Free Flow of Information: Lessons 3 and 8
Disclosure of Information: Lessons 12 and 20
Credo for Ethical Communication, National Communication Association (NCA). Professional code.
Approved by the NCA Legislative Council in 1999; reaffirmed in 2011; reaffirmed with edits in 2017 and 2024.
Who it binds: NCA members, who “endorse and are committed to practicing” its nine principles. It is a statement of values with no enforcement process.
“We accept responsibility for the short- and long-term consequences of our own communication…” (one of nine unnumbered principles): Lesson 3
“We advocate sharing information, opinions, and feelings…” (one of nine unnumbered principles): Lessons 6 and 9
“We strive to understand and respect other communicators' intent…” (one of nine unnumbered principles): Lessons 7 and 16
natcom.org/
Professional standards in this edition, continuedDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Professional standards in this edition, continued
AACRAO Ethics and Practice, American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO). Professional code.
Adopted by the AACRAO Board on December 3, 2009; amended March 31, 2010; ratified by members April 23, 2010; reviewed without changes in 2016 and 2019.
Who it binds: AACRAO members, such as college registrars and admissions officers. It is not a law; FERPA is the federal law on education records.
Standards of professional practice: Lesson 6
Principles of professional ethics: Lesson 6
ALA Code of Ethics, American Library Association (ALA). Professional code.
Adopted in 1939; amended June 30, 1981; June 28, 1995; January 22, 2008; and June 29, 2021.
Who it binds: Librarians, library trustees and library staff, as a framework. ALA says the principles “cannot and do not dictate conduct to cover particular situations.”
Principle 2 (of 9): Lesson 7
Code of Ethics of the Education Profession, National Education Association (NEA). Professional code.
Adopted by the 1975 NEA Representative Assembly. NEA's web page, titled “Code of Ethics for Educators,” was published September 14, 2020.
Who it binds: Educators, including education support professionals. NEA says the code states “the aspiration of all educators” and that only NEA and its affiliates set remedies for violations. It is not a state licensing rule or a law.
Principle I: Commitment to the Student, item 2: Lesson 7
FTC Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255), Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Law or regulation.
Current text as revised July 26, 2023 (88 FR 48102), read on the eCFR.
Who it binds: Advertisers, endorsers (including influencers and reviewers) and intermediaries such as PR firms, under Section 5 of the FTC Act. The Guides are the FTC's “administrative interpretations” of that law. They are law-related guidance, not an ethics code.
§ 255.5 Disclosure of material connections: Lesson 8
§ 255.0 Purpose and definitions, paragraph (f): Lesson 8
Professional standards in this edition, continuedDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Professional standards in this edition, continued
ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, American Bar Association (ABA), Center for Professional Responsibility. Professional code.
Adopted by the ABA House of Delegates in 1983 and amended since.
Who it binds: Lawyers. The ABA writes the Model Rules as a model. Each state adopts its own rules of professional conduct, most based on this model, and those rules bind the lawyers it licenses. Lawyers can be disciplined for breaking them. The rules do not bind people who are not lawyers.
Rule 2.1 Advisor: Lesson 12
Rule 4.1 Truthfulness in Statements to Others: Lesson 15
Rule 4.3 Dealing with Unrepresented Person: Lesson 15
Rule 3.1 Meritorious Claims and Contentions: Lesson 16
americanbar.org/
AIGA Standards of Professional Practice, AIGA, the professional association for design. Professional code.
Text read in AIGA's Design Business + Ethics (2009 edition). AIGA's current web page for the standards could not be opened.
Who it binds: AIGA members. AIGA says the standards “represent the distinction of an AIGA member in the practice of design.”
The designer’s responsibility to the public: Lesson 12
NACE Principles for Ethical Professional Practice, National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). Professional code.
Approved by the NACE Board of Directors in 2017; updated 2025.
Who it binds: NACE members: college career-services staff and employers' recruiting staff, who “are expected to use the Principles.”
4. Comply with laws: Lesson 15
naceweb.org/
Access, language and discussionDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Access, language and discussion
Supports in this edition
- Vocabulary: Keep a glossary of text-type conventions and multimodal terms for each case’s text type.
- Read aloud: For practice, read the unseen text aloud once before timed analysis, then withdraw the support as the course progresses.
- Bilingual planning: Allow annotation in any language during practice; the analysis is written in the language of the course. Never ask a student to disclose a disability, immigration status, family finances or private records to take part.
- Oral rehearsal: For the individual oral, rehearse the opening minute and practice answering follow-up questions with a partner.
- Other ways to respond: Early in the course, allow a recorded spoken commentary as a step toward written Paper 1 analysis.
Cognates
The terms and evidence sheets list English and Spanish cognates in the Support block, such as context (contexto). Point them out before reading. A fluent Spanish reader checks every list before release.
Heat check
Every sheet rates how likely the page is to start a hard conversation.
- Low: most students can discuss it without personal stakes.
- Medium: use the cool-down if talk turns personal.
- High: plan the cool-down before class.
No one has to share
No student needs to share private experiences, create a social media account or post publicly. Students can answer every question with the evidence on the page.
How this book works
Each case is a short chapter. The pages follow the same order in every case, so you learn the layout once.
What happened Read the story and the question you will answer.
Key terms Learn the words the case needs, each with its Spanish word.
Reading passage Read a longer passage about the case. Stop and think at each question.
Look at the evidence Read each document. Write what it shows and what it leaves out.
Key idea and In the news Read the idea behind the case, a code of ethics and two real news stories.
Sort the evidence Decide which evidence supports each claim and whose view is missing.
Practice Choose the best response and fix two phrases in a student’s draft.
Your task Follow the numbered steps, plan in the boxes and write your draft.
Check your work Answer yes-or-no questions and mark your level in the rubric.
Questions to discuss Write short answers, then finish My take.
Talk about this case at home Take home a page of questions for your family.
Labels on the page
Evidence AGroup-chat post
A document from the case. Read it closely and compare it with the other documents.
Real sourcePublisherDate
A real news story, code or study. Scan its code to read the original.
Directions on each page
On your ownA short direction under a heading tells you what to do if you work without a teacher, and about how long it takes.
When a page continues
Some sections run onto a second page. Its heading says “continued,” and it keeps the next page number.
Filling in this book
- Fill it in on paper or in a PDF app. Save a copy before you type.
- What you type stays on your device. Nothing is sent to us.
- Do not write private information about yourself or other people.
Contents
- 1 Is the screening canceled?3
- 3 What should a group do after a public mistake?23
- 6 What can your family see in your college records?44
- 7 Did one complaint get the novel banned?64
- 8 Is it a recommendation or an ad?85
- 9 What is on your ballot, and where do you check?105
- 12 When can a school limit what students say?126
- 15 Is Rafa’s unpaid internship really a job?146
- 16 Who wrote the new building rule?166
- 20 Can the crew post this image as true?187
Lesson 1Case planDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Lesson 1: Is the screening canceled?
Content note
The optional film clip from The Hunger Games (2012) shows coercion and danger to young people. Preview it before class, or skip it, because students need only the evidence in the story.
Overview
Students read a short story about a neighborhood screening. A cropped seven-second clip in the crew’s group chat seems to say the event is canceled. Students compare the post with two documents, the coordinator’s meeting transcript and a booking email, and decide what the evidence supports. They then write a short group-chat update that corrects the claim and says which entrance to use.
Before this case
Students should already be able to:
- annotate a short text for content, form and effect
- write an analytical thesis that answers a guiding question
- support each claim with a precise reference to a text
Objectives
Students will be able to:
Objectives, continued
- analyze how the crop, the caption’s punctuation and the placement of “canceled?” position a reader
- respond directly to a guiding question in a sustained analysis
- test a first reading against the transcript and the booking email
- organize an analysis in clear academic language
Materials
- This chapter, one copy per student
- Evidence A as the unseen text, with the guiding question printed above it
- Evidence B and C, held back until after the first draft
- A timer for 75 minutes
The task in this edition
Task: Write a guided textual analysis of the group-chat screenshot and its caption in response to the guiding question. Treat it as a non-literary text: analyze the crop, the caption’s punctuation, the placement of “canceled?” and the reader it assumes.
Students make: Guided analysis, 600–800 words, written in 75 minutes
Pacing
Opener (page 3): 4 min. Short on time: 3 min. Read What happened aloud. Do not discuss the post yet.
Key terms (pages 4 and 5): 4 min. Short on time: skip.
Your task (pages 9 and 10): 8 min. Short on time: 5 min. Read the guiding question aloud. Students annotate on their own.
Your draft (pages 11 and 12): 60 min. Short on time: 60 min.
Look at the evidence (page 13): 8 min. Short on time: 5 min. Students read Evidence B and fill in only its first box.
Look at the evidence (page 14): 4 min. Short on time: 2 min. Read Evidence C aloud. Skip its boxes.
Key idea (pages 15 and 16): 8 min. Short on time: skip.
Sort the evidence (page 17): 6 min. Short on time: skip.
Check your work (pages 18 and 19): 8 min. Short on time: skip. Give practice feedback yourself on the four areas in the route’s assessment.
Questions to discuss (pages 20 and 21): 10 min. Short on time: skip.
Talk about this case at home (page 22): at home.
Lesson 1Case planDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Lesson 1 plan, continued
Pacing, continued
Periods: full chapter 120 minutes; one period 75 minutes.
Standards
Language A: language and literature — Readers, writers and texts An area of exploration in the course: how readers, writers and texts interact to make meaning. In this case: Students examine how the same clip produces different meanings for readers with different stakes.
Theory of Knowledge — Knowledge and technology (optional theme) An optional theme of the course: how technology shapes the way knowledge is produced and shared. In this case: Students ask how screenshots shape what a group believes it knows.
Codes of ethics
- SPJ Code of Ethics: Seek Truth and Report It
- RTDNA Code of Ethics: Truth and accuracy above all
- PRSSA Ethical Principles for PR Students & Professionals (professional values and member pledge): PRSSA Code of Ethics and Conduct (member pledge)
Heat map
Opener (page 3): Low
Heat map, continued
Key terms (pages 4 and 5): Low
Look at the evidence (page 13): Low
Look at the evidence (page 14): Low
Key idea (pages 15 and 16): Low
Sort the evidence (page 17): Medium
Check your work (pages 18 and 19): Low
Try it at your school
Find out how your school sends urgent updates.
- Ask a teacher or front-office staff which channel carries official changes (email, app, website)
- Save the official channel so you can check it before reposting
- Next time a screenshot circulates, post “still checking” instead of a verdict
- Suggest to your student council that urgent updates include the original link
Who to ask: Front-office staff, a teacher, the student council advisor or a school librarian
Safety: Don’t share other people’s names or messages from a private chat. Check any official source with a trusted adult if it asks for personal information.
Sources
- Scholastic, “Sunrise on the Reaping announcement,” June 6, 2024
- Robert M. Entman, “Framing,” 1993
- Society of Professional Journalists, “SPJ Code of Ethics,” September 6, 2014
Lesson 1: Is the screening canceled?
A cropped clip in the group chat seems to cancel the crew’s screening, so you check the original documents and write an update.
On your ownRead What happened. Underline the sentence that worries the crew. About 4 minutes.
Your role: You’re the one who reads the full transcript before Gia posts. New skill: Find the original source.
What happened
It is Friday afternoon at the Common Room, a shared event space inside a bookshop in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Mateo, 22, booked the room for tonight’s 6 p.m. screening, the crew’s first in the neighborhood. He has been moving tables and chairs all afternoon.
Gia, 21, is helping between her class and her shift at a café. Jordy is testing the projector and captions. Sami is on her way from the print shop.
At 4:52 p.m., someone forwards a seven-second clip to the group chat. The clip comes from a meeting about the room. Its caption asks whether the screening is canceled.
Gia wants to warn people before they leave home. Mateo hopes the post is wrong. Gia has about ten minutes before she has to leave for work.
Your question: Is the screening really canceled, and what should the crew tell people?
Key terms
On your ownRead each key term and its example. Then write your first guess in the box. About 4 minutes.
Claim A claim is a statement that something is true. You can check a claim with evidence.
En español: afirmación
In this case: The caption “Screening canceled?” is a claim. It ends with a question mark, and no document confirms it.
Context Context is the information around an event or a quote that you need to understand what it means.
En español: contexto
In this case: The full transcript adds the words “through that reader tonight.” Those words show that only the broken side door is closing.
Framing Framing is choosing which parts of a situation a message brings forward.
En español: encuadre
In this case: The crop and the caption choose what viewers notice: “removing access,” not “through that reader.”
Holding statement A holding statement is a short update that says what is known, what is still being checked and when people will hear more.
En español: comunicado provisional
In this case: Jordy posts: “We’re checking the original. Hold your plans for a moment.”
Who is involved
Mateo
Booked the room for tonight
“I’ve been moving these tables all afternoon. Please tell me we didn’t cancel this in a group chat.”
Gia
Leaving soon for a café shift
“Sami’s already on the train from the print shop. “We’re figuring it out” doesn’t tell her whether to keep coming.”
Your first guess
Before you look at the evidence, what do you think is going on?
My first guess is ___, because ___.
Notes
Reading passage
Whose version travels fastest
On your ownRead the passage. At each Stop and think box, pause and answer the question in your head or with a partner. About 6 minutes.
Words to know
- Claim: A claim is a statement that something is true. You can check a claim with evidence.
- Context: Context is the information around an event or a quote that you need to understand what it means.
- Framing: Framing is choosing which parts of a situation a message brings forward.
- Holding statement: A holding statement is a short update that says what is known, what is still being checked and when people will hear more.
The story: A real clip with a false caption
By late Friday afternoon, the Common Room is almost ready. The event space, tucked inside a Fort Greene bookshop, has rows of folding chairs that Mateo has been arranging since lunch. Jordy is checking whether the projector’s captions are readable from the back row. Gia has about ten minutes before she has to leave for a café shift. Sami, who uses a manual wheelchair and usually enters through the side door, is already on the train from the print shop.
At 4:52 p.m., a seven-second clip reaches the group chat. It comes from a meeting about the room. The coordinator says, “we are removing access,” and the clip ends. The forwarded caption supplies the conclusion the video does not: “They’re removing access tonight. Screening canceled?”
Nothing about the clip is fabricated. That is what makes it persuasive. The voice is real, the words are real and the meeting happened. Gia’s instinct is protective. People are already asking whether to turn around, and she wants to save them a trip. Mateo’s instinct is hopeful, and he says plainly that he wants the clip to be fake. Jordy’s instinct comes from editing. A sentence that stops at “access” usually has more after it.
Your role in this case is specific. You are the one who reads the full transcript before Gia posts. Every reply the crew sends will be read by people making decisions on the move, so the order of the crew’s next three steps matters.
Stop and think. Why can a real clip mislead people more easily than a fake one?
Reading the record against the clip
The caption makes a claim, a statement that something is true that can be checked with evidence. Two documents test it. The coordinator’s 3:30 p.m. transcript reads: “The side-door reader is broken. We are removing access through that reader tonight. Existing room bookings remain in place. Use the staffed front entrance while we repair it.” Mateo’s booking email from Tuesday confirms Friday, 6 to 9 p.m., a step-free front entrance and staff at the desk from 5:30.
Set side by side, the documents show that the clip is accurate but incomplete. Context, the information around a quote that you need to understand what it means, narrows “removing access” to a single broken reader. The email adds something the transcript does not: the front entrance is step-free. It also leaves something out. It was sent before Friday’s meeting, so it says nothing about the side door.
The crew’s response follows the evidence in order. First, Jordy sends a holding statement, a short update that says what is known, what is still being checked and when people will hear more: “We’re checking the original. Hold your plans for a moment.” Notice what it avoids. It does not repeat the word “canceled,” and it does not call the clip fake. Then Gia posts the correction in the same chat where the rumor spread, with the time, the entrance and the original update. Jordy captions it so it can be read without sound. Mateo keeps a link to the full transcript beside the cropped clip.
Stop and think. The holding statement avoids the word “canceled.” What might happen if it repeated the word, even to deny it?
Selection, emphasis and who controls the story
Robert Entman’s research defines framing through two actions: selecting some aspects of a situation and making them more salient (Robert M. Entman, “Framing,” 1993). In plain terms, framing is choosing which parts of a situation a message brings forward. The seven-second crop is a frame built by subtraction. It selects “removing access” and removes the qualifier. Analyzing a frame does not require proving anyone’s motive. It requires showing what was selected and what was left out.
The pattern reaches far beyond one group chat. When Suzanne Collins announced a new Hunger Games novel, her publisher quoted her on propaganda and “the power of those who control the narrative” (Scholastic, June 6, 2024). In the 2012 film’s reaping scene, the Capitol stages an official ceremony, yet it cannot control how the crowd reacts when Katniss volunteers for Prim. In our reading, the scene and the clip raise the same question: whose version does the edit make easiest to see?
Research suggests the defense is teachable. A Stanford study found that most of 3,446 students judged posts by how they looked rather than by who made them (Stanford Graduate School of Education, November 18, 2019).
Selection, emphasis and who controls the story, continued
A district-wide field study in high school government classes found that teaching lateral reading measurably improved how students judged online claims (Wineburg et al., Journal of Educational Psychology, July 2022). News organizations hold themselves to a similar standard. The RTDNA code warns that “trending” or “going viral” may increase urgency, but these “only heighten the need for strict standards of accuracy” (RTDNA Code of Ethics, June 11, 2015). Finding the original source is the first skill in this series, and every later case builds on it.
Stop and think. Entman says a frame works by selection and emphasis. What did the crew’s correction select and emphasize?
Sources
Real sourceRobert M. Entman1993
Framing
Real sourceScholasticJune 6, 2024
Sunrise on the Reaping announcement
Real sourceStanford Graduate School of EducationNovember 18, 2019
High school students are unprepared to judge the credibility of information on the internet, according to Stanford researchers
Real sourceJournal of Educational Psychology (Wineburg et al.)July 2022
Lateral reading on the open Internet: A district-wide field study in high school government classes
Real sourceRadio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA)2015
RTDNA Code of Ethics
Notes
DP Lang and Lit
Your task
On your ownRead the steps. Fill in the planner boxes before you start your draft. About 8 minutes.
Write a guided textual analysis of the group-chat screenshot and its caption in response to the guiding question. Treat it as a non-literary text: analyze the crop, the caption’s punctuation, the placement of “canceled?” and the reader it assumes.
- Read the guiding question and the post in Evidence A.
- Annotate the post in three layers: content, form and effect on the reader.
- Write a thesis that answers the guiding question.
- Draft your opening and first body paragraph on the Your draft page.
- Finish the analysis, 600 to 800 words, on lined paper within the 75 minutes.
- Read Evidence B and C. Mark one claim the full record confirms or changes.
Prefer typing? Scan to open the online workspace.
Content: what the post says
Form: how the post is built
Your task, continued
Effect: what a reader does
Thesis
Notes
Your draft
On your ownWrite your draft in the boxes. Use your planner from the page before. About 60 minutes.
Your opening paragraph
Your first body paragraph
Your draft, continued
After Evidence B and C: one claim the full record confirms or changes
Notes
Look at the evidence
On your ownRead each document. For each one, write what it shows and what it leaves out. About 8 minutes.
Evidence AGroup-chat post, Friday 4:52 p.m.
The post
They’re removing access tonight. Screening canceled?” A seven-second clip is attached. In it, the coordinator says “we are removing access,” and the clip ends there.
Look closely: Which word in the caption goes further than the clip itself?
What it shows
What it leaves out
Evidence BCoordinator’s meeting transcript, Friday 3:30 p.m.
The full update
“The side-door reader is broken. We are removing access through that reader tonight. Existing room bookings remain in place. Use the staffed front entrance while we repair it.”
Look closely: Which four words narrow what “access” means? Underline them.
What it shows
What it leaves out
Look at the evidence, continued
Evidence CBooking email to Mateo, sent Tuesday
The booking email
Friday, 6–9 p.m. Screening confirmed. Front entrance: step-free. Staff member at the desk from 5:30 p.m. Contact the coordinator for arrival support.
Look closely: What does this confirm? What does it not say about the side door?
What it shows
What it leaves out
What is still missing from the evidence?
Notes
Key idea: framing
On your ownRead the key idea and the code of ethics. Then answer the question in the box. About 8 minutes.
The clip in the group chat is real, but that only tells you the video is authentic. A claim is a statement that something is true. You can check a claim with evidence. Context is the information around an event or a quote that you need to understand what it means. Here, the clip stops before the rest of the coordinator’s sentence, so the clip alone cannot confirm the caption’s claim.
Framing is choosing which parts of a situation a message brings forward. Media researcher Robert Entman uses this idea to study what messages select and emphasize. The crop makes “removing access” stand out and hides “through that reader,” the words that limit the change to one broken side door. You do not have to prove that anyone meant to mislead people. You only need to show what the edit leaves out.
A holding statement is a short update that says what is known, what is still being checked and when people will hear more. It gives people a next step while the crew checks the documents. The correction that follows needs the time, the door and a contact for arrival help. People who are already traveling need those details before they arrive.
Professional standards
Real sourceSociety of Professional Journalists (SPJ)
SPJ Code of Ethics: Seek Truth and Report It
“Verify information before releasing it. Use original sources whenever possible.”
In plain words: Journalists who follow the SPJ code check a claim against the original source before they share it.
Question: What does the full meeting transcript say right after the point where the seven-second clip ends?
Your answer
The transcript goes on to say ___, which means ___.
In the news
Real sourceCrashCourse (YouTube)January 22, 2019
Check Yourself with Lateral Reading: Crash Course Navigating Digital Information #3
Shows the move the crew makes: leave the screenshot, open new tabs and check who made it and what other sources say.
Real sourcePolitiFactAugust 1, 2022
Viral image shows fake story from The Atlantic about Biden
A real fact-check of a fabricated news screenshot: the image looked official, but the outlet never published it.
Notes
Sort the evidence
On your ownCompare each piece of evidence with each claim. Write supports, challenges or neither in each box. About 6 minutes.
Draw an arrow from each piece of evidence to the claim it supports or challenges. Which claim is left standing, and which gap still needs a check before you post?
| Evidence | Claim 1The screening is canceled. | Claim 2The screening is on; use the staffed front entrance. |
|---|---|---|
| 1 The clip: “we are removing access…” ends mid-sentence. | Supports | Neither |
| 2 The transcript: access is removed “through that reader,” and existing bookings remain in place. | Challenges | Neither |
| 3 The booking email: Friday 6–9 p.m., screening confirmed, step-free front entrance. | Challenges | Supports |
Still open
- Can every visitor use the temporary entrance?
Whose perspective is missing?
Whose view is missing from these documents? What would you ask them?
The view that is missing is ___. I would ask ___.
Check your work
On your ownAnswer the Check your work questions and mark your level in each rubric row. Then write one change you made. About 8 minutes.
Does your thesis answer the guiding question directly?
YesNoDo you analyze at least two formal features, such as the crop and the question mark?
YesNoDoes each claim rest on a precise reference to the post?
YesNoDid the full record confirm or change one of your claims?
YesNo
How your work is scored
Mark one box in each row.
| Skill | Beginning | Developing | Proficient | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evidence | Repeats the screenshot’s claim or ignores the documents. | Mentions a source but not the detail that changes the meaning. | Uses the transcript or email to correct the claim accurately. | Uses both documents and names what they still cannot confirm. |
| Reasoning | Treats the clip as fake or as final. | Corrects the claim but adds a guess about motive. | Explains the difference between an entrance change and a cancellation. | Explains how the crop produced the wrong conclusion and avoids inventing motive. |
| Audience & purpose | Message would not help someone decide whether to leave. | Gives the verdict but leaves out time or entrance. | Gives time, entrance and a contact. | Anticipates access needs and people who saw only the original post. |
How your work is scored, continued
| Skill | Beginning | Developing | Proficient | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revision | No change after feedback. | Surface edits only. | Adds a missing fact or removes an unsupported claim. | Explains why each edit makes the update more usable. |
One change I made after reading the full record
I changed ___ because ___.
Notes
Questions to discuss
On your ownWrite a short answer to each question. Then finish My take. About 10 minutes.
1 The clip is real. How did it lead people to the wrong conclusion?
2 Should the crew say why they think the clip was posted? Why or why not?
3 Jordy’s holding message does not repeat the word “canceled.” Why might that matter?
4 What rule could the Common Room adopt for urgent updates? What would the rule cost?
My take
My claim: ___.
My take, continued
The best evidence is ___, because ___.
Someone who disagrees might say ___.
The limit of the evidence is ___.
I would change my mind if ___.
Notes
Talk about this case at home
Lesson 1: Is the screening canceled?
In this case, a short video clip in a group chat makes a group of friends think their movie night is canceled. Your student compared the clip with the full meeting notes and a booking email, then wrote a message that corrects the mix-up.
Questions to talk about
- What would you check before you share a screenshot?
- Where does your school post official updates, such as closings?
- What makes a correction easy to trust?
Nobody needs to share personal stories or private information to talk about this case.
See the case online.
Lesson 3Case planDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Lesson 3: What should a group do after a public mistake?
Content note
The recap caption blames younger attendees for a late start. Keep the discussion on the event in the story, and do not ask students to describe times they were blamed or stereotyped.
Overview
Students read a short story in which the crew’s recap caption blames “the younger crowd” for a late start. They build a timeline from Jordy’s setup log, which shows that a projector failure caused the delay, and compare it with Gia’s first apology draft. They then write a correction that names the error and a repair step with an owner and a way to check it.
Before this case
Students should already be able to:
- annotate a non-literary text for sequence, agency and hedging
- write an analytical thesis that answers a guiding question
- support each claim with a precise reference
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- analyze how a correction uses order and precise detail
- compare how agency is assigned in the caption and in the correction
Objectives, continued
- connect the conventions of corrections to their purpose
- apply the same guiding question to a longer real correction
Materials
- This chapter, one copy per student
- The published correction (the revised draft in the Practice answer key) and the caption in Evidence A
- One longer published correction or apology from a newsroom or organization, chosen by you
- The guiding question printed above the texts
The task in this edition
Task: Write a guided textual analysis of the crew’s published correction, reading it against the caption it replaces. Then apply the same guiding question to one longer real correction or apology statement the teacher selects.
Students make: Guided analysis, 600–800 words, written in 75 minutes
Fit: partial. The published correction is a usable practice text for analyzing how an organization constructs accountability, but the case’s texts are very short, so a full Paper 1 rehearsal needs a longer real correction or apology statement alongside it.
Pacing
Opener (page 23): 4 min. Short on time: 3 min. Read What happened aloud. Skip the opening question.
Key terms (pages 24 and 25): 4 min. Short on time: skip.
Look at the evidence (page 29): 6 min. Short on time: 3 min. Students read Evidence A and B and skip the boxes.
Look at the evidence (page 30): 6 min. Short on time: 3 min. Students read Evidence C and D and skip the boxes.
Key idea (pages 31 and 32): 6 min. Short on time: skip.
Sort the evidence (page 33): 6 min. Short on time: skip.
Practice (page 34): 8 min. Short on time: 3 min. Skip the choice. Hand out the published correction from the answer key.
Your task (pages 35 and 36): 10 min. Short on time: 8 min. Read the guiding question aloud. Students annotate on their own.
Your draft (pages 37 and 38): 50 min. Short on time: 50 min.
Check your work (pages 39 and 40): 8 min. Short on time: 5 min. Give practice feedback yourself on the four areas in the route’s assessment.
Questions to discuss (pages 41 and 42): 8 min. Short on time: skip.
Lesson 3Case planDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Lesson 3 plan, continued
Pacing, continued
Talk about this case at home (page 43): at home.
Periods: full chapter 116 minutes; one period 75 minutes.
Standards
Language A: language and literature — Readers, writers and texts An area of exploration in the course: how readers, writers and texts interact to make meaning. In this case: Students examine how the writer’s intent and the readers’ experience diverge.
Global politics — key concepts: power and legitimacy Uses the course’s key concepts of power and legitimacy to examine a political issue. In this case: Students ask how an organization rebuilds legitimacy after a public error.
Codes of ethics
- PRSA Code of Ethics: Free Flow of Information
- RTDNA Code of Ethics: Independence and transparency
- Credo for Ethical Communication: “We accept responsibility for the short- and long-term consequences of our own communication…” (one of nine unnumbered principles)
Heat map
Opener (page 23): Medium
Key terms (pages 24 and 25): Low
Look at the evidence (page 29): Low
Look at the evidence (page 30): Low
Key idea (pages 31 and 32): Low
Sort the evidence (page 33): Medium
Practice (page 34): Low
Check your work (pages 39 and 40): Low
Try it at your school
Help a club you’re in write a corrections rule.
- Ask the editor or advisor of a school newsletter, club account or yearbook how they fix mistakes
- Suggest a three-step checklist: name the error, show the evidence, say what changes
- Offer to test it on an old post together
- Keep any real examples anonymous
Who to ask: School newspaper or yearbook advisor, club advisor, student council secretary
Safety: Don’t repost someone else’s mistake to criticize them. Talk to the club privately first.
Sources
- Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), “PRSA Code of Ethics,” October 2000
Sources, continued
- Society of Professional Journalists, “SPJ Code of Ethics,” September 6, 2014
- Critical Media Project, “Zootopia: the press conference,” No date listed
Lesson 3: What should a group do after a public mistake?
The crew’s recap caption blamed younger neighbors for a late start, but the event log shows the projector failed.
On your ownRead What happened. Underline the caption and the time the projector failed. About 4 minutes.
Your role: You’re the one who checks the log’s times before the correction goes up. New skill: Correct a public mistake.
What happened
It is Sunday at the edit desk. Caio, 24, edited a short recap of Friday’s screening. The crew posted it on Saturday morning. Gia’s caption, “Great night, once the younger crowd finally got organized,” sounded believable, because a few people did arrive late.
Then Jordy checks the setup log. The projector failed at 5:40 p.m. The replacement was not running until 6:20, twenty minutes after everyone was seated. The log also says Anika and Dec helped carry chairs before the doors opened.
Anika sends the group a voice note asking why she and Dec are the problem in the post. Gia wants to take responsibility. Her first draft of a correction is mostly about how bad she feels, and the recap caption is still up.
Your question: What should the correction say, and what will the crew do differently next time?
Key terms
On your ownRead each key term and its example. Then write your first guess in the box. About 4 minutes.
Claim A claim is a statement that something is true. You can check a claim with evidence.
En español: afirmación
In this case: The caption claims the late start happened because “the younger crowd” was not organized. Jordy’s setup log checks that claim.
Correction A correction is a public statement that replaces wrong information with accurate information.
En español: corrección
In this case: Gia edits the original caption, not just her story, so people who saw it learn what was wrong.
Accountability Accountability is owning a mistake and doing what you said you would do to fix it.
En español: rendición de cuentas
In this case: The crew names who fixes the caption, who contacts Anika and Dec, and who checks the next recap against the log.
Who is involved
Gia
Wrote the recap caption
“I wrote ‘once the younger crowd finally got organized.’ A few people did come in late, so it felt true. I never checked why we started late.”
Jordy
Kept the setup log on Friday
“My log says Anika and Dec were carrying chairs before doors opened. The caption turned them into the reason we started late.”
Your first guess
Before you look at the evidence, what should Gia’s correction say first?
My first guess is ___, because ___.
Notes
Reading passage
When an explanation becomes blame
On your ownRead the passage. At each Stop and think box, pause and answer the question in your head or with a partner. About 5 minutes.
Words to know
- Claim: A claim is a statement that something is true. You can check a claim with evidence.
- Correction: A correction is a public statement that replaces wrong information with accurate information.
- Accountability: Accountability is owning a mistake and doing what you said you would do to fix it.
The story: The log nobody opened
The crew’s first neighborhood screening, the one saved from a cropped clip in Lesson 1, went ahead on Friday. On Saturday at 11:08 a.m., the crew posted a recap. Caio, 24, had edited the video. Gia, 21, wrote the caption: “Great night, once the younger crowd finally got organized.” It seemed accurate to her in the loose way captions often do. A few people had arrived late, and the evening had started late, so the two facts fused into a cause.
On Sunday at the edit desk, Jordy opens the setup log. At 5:40 p.m., a projector failure was reported. At 6:00, attendees were seated. At 6:20, a replacement was connected, twenty minutes after the audience sat down. The final line notes that Anika and Dec, the two youngest people involved, carried chairs before the doors opened. Jordy writes in the chat that no one opened the log before posting, Jordy included.
Anika’s voice note lands next: “We were helping you set up. Why are we the problem in this post?” Gia had already drafted a response, which was never posted: “Sorry if this came across wrong. We love our younger neighbors and would never want anyone to feel excluded.” Rereading it, she recognizes the conditional “if” as a dodge. The draft also never mentions the projector.
Stop and think. How did two true facts, a late start and some late arrivals, combine into a false claim?
Two jobs in one caption
The caption did two jobs at once. It explained the late start, and it assigned blame for it to a group of people. The first job is a claim, a statement that something is true that can be checked with evidence.
Two jobs in one caption, continued
Lesson 1 gave you the method: find the original source. The log is that source, and it replaces the caption’s explanation with a mechanical one.
A correction is a public statement that replaces wrong information with accurate information. A strong correction here has a clear order. It names the wrong claim, states what the log shows and places the fix where the original audience will see it. Caio’s rule, fix the same post instead of burying it under a new one, follows from that last requirement.
Accountability is owning a mistake and doing what you said you would do to fix it. In practice, accountability becomes a list of named owners. Gia corrects the post. Caio keeps a visible correction note with the edit. Jordy adds a source check before publication. Each owner is a named person rather than the crew in general, so anyone can check later whether the work was done. Just as important is what accountability does not require. Anika should not have to comfort Gia or approve the correction in public. Jordy suggests offering Anika a private way to respond and then letting her decide what she thinks. Jordy also proposes a test of success that ignores view counts. Ask a few people who saw the first post why the screening started late. If they still say “the younger crowd,” the fix failed.
Stop and think. Why does accountability include limits on what the crew asks of Anika and Dec?
What research and professional codes add
A 2016 study of apologies found that acknowledging responsibility and offering repair mattered most among six elements (Lewicki et al., Negotiation and Conflict Management Research, April 6, 2016). Research on misinformation points the same way. A meta-analysis of 65 studies found that corrections work better when they explain what is true rather than simply denying the false claim (Walter and Murphy, Communication Monographs, May 15, 2018). Gia’s draft offered neither an explanation nor a repair.
Journalists write the prominence rule into their ethics. The RTDNA code says ethical journalism requires “owning errors, correcting them promptly and giving corrections as much prominence as the error itself had” (RTDNA Code of Ethics, June 11, 2015). NPR’s public editor describes naming the error, fixing it on the story and keeping a public list (NPR, October 21, 2022).
The film connection sharpens the stakes. In Zootopia (2016), Judy tells a press conference that a set of incidents has a biological explanation tied to one group, and Nick’s reaction shows a personal cost her official answer overlooks. In our reading, good intentions do not erase the effect of an unsupported claim about a group. The animal groups in the film are not a scientific model of human race. The crew’s caption is far smaller, but it made the same kind of move. Your job is to check the log’s times before the correction goes up.
Stop and think. Walter and Murphy found that explanations beat bare denials. What explanation should the correction give?
Sources
Real sourceNegotiation and Conflict Management Research (Lewicki et al.)April 6, 2016
An Exploration of the Structure of Effective Apologies
Real sourceCommunication Monographs (Walter & Murphy)May 15, 2018
How to unring the bell: A meta-analytic approach to correction of misinformation
Real sourceRadio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA)2015
RTDNA Code of Ethics
Real sourceNPR Public EditorOctober 21, 2022
That was wrong
Real sourceCritical Media ProjectNo date listed
Zootopia: the press conference
Notes
Look at the evidence
On your ownRead each document. For each one, write what it shows and what it leaves out. About 6 minutes.
Evidence ARecap caption, posted Saturday 11:08 a.m.
The caption
Great night, once the younger crowd finally got organized.
Look closely: Which group does this caption ask readers to blame, and on what evidence?
What it shows
What it leaves out
Evidence BSetup log, Friday evening
Jordy’s event log
5:40 p.m. Projector failure reported. 6:00 p.m. Attendees seated. 6:20 p.m. Replacement projector connected. Note: Anika and Dec helped carry chairs before doors opened.
Look closely: What happened at 5:40 that the caption never mentions?
What it shows
What it leaves out
Look at the evidence, continued
Evidence CVoice note to the crew
Anika’s message
“We were helping you set up. Why are we the problem in this post?”
Look closely: What fact does Anika add, and what is she asking the crew?
What it shows
What it leaves out
Evidence DDraft correction, Saturday 2:15 p.m., not posted
Gia’s first correction
Sorry if this came across wrong. We love our younger neighbors and would never want anyone to feel excluded.
Look closely: What fact does this correct? Who does the word “if” put the problem on?
What it shows
What it leaves out
What is still missing from the evidence?
Key idea: corrections
On your ownRead the key idea and the code of ethics. Then answer the question in the box. About 6 minutes.
Gia’s caption did two jobs at once. It explained the late start, and it blamed a group of people for it. A claim is a statement that something is true. You can check a claim with evidence. Jordy’s setup log checks the caption’s claim and shows a projector failure instead.
A correction is a public statement that replaces wrong information with accurate information. It should appear where people saw the mistake, so the crew should edit the recap caption itself. A 2016 study of apologies found that taking responsibility and offering to repair the harm mattered most. Gia’s first draft talks about loving younger neighbors, and it does neither.
Accountability is owning a mistake and doing what you said you would do to fix it. That means naming who corrects the caption, who contacts the people it blamed and who checks the next recap. Anika does not have to comfort Gia or approve the correction in public. The crew can offer her a private way to respond.
Professional standards
Real sourcePublic Relations Society of America (PRSA)
PRSA Code of Ethics: Free Flow of Information
“Act promptly to correct erroneous communications for which the practitioner is responsible.”
In plain words: Public relations professionals who belong to PRSA agree to fix their own mistakes quickly.
Question: The recap caption went up Saturday at 11:08 a.m. What should the crew change first, and where?
Your answer
The first change is ___, made in ___, because ___.
In the news
Real sourceNPR Public EditorOctober 21, 2022
That was wrong
How a real newsroom corrects mistakes: name the error, fix it on the story and keep a public list.
Real sourceNPROctober 8, 2017
Dove Expresses 'Regret' For Racially Insensitive Ad
A real brand apology after an ad played into a racial stereotype; compare the words with what changed afterward.
Notes
Sort the evidence
On your ownCompare the four accounts. Mark where they agree, where they differ and which one was written at the time. About 6 minutes.
Place the four accounts side by side. Where do they agree, where do they split, and which one was written down at the time?
Account 1
Caption: the night went well once the younger crowd got organized.
Account 2
Event log: projector failed at 5:40; replacement connected at 6:20; Anika and Dec carried chairs.
Account 3
Anika: “We were helping you set up.”
Where they agree
Where they differ
Check: Which account was recorded at the time rather than remembered afterward?
Whose perspective is missing?
Whose view is missing from these documents? What would you ask them?
The view that is missing is ___. I would ask ___.
Practice: choose a response
On your ownChoose what goes first in the correction and explain why. Then fix the two marked lines. About 8 minutes.
What should go first in the correction?
A An explanation of how bad Gia feels about the caption.
B The wrong claim, and what the event log shows.
C Delete the post and stay quiet.
Why I chose it
Improve a draft
A student’s first draft
We want to apologize for our last post. We didn’t mean to offend anyone and we love having younger people at our events. It was a really stressful night and 1 things were hectic so we said something we shouldn’t have. Honestly we were all tired and trying to get everything set up on time, and it’s been a lot. We are sorry if anyone was hurt. 2 We promise it won’t happen again and we hope everyone keeps coming! Thank you all for your support and understanding, it means a lot to us.
Rewrite each marked phrase so it says only what the evidence supports.
Rewrite phrase 1
Rewrite phrase 2
DP Lang and Lit
Your task
On your ownRead the steps. Fill in the planner boxes before you start your draft. About 10 minutes.
Write a guided textual analysis of the crew’s published correction, reading it against the caption it replaces. Then apply the same guiding question to one longer real correction or apology statement the teacher selects.
- Read the guiding question, the caption in Evidence A and the published correction.
- Annotate the correction in three layers: sequence, agency and hedging.
- Compare who does what in the caption and in the correction.
- Write a thesis that answers the guiding question.
- Draft your opening and first body paragraph on the Your draft page.
- Apply the same guiding question to the longer correction your teacher selects.
- Finish the analysis, 600 to 800 words, on lined paper within the 75 minutes.
Prefer typing? Scan to open the online workspace.
Sequence
Agency
Your task, continued
Hedging
Thesis
Notes
Your draft
On your ownWrite your draft in the boxes. Use your planner from the page before. About 50 minutes.
Your opening paragraph
Your first body paragraph
Your draft, continued
One question I will ask of the longer correction
Notes
Check your work
On your ownAnswer the Check your work questions and mark your level in each rubric row. Then write one change you made. About 8 minutes.
Does your thesis answer the guiding question directly?
YesNoDo you analyze sequence, agency and word choice with precise references?
YesNoDo you connect the conventions of corrections to their purpose?
YesNoDid you apply the guiding question to the longer correction?
YesNo
How your work is scored
Mark one box in each row.
| Skill | Beginning | Developing | Proficient | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evidence | No evidence about the delay. | Mentions “technical issues” vaguely. | Cites the projector failure from the log. | Cites specific times and corrects who actually helped. |
| Reasoning | Apologizes for feelings only. | Admits error but not what it was. | Names the inaccurate claim and replaces it. | Explains why the claim harmed a group and how the repair prevents a repeat. |
| Audience & purpose | Does not consider who saw the post. | Speaks to readers in general. | Reaches the people who were blamed. | Reaches the original audience and the blamed group through appropriate channels. |
How your work is scored, continued
| Skill | Beginning | Developing | Proficient | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revision | No change. | Softens tone only. | Adds facts and a repair. | Adds facts, an owner, a check and removes shifting of blame. |
One change I made after feedback
I changed ___ because ___.
Notes
Questions to discuss
On your ownWrite a short answer to each question. Then finish My take. About 8 minutes.
1 The caption felt true to Gia because a few people came in late. Why was that not enough evidence?
2 What evidence would show that the repair happened?
3 After the correction goes up, what is still up to Anika and Dec to decide?
My take
My claim: ___.
The best evidence is ___, because ___.
Someone who disagrees might say ___.
My take, continued
The limit of the evidence is ___.
I would change my mind if ___.
Notes
Talk about this case at home
Lesson 3: What should a group do after a public mistake?
In this case, a group of friends posts a caption that wrongly blames younger neighbors for a late start. Your student compared the caption with an event log and wrote a correction and a plan to repair the harm.
Questions to talk about
- What makes an apology feel complete?
- Where should a correction appear so the people who saw a mistake will see it?
- How can a group check a claim before it posts about an event?
Nobody needs to share personal stories or private information to talk about this case.
See the case online.
Lesson 6Case planDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Lesson 6: What can your family see in your college records?
Content note
This case is about private records. No student should share their own grades, forms, records or family finances, so keep the discussion on Rafa’s situation.
This case explains general rules. It is not legal advice for your situation.
Overview
Students read about Rafa, an 18-year-old in his first year of college whose family wants to help pay tuition and asks for his login. They read an access form, a college FERPA notice and summaries of federal guidance, then sort billing access from access to grades. They then write the question Rafa could send the records office and the smallest access that would help his family.
Before this case
Students should already be able to:
- annotate a non-literary text for structure and diction
- write a focused thesis in response to a guiding question
- sustain an analysis under timed conditions
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- respond directly to the guiding question
Objectives, continued
- analyze the guide’s structure, forms of address and diction with precise references
- explain the effects on families and on students
- sustain an organized analysis in clear academic language
Materials
- This chapter, one copy per student
- The American University parent-access guide, printed with the guiding question above it
- Annotation layers: question-and-answer structure, headings, forms of address, conditional wording
- The federal FAQ, for use only after drafting
The task in this edition
Task: Write a guided textual analysis of the university’s parent-access guide in response to the guiding question, treating it as an institutional text written for families and students at once.
Students make: Guided analysis, 600–800 words, written in 75 minutes
The task in this edition, continued
Fit: partial. The university guide is a genuine non-literary text written for two audiences, which suits Paper 1 practice on structure and address, but it is procedural and thin on style, so pair it with a richer text type for a full rehearsal.
Pacing
Opener (page 44): 4 min. Short on time: 2 min. Summarize What happened in one minute.
Key terms (pages 45 and 46): 4 min. Short on time: skip.
Look at the evidence (pages 50 and 51): 6 min. Short on time: skip. Students work from the American University guide.
Key idea (pages 52 and 53): 6 min. Short on time: skip.
Sort the evidence (page 54): 5 min. Short on time: skip.
Practice (page 55): 4 min. Short on time: skip.
Your task (pages 56 and 57): 10 min. Short on time: 10 min.
Your draft (page 58): 60 min. Short on time: 60 min.
Check your work (pages 59 and 60): 6 min. Short on time: 3 min. Students answer the Check your work questions only. Give practice feedback yourself.
Lesson 6Case planDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Lesson 6 plan, continued
Pacing, continued
Questions to discuss (pages 61 and 62): 8 min. Short on time: skip.
Talk about this case at home (page 63): at home.
Periods: full chapter 113 minutes; one period 75 minutes.
Standards
Global politics — thematic study: Rights and justice Uses the course’s Rights and justice thematic study to examine a political issue. In this case: Students compare how privacy rights shift at adulthood and who holds them.
Theory of Knowledge — Knowledge and politics (optional theme) An optional theme of the course: how political power and processes affect what counts as knowledge. In this case: Students ask who decides what information about a person may be known, and by whom.
Codes of ethics
- AACRAO Ethics and Practice: Standards of professional practice
- AACRAO Ethics and Practice: Principles of professional ethics
- Credo for Ethical Communication: “We advocate sharing information, opinions, and feelings…” (one of nine unnumbered principles)
Heat map
Opener (page 44): Medium
Key terms (pages 45 and 46): Low
Look at the evidence (pages 50 and 51): Low
Key idea (pages 52 and 53): Low
Sort the evidence (page 54): Medium
Practice (page 55): Low
Check your work (pages 59 and 60): Low
Try it at your school
Find your school’s records notice.
- Search your school or district website for its FERPA or “student records” notice
- Find out what counts as directory information and how families can opt out
- Write one question about who can see a record, and ask the front office or counselor
- If you’re heading to college, look up its parent-access and authorization forms early
Who to ask: School counselor, registrar or records office, front-office staff
Safety: Never post screenshots of grades, IDs or forms. Talk with a trusted adult about what to share and with whom.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Education, Student Privacy Policy Office, “What is FERPA?,” No date listed
- U.S. Department of Education, Student Privacy Policy Office, “What is an education record?,” No date listed
- U.S. Department of Education, Student Privacy Policy Office, “Must postsecondary institutions provide a parent with access to an eligible student’s education records?,” No date listed
- U.S. Department of Education, Student Privacy Policy Office, “Student privacy questions,” No date listed
- American University, AU Central, “FERPA and parent-access guide,” No date listed
Lesson 6: What can your family see in your college records?
Rafa’s parents help pay his college bill, and a family-access form asks whether they should also get information about his grades.
On your ownRead What happened and underline what Rafa’s dad asks for in the family chat. About 4 minutes.
Your role: You’re the one who reads each box on the form before Rafa signs. New skill: Read a form section by section before you sign.
What happened
Rafa, 18, has just started college, and his parents help pay his tuition bill. He commutes from the next block and helps at his family’s shop after class. At the start of October, the college mailed Rafa a family-access form, but he has not opened the envelope yet.
On Sunday night, his parents ask about the form in the family group chat. His dad wants Rafa’s login so the family can handle everything. Rafa is glad to share the bill, but he wants to read the rest of the form first.
Caio, an older friend who rents a room on the block, reads the form with Rafa, not for him. The form has separate sections for billing and for grades. Rafa wants to check the billing box. He wants to talk with his family before he decides about grades.
Your question: What will this form let Rafa’s parents see, and what should he ask before he signs?
Key terms
On your ownRead each key term and its example, then write your first guess in the box. About 4 minutes.
FERPA FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, is a federal law about who can see student education records.
En español: FERPA (Ley de Derechos Educativos y Privacidad de la Familia)
In this case: Rafa is 18 and in college, so under the general rule the FERPA rights to his records are his, not his parents’.
Education record An education record is a record directly about a student that a school or college keeps.
En español: expediente educativo
In this case: Rafa’s grades and schedule are education records. Section 2 of his form asks whether his parents may receive information about his grades.
Consent Consent is permission a person gives for something specific, such as sharing a record with a named person.
En español: consentimiento
In this case: Rafa’s form asks for consent in two separate sections, one for billing and one for grades. He can say yes to one and no to the other.
Who is involved
Rafa
First-year commuter with a family-access form
“My parents help with the bill. The college mailed this form, and the family chat already wants to know if I signed it. I haven’t even opened it.”
Caio
Reads the form with Rafa, not for him
“I can sit with Rafa while he asks. Being the older friend doesn’t make this my decision.”
Your first guess
Before you look at the evidence, what do you think Rafa’s parents are allowed to see?
My first guess is ___, because ___.
Notes
Reading passage
Consent, one box at a time
On your ownRead the passage. At each Stop and think box, pause and answer the question in your head or with a partner. About 5 minutes.
Words to know
- FERPA: FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, is a federal law about who can see student education records.
- Education record: An education record is a record directly about a student that a school or college keeps.
- Consent: Consent is permission a person gives for something specific, such as sharing a record with a named person.
- Decision-maker: A decision-maker is the person or group with the power to make a particular choice.
The story: Family support and a sealed envelope
Rafa, 18, is in his first weeks of college. He commutes from the next block and works at his family’s shop after class. His parents help with tuition, and they want to keep helping. At the start of October, the college mailed him a parent and family access form. He has not opened it.
On Sunday night, his parents bring it up in the family group chat. His mom asks whether the tuition form arrived so they can help with the bill. His dad proposes the simplest route from a parent’s point of view: send the login, and the family will take care of everything. Rafa answers that he can share the bill part and wants to read the rest first. His reply is honest and a little uncomfortable. It says yes to one kind of help and asks for time on another.
Caio, 24, the oldest in the crew, rents a room on the block and offers to sit with Rafa while he reads the form. He is careful about the limits of that help. Being the older friend does not make this his decision. When the conversation turns to exceptions in the law, Caio pushes for precision. Which exception, and does it even fit Rafa? Just saying “privacy law” will not answer his dad.
Your role in this case is to read each box on the form before Rafa signs.
Stop and think. Rafa says yes to one kind of help and asks for time on another. Why might that be harder than saying yes to everything?
A form is a set of separate decisions
The new skill in this case builds on Lesson 5. There, you read a pay statement line by line and matched each line to a record. Here, you read a form section by section and decide each part on its own. Section 1 would let a named person view account statements and make payments. Section 2 would let that person receive information about grades, enrollment and academic standing. Section 3 says the authorization lasts until Rafa changes or withdraws it in writing. The first two sections each carry a separate yes-or-no box.
The college’s annual notice adds the legal frame. Students have the right to inspect their education records, to request corrections and to consent to disclosures, except where the law allows disclosure without consent. The notice does not say which exceptions this college uses, and neither document says where Rafa sends a written change.
Two earlier terms sharpen the analysis. A decision-maker (Lesson 4) is the person or group with the power to make a particular choice, and on this form that person is Rafa. A trade-off (also Lesson 4) exists in each section separately. Sharing billing costs little and gives his parents what they asked for. Sharing grades may strengthen family trust, or it may shift a conversation Rafa would rather have in person first. Consent is permission a person gives for something specific, such as sharing a record with a named person. For college records, it is written and specifies which record, to whom and for what purpose. A shared login is the opposite of specific.
Stop and think. The notice lists rights and exceptions but not which exceptions this college uses. What should Rafa ask to fill that gap?
The federal rule and its exceptions
FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, is a federal law about who can see student education records. An education record is a record directly about a student that a school or college keeps. Under the general rule, FERPA rights transfer from parents to the student at 18 or when the student enters college at any age, and the law calls that student an “eligible student” (U.S. Department of Education, Student Privacy Policy Office, no date listed). Paying tuition does not, by itself, return those rights to a parent.
The exceptions are real and narrow. A college may disclose records to parents if the student is a dependent for federal tax purposes, and it may disclose in a health or safety emergency. The Department of Education stresses that these disclosures are permitted, not required (U.S. Department of Education, Student Privacy Policy Office, no date listed). That is why the practical step is a question to the records office, not an argument from the law alone. American University’s parent-access guide shows how one institution handles it, and it is one university’s process, not a national rule (American University, June 30, 2025).
The federal rule and its exceptions, continued
Records management is also a data security problem. A breach at PowerSchool exposed millions of student records (Education Week, January 9, 2025). The Markup has reported on how school software companies gain access to student data, and where FERPA’s protections run out (The Markup, January 15, 2022). Registrars’ own professional code asks them to “protect the legitimate privacy interests of all individuals” (AACRAO Ethics and Practice, 2010).
Stop and think. Why does Caio insist on naming the exact exception instead of saying “privacy law”?
Sources
Real sourceU.S. Department of Education, Student Privacy Policy OfficeNo date listed
What is FERPA?
Real sourceU.S. Department of Education, Student Privacy Policy OfficeNo date listed
Must postsecondary institutions provide a parent with access to an eligible student’s education records?
Real sourceAmerican University, AU CentralJune 30, 2025
FERPA and parent-access guide
Real sourceEducation WeekJanuary 9, 2025
What Schools Should Know About the PowerSchool Data Breach
Real sourceThe MarkupJanuary 15, 2022
The Big Business of Tracking and Profiling Students
Real sourceAmerican Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO)2010
AACRAO Ethics and Practice
Notes
Look at the evidence
On your ownRead the form and the notice, and fill in both boxes for each one. About 6 minutes.
Evidence ACollege form
Parent and family access authorization, mailed to Rafa on October 5
Section 1, Billing and payments: allow the person named below to view account statements and make payments. Yes or No. Section 2, Academic records: allow the person named below to receive information about grades, enrollment and academic standing. Yes or No. Section 3: this authorization stays in effect until the student changes or withdraws it in writing.
Look closely: Which section covers billing, and which covers grades? Circle each yes-or-no box.
What it shows
What it leaves out
Evidence BCollege notice
Annual FERPA notice on the registrar’s page
Students have the right to inspect their education records, to request corrections and to consent to disclosures, except where the law allows disclosure without consent. Questions go to the Office of the Registrar.
Look closely: Which phrase tells you the law has exceptions? Underline it.
What it shows
What it leaves out
Look at the evidence, continued
What is still missing from the evidence?
Notes
Key idea: education records
On your ownRead the key idea and the code of ethics, then answer the question in the box. About 6 minutes.
FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, is a federal law about who can see student education records. It gives parents, and later students, rights over those records. An education record is a record directly about a student that a school or college keeps. Grades, transcripts and schedules can be education records, on paper or stored digitally. Under the general rule, the rights transfer to the student at age 18 or when the student starts college, at any age. The law calls that student an “eligible student.”
Helping pay tuition does not, by itself, give those rights back to a parent. Consent is permission a person gives for something specific, such as sharing a record with a named person. For college records, consent is written and says which record, to whom and for what purpose. Rafa’s form asks about billing and about grades in separate sections. He can say yes to one section and no to the other. He can also change his choice later in writing.
FERPA also has exceptions, which are situations in which a college may share records without the student’s consent. A college may share records with parents if the student is a dependent for federal tax purposes. It may also share them in a health or safety emergency. The U.S. Department of Education says this sharing is allowed, not required, so Rafa should ask his records office what his college does.
Professional standards
Real sourceAmerican Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO)
AACRAO Ethics and Practice: Standards of professional practice
“Protect the legitimate privacy interests of all individuals and maintain appropriate confidentiality of institutional and student education records”
In plain words: College registrars who belong to AACRAO agree to protect students' privacy and keep education records confidential.
Question: Rafa's form separates billing from grades. What would the registrar need before sharing his grades with his parents?
Professional standards, continued
Your answer
The registrar would need ___, unless ___.
In the news
Real sourceU.S. Department of Education (YouTube)November 7, 2013
Student Privacy 101: FERPA for Parents and Students
The Education Department’s own short explainer of FERPA rights and when they move from parents to students.
Real sourceU.S. Department of Education, Student Privacy Policy OfficeNo date listed
Must postsecondary institutions provide a parent with access to an eligible student’s education records?
Answers the case question directly, including the exception for students claimed as tax dependents.
Notes
Sort the evidence
On your ownFill in the diagram to show who decides each question, which rule applies and who can ask. About 5 minutes.
Who actually decides each question: Rafa, the rule or the college? Mark where paying the bill and seeing grades split into two separate decisions.
Who may see Rafa’s grades?
Rafa, the eligible student, through written consent
FERPA: rights transfer to the student at 18 or on entering college
Rafa’s family, who help pay tuition
Who may see and pay the tuition bill?
Rafa, the eligible student, through written consent
Rafa’s family, who help pay tuition
Whose perspective is missing?
Whose view is missing from these documents? What would you ask them?
The view that is missing is ___. I would ask ___.
Practice: choose a response
On your ownChoose who holds Rafa’s rights and explain why, then fix the two marked lines. About 4 minutes.
Rafa is 18 and in college, and his parents help pay his tuition. Under the general FERPA rule, who holds the rights to his education records?
A Rafa does.
B His parents do, because they help pay the bill.
C His parents do, until Rafa signs a form that says otherwise.
Why I chose it
Improve a draft
A student’s first draft
Rafa, 1 your parents are paying so they can probably see everything, that’s how it works at most schools. My parents could always see my grades on the portal in high school. FERPA is a privacy law but it’s mostly for kids. 2 Once you’re 18 it doesn’t really matter anymore. If you want to keep your grades private you should just not give them your password. Honestly just ask your parents what they want to see. They’re helping you a lot so it’s probably fair for them to know how you’re doing.
Rewrite each marked phrase so it says only what the evidence supports.
Rewrite phrase 1
Rewrite phrase 2
DP Lang and Lit
Your task
On your ownRead the steps and fill in the planner boxes before you start your draft. About 10 minutes.
Write a guided textual analysis of the university’s parent-access guide in response to the guiding question, treating it as an institutional text written for families and students at once.
- Read the guiding question printed above the American University guide.
- Annotate the guide for structure, headings, forms of address and conditional wording.
- Write a thesis that answers the guiding question.
- Plan three body paragraphs in the planner.
- Write your analysis in 75 minutes, 600 to 800 words, starting in the Your draft boxes.
- Read the federal FAQ after drafting and note one point your analysis could add.
Prefer typing? Scan to open the online workspace.
My thesis
Your task, continued
Three body paragraphs
Notes
Your draft
On your ownWrite your draft in the boxes, using your planner from the page before. About 60 minutes.
Opening paragraph and thesis
First body paragraph
Check your work
On your ownAnswer the Check your work questions, mark your level in each rubric row and write one change you made. About 6 minutes.
Do you respond directly to the guiding question?
YesNoDo you analyze structure, address and diction with precise references?
YesNoDo you explain effects on both audiences?
YesNoIs your analysis organized and written in clear academic language?
YesNo
How your work is scored
Mark one box in each row.
| Skill | Beginning | Developing | Proficient | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evidence | No source cited. | Refers to “privacy law” generally. | Cites the transfer rule and the separate | Cites both and notes that exceptions exist. |
| Reasoning | States the rule backwards. | Gets the transfer right but merges billing and grades. | Separates paying from permission correctly. | Explains why least access is a reasonable choice. |
| Audience & purpose | Tells Rafa what to do. | Gives advice without a next step. | Leaves the decision with Rafa and names the records office. | Respects Rafa’s family relationship while protecting his choice. |
| Revision | No change. | Fixes one fact. | Fixes the rule and adds a next step. | Explains why each correction matters for Rafa’s decision. |
Check your work, continued
What I would add after reading the FAQ
After reading the FAQ, I would add ___.
Notes
Questions to discuss
On your ownWrite a short answer to each question, then complete the sentence frames below. About 8 minutes.
1 What is the smallest amount of access that would give Rafa the help he wants from his family?
2 Why might Rafa want to talk with his family before he checks the box for grades?
3 Someone says, “Parents can never see college records.” How would you revise that claim after reading this case?
My take
My claim: ___.
The best evidence is ___, because ___.
My take, continued
Someone who disagrees might say ___.
The limit of the evidence is ___.
I would change my mind if ___.
Notes
Talk about this case at home
Lesson 6: What can your family see in your college records?
In this case, Rafa’s parents help pay his college bill, and a form asks if they should also see his grades. Your student read the form and a federal privacy rule, then explained how paying the bill differs from seeing grades.
Questions to talk about
- Under the general rule, when do students start to control who sees their school records?
- Why might a college form keep paying a bill separate from seeing grades?
- Who at a college could answer a question about records?
Nobody needs to share personal stories or private information to talk about this case.
See the case online.
Lesson 7Case planDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Lesson 7: Did one complaint get the novel banned?
Overview
Students read a short story in which a group chat claims that one parent’s complaint got a novel “banned” from Anika’s school library. They compare the claim with the district’s reconsideration notice, the committee input form and the ALA’s example procedure. They map where the novel is in the review. They then write input to the review committee that is tied to the selection criteria.
Before this case
Students should already be able to:
- analyze authorial choices in a literary extract
- analyze a non-literary text as part of a body of work
- speak from notes for several minutes
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- frame a global issue that is transnational and visible in local contexts
- analyze content and form in both extracts
- balance attention between the literary work and the body of work
- answer questions with textual evidence
Materials
- This chapter, one copy per student
Materials, continued
- An extract from Matilda studied in class, such as the library scene
- An extract from one body of non-literary work on book challenges, such as district reconsideration notices
- The global-issue planner and an outline template
The task in this edition
Task: Rehearse the individual oral. Choose a short extract from Matilda, such as the library scene with Mrs Phelps, and a short extract from a body of non-literary work on book challenges, such as a library association’s public statements or a district’s reconsideration notices. Prepare a 10-minute response examining how the global issue of who controls young people’s access to books is presented through the content and form of both extracts, followed by 5 minutes of teacher questions.
Students make: 10-minute recorded oral plus 5 minutes of teacher questions, with a one-page outline
Pacing
Opener (page 64): 4 min. Short on time: 3 min. Summarize What happened in one minute.
Pacing, continued
Key terms (pages 65 and 66): 4 min. Short on time: skip.
Look at the evidence (pages 70 and 71): 8 min. Short on time: 6 min. Students fill in the Evidence A boxes only.
Key idea (pages 72 and 73): 8 min. Short on time: 6 min. Read the key idea only.
Sort the evidence (page 74): 6 min. Short on time: skip.
Practice (page 75): 4 min. Short on time: skip.
Your task (pages 76 and 77): 20 min. Short on time: 20 min.
Your draft (pages 78 and 79): 40 min. Short on time: 40 min.
Check your work (pages 80 and 81): 8 min. Short on time: 8 min.
Questions to discuss (pages 82 and 83): 8 min. Short on time: 7 min. Use question 3 only.
Talk about this case at home (page 84): at home.
Periods: full chapter 110 minutes; one period 90 minutes.
Lesson 7Case planDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Lesson 7 plan, continued
Standards
Language A: language and literature — Readers, writers and texts An area of exploration in the course: how readers, writers and texts interact to make meaning. In this case: Students examine how different readers find different meanings in the same book.
Global politics — key concepts: power and legitimacy; thematic study: Rights and justice Uses the course’s key concepts of power and legitimacy within its Rights and justice thematic study to examine a political issue. In this case: Students analyze who holds legitimate authority over school library collections.
Codes of ethics
- ALA Code of Ethics: Principle 2 (of 9)
- Code of Ethics of the Education Profession: Principle I: Commitment to the Student, item 2
- Credo for Ethical Communication: “We strive to understand and respect other communicators' intent…” (one of nine unnumbered principles)
Heat map
Opener (page 64): Medium
Key terms (pages 65 and 66): Low
Look at the evidence (pages 70 and 71): Low
Heat map, continued
Key idea (pages 72 and 73): Medium
Sort the evidence (page 74): Medium
Practice (page 75): Low
Check your work (pages 80 and 81): Low
Try it at your school
Find your library’s reconsideration policy.
- Ask your school librarian how book challenges are handled
- Find the written policy on the district website
- Learn whether students can give input during a review
- If a review is happening, read the whole book before commenting
Who to ask: School librarian or media specialist, public library staff, school board clerk
Safety: Don’t post names of people who filed a challenge or who spoke at a meeting. Disagree with ideas, not individuals.
Sources
- Penguin, “Matilda by Roald Dahl: authorized extract,” No date listed
- American Library Association, “Selection and Reconsideration Policy Toolkit: formal reconsideration,” No date listed
Sources, continued
- American Library Association, “Selection and Reconsideration Policy Toolkit: selection criteria,” No date listed
Lesson 7: Did one complaint get the novel banned?
A group chat says one parent’s complaint got a novel banned, so Mari and Gia check what the school library’s notice says.
On your ownRead What happened and underline the word in the group chat that may go too far. About 4 minutes.
Your role: You’re the one who reads the library notice before anyone replies “banned.” New skill: Find what stage a process has reached.
What happened
On Thursday night, a message about a novel in the library at Anika’s high school appears in a group chat. The message says one parent complained, so the novel is now banned and gone from the library. Gia replies that this is censorship.
On Friday, the school library posts a notice about the novel. Mari reads it and compares it with the group chat. Gia deletes her first reply, because she had not read the notice or the novel.
Mari works the counter at the neighborhood bookshop. She switches between print and audio, and she is halfway through the novel on audio. Gia is planning a discussion at the bookshop. First, both of them want to know what stage the library’s process has reached.
Your question: Is the novel really banned, and what can people who care about it do next?
Key terms
On your ownRead each key term and its example, then write your first guess in the box. About 4 minutes.
Challenge A challenge is a formal request to remove or restrict a book or other library material.
En español: impugnación
In this case: A parent’s request about a novel at Anika’s school started a review. The novel stays available while the committee reads it.
Reconsideration policy A reconsideration policy is a library's written process for reviewing a challenge to a book.
En español: política de reconsideración
In this case: The library’s notice follows district policy: a committee review, the selection criteria, written input by the 15th and an appeal.
Selection criteria Selection criteria are the written standards a library uses to decide which materials to include.
En español: criterios de selección
In this case: The committee judges the whole novel against the district’s selection criteria. The input form asks which criteria your comment addresses.
Who is involved
Mari
Works the bookshop counter
“The chat says the book is gone from the library. The notice says it stays available during the review. Those can’t both be true.”
Gia
Planning a book discussion at the bookshop
“I called it censorship before I’d read the notice. Now I’m planning a discussion at the bookshop, so I’d better get this right.”
Your first guess
Before you look at the evidence, what do you think happened to the novel?
My first guess is ___, because ___.
Notes
Reading passage
Where is the book in the process?
On your ownRead the passage. At each Stop and think box, pause and answer the question in your head or with a partner. About 5 minutes.
Words to know
- Challenge: A challenge is a formal request to remove or restrict a book or other library material.
- Reconsideration policy: A reconsideration policy is a library's written process for reviewing a challenge to a book.
- Selection criteria: Selection criteria are the written standards a library uses to decide which materials to include.
- Claim: A claim is a statement that something is true. You can check a claim with evidence.
- Correction: A correction is a public statement that replaces wrong information with accurate information.
The story: Two messages, two days
On Thursday night, a claim about a novel in the library at Anika’s high school moves through a group chat. One parent complained, it says, so the novel has been banned and removed. Gia answers with the certainty of someone who cares about the freedom to read: “censorship, full stop.” The reply fits her values. It does not fit the evidence, because there is no evidence in the chat yet.
The evidence arrives Friday, when the school library posts a notice. Mari, who works the bookshop counter, reads it against the chat. She is dyslexic and moves between print and audiobooks, and she is halfway through this novel on audio. She points out the contradiction plainly. The chat says the book is gone. The notice says it remains available during the review. Both cannot be true.
Gia deletes her first reply. She had not read the notice or the book. She is now organizing a discussion at the bookshop and wants it to be useful, which means getting people to the input form before the 15th with something to say. She also sets a boundary that many online arguments skip. Nobody goes after the parent who asked for the review, because that parent used the process too.
Your role is to read the library notice before anyone replies “banned.”
Stop and think. The chat collapsed a complaint, a temporary change and a final decision into one word. Why is that collapse so common?
Stages, not verdicts
The new skill in this case is finding what stage a process has reached. It depends on two earlier ones. From Lesson 1, you go to the original source, here the library’s notice. From Lesson 3, you know that a correction replaces wrong information with accurate information where people saw the mistake.
The notice describes a sequence. A request for reconsideration has been received. The title remains available during the review. A committee will read the full work and evaluate it against the district’s selection criteria. Written input is due by the 15th. The committee’s decision may be appealed. A challenge is a formal request to remove or restrict a book or other library material. It opens that sequence, but it does not end it. A reconsideration policy is a library’s written process for reviewing a challenge to a book, and selection criteria are the written standards a library uses to decide which materials to include.
With the sequence in view, the chat’s claim can be judged precisely. It collapses three different events into one: a complaint, a possible temporary change and a final decision. Only the first has happened. The notice also has gaps. It does not name the novel, list the committee members or quote the criteria, so a careful reply should not fill those in.
Mari’s approach to the input form shows how to join the process rather than just comment on it. The form asks whether you have read the entire work and which criteria your input addresses, with a 300-word limit. She is finishing the book first. Her experience with books like this explains why she cares, but it is not the policy, so she plans to connect the two.
Stop and think. What should a careful correction leave out, given what the notice does not say?
Professional guidance, state law and the courts
The American Library Association recommends that libraries adopt a formal reconsideration policy, and its model process has a committee read the whole work (American Library Association, updated January 2018). Its separate guidance on selection criteria explains how libraries evaluate resources (American Library Association, updated January 2018). That guidance is professional advice. Districts adopt their own policies, and states write their own laws. Colorado legislators advanced a bill to require clear reconsideration policies (Chalkbeat Colorado, February 10, 2025). In Tennessee, reporters found that a revised state law changed the review steps and that some books quietly left shelves (Chalkbeat Tennessee, September 17, 2024).
The constitutional question remains unsettled. A law-firm analysis explains that the Fifth Circuit treated public library book removals as government speech, creating a split with the Eighth Circuit (Cahill Gordon and Reindel, September 22, 2025). The answer to whether a removal is legal can depend on where you live.
Professional guidance, state law and the courts, continued
Professional codes sit on both sides of Gia’s evolving view. The ALA code says, “We uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and resist all efforts to censor library resources” (ALA Code of Ethics, 2021). The NCA credo asks communicators to “understand and respect other communicators’ intent before evaluating and responding to their messages” (NCA Credo for Ethical Communication, 2024). Holding both is the discipline this case asks for.
Stop and think. How can someone oppose removing a book and still respect the parent who filed the challenge?
Sources
Real sourceAmerican Library AssociationJanuary 2018
Selection and Reconsideration Policy Toolkit: formal reconsideration
Real sourceAmerican Library AssociationJanuary 2018
Selection and Reconsideration Policy Toolkit: selection criteria
Real sourceChalkbeat ColoradoFebruary 10, 2025
Colorado bill to curb school library book challenges clears first legislative hurdle
Real sourceChalkbeat TennesseeSeptember 17, 2024
Under stricter Tennessee law, some school library books quietly disappear
Real sourceCahill Gordon & Reindel LLP (law-firm client alert)September 22, 2025
Fifth Circuit Holds That Government Speech Doctrine Applies to Public Library Book Removals, Creating Circuit Split With Eighth Circuit
Real sourceAmerican Library Association (ALA)2021
ALA Code of Ethics
Real sourceNational Communication Association (NCA)2024
Credo for Ethical Communication
Look at the evidence
On your ownRead the notice and the input form, and fill in both boxes for each one. About 8 minutes.
Evidence ALibrary notice
Reconsideration notice, posted Friday by the school library
A request for reconsideration has been received for one title in the library collection. Under district policy, the title remains available during the review. A review committee will read the full work and evaluate it against the district’s selection criteria. Written input may be submitted by the 15th. The committee’s decision may be appealed.
Look closely: Which sentence tells you where the book is right now? Underline it.
What it shows
What it leaves out
Evidence BInput form
Review committee input form, due the 15th
Name and role (student, parent, staff or community member). Have you read the entire work? Yes or No. Which selection criteria does your input address? Comments, 300 words maximum.
Look closely: Who can send input? What does the form ask before your comments?
What it shows
What it leaves out
Look at the evidence, continued
What is still missing from the evidence?
Notes
Key idea: book challenges
On your ownRead the key idea and the code of ethics, then answer the question in the box. About 8 minutes.
A challenge is a formal request to remove or restrict a book or other library material. A challenge starts a review. On its own, it does not remove a book. A complaint, a temporary change and a final decision can happen at different times. Check which stage a process has reached before you repeat a claim.
A reconsideration policy is a library's written process for reviewing a challenge to a book. The American Library Association (ALA) recommends that libraries adopt one, and its example has a committee read the whole work. Selection criteria are the written standards a library uses to decide which materials to include. ALA’s guidance is a professional recommendation, not a law. Each district’s adopted policy and the applicable law govern its own process.
Whether removing a book breaks the law is a harder question. Federal courts disagree about how the First Amendment applies when a library removes a book. The answer can depend on where you live. Right now, the notice at Anika’s school describes a review, and the novel is still available.
Professional standards
Real sourceAmerican Library Association (ALA)
ALA Code of Ethics: Principle 2 (of 9)
“We uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and resist all efforts to censor library resources.”
In plain words: Library workers who follow the ALA code support people's freedom to read and oppose censorship of library materials.
Question: The district notice says the title stays available during review. Does that match the group chat's claim that it's “gone”?
Your answer
The notice says ___, so ___.
In the news
Real sourceChalkbeat ColoradoFebruary 10, 2025
Colorado bill to curb school library book challenges clears first legislative hurdle
A state debated requiring clear reconsideration policies, showing a challenge is a process, not an instant ban.
Real sourceChalkbeat TennesseeSeptember 17, 2024
Under stricter Tennessee law, some school library books quietly disappear
A state law changed the review steps, so you have to check which rules and stage actually applied.
Notes
Sort the evidence
On your ownFill in the diagram to show who decides at each stage, which rules apply and where input goes. About 6 minutes.
Replace “banned” with the real chain of decisions. Who decides at each stage, which rules bind them, and where can a student’s input land?
Keep, restrict or remove the novel after review
The school review committee, which reads the whole work and votes
District-level appeal and, finally, the school board
District reconsideration policy and selection criteria
State law and unsettled First Amendment case law (Pico had no majority opinion)
Whose perspective is missing?
Whose view is missing from these documents? What would you ask them?
The view that is missing is ___. I would ask ___.
Practice: choose a response
On your ownChoose what to check first and explain why, then fix the two marked lines. About 4 minutes.
A group chat says, “One parent complained, so that novel is banned.” What should you check first?
A Find the library’s policy and where the review stands.
B Ask everyone in the chat whether they like the book.
C Read the passage people are upset about, then decide.
Why I chose it
Improve a draft
A student’s first draft
This is so messed up. One parent complains and 1 now the whole school can’t read the book?? That’s literally censorship and it’s illegal because of the First Amendment. 2 Whoever complained is a terrible person and should mind their own business. Everyone should go to the board meeting and yell at them until they put it back. Books like this are the only ones some of us actually finish. I read part of it last year and it was actually really good. I’m so done with this school honestly.
Rewrite each marked phrase so it says only what the evidence supports.
Rewrite phrase 1
Rewrite phrase 2
DP Lang and Lit
Your task
On your ownRead the steps and fill in the planner boxes before you start your draft. About 20 minutes.
Rehearse the individual oral. Choose a short extract from Matilda, such as the library scene with Mrs Phelps, and a short extract from a body of non-literary work on book challenges, such as a library association’s public statements or a district’s reconsideration notices. Prepare a 10-minute response examining how the global issue of who controls young people’s access to books is presented through the content and form of both extracts, followed by 5 minutes of teacher questions.
- Choose your Matilda extract and your non-literary extract with your teacher.
- Fill in the planner: the global issue and where it appears in each text.
- Note one choice of form in each extract.
- Write your one-page outline in the Your draft boxes.
- Rehearse a 10-minute response from your outline.
- Answer 5 minutes of teacher questions with textual evidence.
Prefer typing? Scan to open the online workspace.
The global issue
Your task, continued
Where it appears in Matilda
Where it appears in the body of work
Notes
Your draft
On your ownWrite your draft in the boxes, using your planner from the page before. About 40 minutes.
Outline: introduction and global issue
Outline: the literary extract
Outline: the non-literary extract
Your draft, continued
Outline: connection and conclusion
Notes
Check your work
On your ownAnswer the Check your work questions, mark your level in each rubric row and write one change you made. About 8 minutes.
Is your global issue transnational and visible in a local context?
YesNoDo you analyze content and form in both extracts?
YesNoIs your attention balanced between the two texts?
YesNoDid you answer questions with textual evidence?
YesNo
How your work is scored
Mark one box in each row.
| Skill | Beginning | Developing | Proficient | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evidence | Repeats “banned.” | Mentions a complaint without stage. | States the current stage from the policy. | States stage, next steps and input route. |
| Reasoning | Declares a legal verdict. | Treats outrage as the argument. | Separates complaint, review and decision. | Connects input to criteria and notes legal uncertainty. |
| Audience & purpose | Attacks people. | Rallies without direction. | Gives a useful participation route. | Invites participation while respecting other readers and the parent. |
| Revision | No change. | Tone only. | Corrects the stage and removes attacks. | Explains how each change helps the chat act accurately. |
Check your work, continued
One change I made after the practice questions
I changed ___ because ___.
Notes
Questions to discuss
On your ownWrite a short answer to each question, then complete the sentence frames below. About 8 minutes.
1 Whose reading experience is missing from the crew’s discussion of the novel?
2 Gia says nobody should go after the parent who asked for the review. Why might that matter for her bookshop discussion?
3 How does calling the same action a “review,” a “restriction” or a “ban” change what people think happened?
My take
My claim: ___.
The best evidence is ___, because ___.
My take, continued
Someone who disagrees might say ___.
The limit of the evidence is ___.
I would change my mind if ___.
Notes
Talk about this case at home
Lesson 7: Did one complaint get the novel banned?
In this case, a group chat claims one parent’s complaint got a novel banned from a school library. Your student compared that claim with the library’s notice and learned how a book review works.
Questions to talk about
- What is the difference between a book being reviewed and a book being removed?
- Where could someone find out how a library decides which books to keep?
- How can people disagree about a book without attacking each other?
Nobody needs to share personal stories or private information to talk about this case.
See the case online.
Lesson 8Case planDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Lesson 8: Is it a recommendation or an ad?
Content note
This case explains general rules. It is not legal advice for your situation.
Overview
Students read a short story in which a publisher sends Gia a free novel to review. Her video tags the publisher but never says the copy was free. They compare the publisher’s email, the video script and Caio’s edit notes with the FTC’s disclosure guidance for social media. They then rewrite the video’s opening and caption so that a viewer watching with the sound off learns about the free copy.
Before this case
Students should already be able to:
- annotate a text for address, word choice and layout
- write an analytical thesis that answers a guiding question
- sustain an organized analysis in timed conditions
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- analyze how spoken, visual and written features of a multimodal text build intimacy and trust
- explain how the placement of the brand tag shapes what viewers notice
Objectives, continued
- respond directly to a guiding question in an organized analysis
- compare the first cut with the revised version after drafting
Materials
- This chapter, one copy per student, with Evidence B printed on the task page
- The guiding question, printed above the text
- A glossary of multimodal terms: caption, overlay, direct address
The task in this edition
Task: Write a guided textual analysis of Gia’s first-cut review (spoken script, on-screen text and caption) in response to the guiding question, treating it as a multimodal non-literary text.
Students make: Guided analysis, 600–800 words, written in 75 minutes
Pacing
Opener (page 85): 3 min. Short on time: 2 min. Students read What happened on their own.
Key terms (pages 86 and 87): 4 min. Short on time: skip.
Your task (pages 91 and 92): 12 min. Short on time: 10 min. Read the guiding question aloud. Students annotate for 10 minutes.
Pacing, continued
Your draft (pages 93 and 94): 60 min. Short on time: 60 min.
Look at the evidence (page 95): 6 min. Short on time: skip. in class. Assign it after the timed analysis.
Look at the evidence (page 96): 4 min. Short on time: skip. in class.
Key idea (pages 97 and 98): 8 min. Short on time: skip. Assign the key idea and the FTC rows as reading after the analysis.
Sort the evidence (page 99): 6 min. Short on time: skip.
Check your work (pages 100 and 101): 6 min. Short on time: 3 min. Students answer the four questions only.
Questions to discuss (pages 102 and 103): 8 min. Short on time: skip.
Talk about this case at home (page 104): at home.
Periods: full chapter 117 minutes; one period 75 minutes.
Lesson 8Case planDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Lesson 8 plan, continued
Standards
Language A: language and literature — Readers, writers and texts An area of exploration in the course: how readers, writers and texts interact to make meaning. In this case: Students examine how a known brand relationship changes how readers interpret a review.
Theory of Knowledge — Knowledge and technology (optional theme) An optional theme of the course: how technology shapes the way knowledge is produced and shared. In this case: Students ask how platform design affects whether viewers can judge a source.
Codes of ethics
- FTC Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255): § 255.5 Disclosure of material connections
- FTC Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255): § 255.0 Purpose and definitions, paragraph (f)
- PRSA Code of Ethics: Free Flow of Information
Heat map
Opener (page 85): Low
Key terms (pages 86 and 87): Low
Your task (pages 91 and 92): Low
Your draft (pages 93 and 94): Low
Look at the evidence (page 95): Low
Heat map, continued
Look at the evidence (page 96): Low
Key idea (pages 97 and 98): Low
Sort the evidence (page 99): Low
Check your work (pages 100 and 101): Low
Try it at your school
Check the relationship before you trust the review.
- Next time you see a recommendation, look for a disclosure in the video itself
- If you post reviews, practice a clear spoken line like “They sent me this for free”
- Share a disclosure checklist with a school media club
- Don’t accuse real creators; practice on your own sample posts
Who to ask: School media or journalism advisor, a librarian, a digital citizenship teacher
Safety: Don’t share personal information to get free products. Talk with a trusted adult before accepting any brand deal.
Sources
- TikTok Newsroom, “BookTok and publishing,” September 2022
- Federal Trade Commission, “Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers,” No date listed
Sources, continued
- Federal Trade Commission, “FTC’s Endorsement Guides: What People Are Asking,” No date listed
- Federal Trade Commission, “FTC explanatory video,” No date listed
Lesson 8: Is it a recommendation or an ad?
Gia loves a novel that a publisher sent her for free, and her video review does not mention the free copy yet.
On your ownRead What happened. Underline what the publisher sent Gia and what it asked for. About 3 minutes.
Your role: You’re the viewer with the sound off who checks the first three seconds. New skill: Spot and disclose a material connection.
What happened
At 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Caio finishes editing Gia’s short video review of a new novel. Gia made the review for BookTok, where people recommend books on TikTok. She stayed up until 2 a.m. to finish the novel, and she loves it.
Two weeks ago, the book’s publisher emailed Gia. The publicity team offered her a free copy of its spring novel for review. The email said she did not have to post, but it asked for a tag if she did. In the first cut, Gia never says the book was free. The only sign of the publisher is a tag in the caption below the video.
Caio wants to watch the cut the way a stranger would, on a phone with the sound off. He wants to know whether the first three seconds say the book was free. Gia wants to keep her honest opinion in the video. She also wants viewers to know how she got the book.
Your question: Do Gia’s viewers need to know the book was free, and how should she tell them?
Key terms
On your ownRead each key term and its example. Then write your first guess in the box. About 4 minutes.
Material connection A material connection is a relationship with a brand, like payment or a free product, that viewers might not expect.
En español: conexión material
In this case: The publisher sent Gia a free copy of its spring novel for review. That free copy is a material connection.
Disclosure A disclosure is a clear statement that tells people about a relationship or fact they would want to know.
En español: divulgación
In this case: Gia’s first cut has no disclosure. The tag in the caption names the publisher but never says the book was free.
Endorsement An endorsement is a message that shares someone's opinion or experience of a product to promote it.
En español: respaldo
In this case: Gia’s video review promotes the novel with her own opinion: she stayed up until 2 a.m. to finish it.
Who is involved
Gia
Made the video review
“I stayed up till 2 a.m. finishing it. That part’s real. The publisher sending it free is also real, and right now it’s nowhere in the video.”
Caio
Editing Gia’s video
“The publisher’s email literally says ‘free copy for review.’ That’s the sentence. It’s just not in the video yet.”
Your first guess
Before you look at the evidence, does Gia need to tell viewers the book was free?
My first guess is ___, because ___.
Notes
Reading passage
Honest opinion, hidden relationship
On your ownRead the passage. At each Stop and think box, pause and answer the question in your head or with a partner. About 5 minutes.
Words to know
- Material connection: A material connection is a relationship with a brand, like payment or a free product, that viewers might not expect.
- Disclosure: A disclosure is a clear statement that tells people about a relationship or fact they would want to know.
- Endorsement: An endorsement is a message that shares someone's opinion or experience of a product to promote it.
- Framing: Framing is choosing which parts of a situation a message brings forward.
The story: The edit that is almost done
Gia’s review is sincere. She stayed up until 2 a.m. finishing the novel, and her video for BookTok, TikTok’s book-recommending community, captures that. Caio, who edits video and has a habit of checking before posting anything that involves someone else, finishes the cut at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. Gia is ready to publish.
Caio asks for one more pass, done the way most viewers would watch: once, on a phone, with the sound off. He is looking at the first three seconds. The question he wants answered is whether a stranger could tell that the book was free.
It was. Two weeks earlier, the publisher’s publicity team emailed Gia to offer a free copy of its spring novel for review. The email said there was no obligation to post but asked for a tag if she did. The first cut opens with Gia saying she literally could not put the book down. There is no on-screen text, and the only trace of the publisher is “@publisher #booktok” in the caption below the video.
Gia’s first defense is the tag. Caio’s edit notes reply in four words: tag equals brand name, not relationship. Your role in this case is to be the viewer with the sound off who checks the first three seconds.
Stop and think. Why does the case insist that the free copy does not make Gia’s opinion false?
Separating the opinion from the relationship
Three terms keep the analysis clean. An endorsement is a message that shares someone’s opinion or experience of a product to promote it. A material connection is a relationship with a brand, like payment or a free product, that viewers might not expect. A disclosure is a clear statement that tells people about a relationship or fact they would want to know. Gia’s review is an honest endorsement with an undisclosed material connection. The connection does not make her opinion false. It changes what a viewer needs to know to weigh it.
This is a framing problem, in the Lesson 1 sense of framing: choosing which parts of a situation a message brings forward. The first cut brings forward enthusiasm and leaves the relationship in a caption that many viewers never open. Caio’s fix reorders the frame without deleting anything true. The video opens with a three-second line, “Quick heads-up, the publisher sent me this free,” spoken and on screen, followed by Gia’s hook.
The case also asks what a disclosure does not do. Gia had considered calling the novel the best book of the year and then asks herself, out of the ones she happened to read? She replaces the superlative with what she can support: two nights, could not put it down. A disclosure answers how she got the book. It does not make every claim in a review accurate.
Finally, the case tests the fix on an audience. Caio will show the cut to someone who did not help make it and ask whether the book was free. If they hesitate, the disclosure is not clear yet. A comment on another creator’s review shows the cost of late discovery: “wait was this sponsored?? kind of feels like an ad now.” The comment is about someone else, and nobody knows whether that review was sponsored, which is the point.
Stop and think. Apply the FTC’s “clear and conspicuous” definition to the caption tag. Does the tag meet it?
Rules, enforcement and evidence
The Federal Trade Commission’s Endorsement Guides explain how federal law against deceptive practices applies to endorsements. The current text says material connections “can include monetary payment or the provision of free or discounted products … to an endorser, regardless of whether the advertiser requires an endorsement in return” (16 CFR Part 255, as revised 2023). The same guides define “clear and conspicuous” as “difficult to miss (i.e., easily noticeable) and easily understandable by ordinary consumers.” FTC staff guidance for video says the disclosure belongs in the video itself, ideally both spoken and on screen (Federal Trade Commission, updated December 3, 2024).
Enforcement has followed. In November 2023, the FTC warned two trade associations and a dozen influencers about posts promoting aspartame or sugar, stressing that disclosures belong in the video, not a caption (Federal Trade Commission, November 14, 2023).
Rules, enforcement and evidence, continued
Trade coverage noted that sponsors share responsibility for clear disclosures (Food Dive, November 27, 2023).
Research on adolescents supports the rule’s purpose. A study of 3,149 high school students in Taiwan found that full sponsorship disclosure helped teens recognize a post as an ad (Lin et al., PLOS One, May 27, 2026). Earlier work examined whether disclosures help younger and older teens notice when an influencer is paid (van Reijmersdal and van Dam, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, January 18, 2020).
Stop and think. Who should make sure disclosures are clear: creators, brands or platforms?
Sources
Real sourceFederal Trade Commission (FTC)2023
FTC Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255)
Real sourceFederal Trade CommissionDecember 3, 2024
Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers
Real sourceFederal Trade CommissionNovember 14, 2023
FTC Warns Two Trade Associations and a Dozen Influencers About Social Media Posts Promoting Consumption of Aspartame or Sugar
Real sourceFood DiveNovember 27, 2023
FTC crackdown could change influencer marketing for food and beverages
Real sourcePLOS One (Lin et al.)May 27, 2026
Effects of social media sponsorship disclosure on adolescents’ advertising literacy and purchase intention
Real sourceJournal of Youth and Adolescence (van Reijmersdal & van Dam)January 18, 2020
How Age and Disclosures of Sponsored Influencer Videos Affect Adolescents’ Knowledge of Persuasion and Persuasion
DP Lang and Lit
Your task
On your ownRead the steps. Fill in the planner boxes before you start your draft. About 12 minutes.
Write a guided textual analysis of Gia’s first-cut review (spoken script, on-screen text and caption) in response to the guiding question, treating it as a multimodal non-literary text.
- Read the guiding question above the text.
- Annotate Evidence B in three layers: address to the viewer, intensifiers and the brand tag.
- Write a thesis that answers both parts of the guiding question.
- Plan two or three body paragraphs, each on one feature.
- Write your analysis of 600 to 800 words in 75 minutes. Start on the Your draft page.
- Read the other evidence and the revised version only after you finish.
Prefer typing? Scan to open the online workspace.
Layer 1: address to the viewer
Your task, continued
Layer 2: intensifiers
Layer 3: the brand tag
Thesis
Notes
Your draft
On your ownWrite your draft in the boxes. Use your planner from the page before. About 60 minutes.
Introduction and thesis
Body paragraph 1
Body paragraph 2
Your draft, continued
Body paragraph 2, continued
Notes
Look at the evidence
On your ownRead each document. For each one, write what it shows and what it leaves out. About 6 minutes.
Evidence AEmail
The publisher’s email
“Hi Gia, we love your book reviews! We’d be glad to send you a free copy of our spring novel for review. There’s no obligation to post, but if you do, we’d appreciate a tag. Best, the publicity team”
Look closely: What did the publisher give, and what did it ask for?
What it shows
What it leaves out
Evidence BVideo script and caption
Gia’s first cut
Spoken: “You guys, I have to tell you about this book because I literally could not put it down!” On-screen text: none. Caption below the video: “@publisher #booktok
Look closely: Where in this video would a viewer learn about the free copy?
What it shows
What it leaves out
Look at the evidence, continued
Evidence CEdit notes
Caio’s edit notes
“Watch once as a stranger, phone on mute. 0:00–0:03: does anything say free copy? Caption sits below the video; most people won’t open it. Tag = brand name, not relationship.”
Look closely: What does Caio want to test before uploading, and why the first three seconds?
What it shows
What it leaves out
Evidence DViewer comment
A comment on another creator’s review
wait was this sponsored?? kind of feels like an ad now
Look closely: When does this viewer start to wonder about a sponsorship?
What it shows
What it leaves out
What is still missing from the evidence?
Key idea: material connections
On your ownRead the key idea and the FTC guide. Then answer the question in the box. About 8 minutes.
An endorsement is a message that shares someone's opinion or experience of a product to promote it. Gia’s video review is an endorsement, and her opinion in it is honest. A material connection is a relationship with a brand, like payment or a free product, that viewers might not expect. The free copy from the publisher is a material connection. Knowing about it gives viewers context, but it does not prove that Gia’s opinion is false.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is a federal agency. Its Endorsement Guides explain how a federal law against deceptive practices applies to endorsements. A disclosure is a clear statement that tells people about a relationship or fact they would want to know. For a video, the FTC says the disclosure belongs in the video itself, ideally both spoken and on screen. A tag in the caption only names the brand, and it sits below the video.
A disclosure answers one question: how did Gia get the book? Viewers can still ask what supports her claims about the book itself. A clear disclosure does not make every claim in a review accurate. Do not accuse a real creator of hiding a sponsorship based on a guess.
Professional standards
Real sourceLaw or regulationFederal Trade Commission (FTC)
FTC Endorsement Guides (16 CFR Part 255): § 255.5 Disclosure of material connections
“They can include monetary payment or the provision of free or discounted products … to an endorser, regardless of whether the advertiser requires an endorsement in return.”
In plain words: The FTC says a free product can be a connection that reviewers must clearly disclose, even if the brand asked for nothing in return.
Question: The publisher's email says there is “no obligation to post.” Does that change whether Gia has a connection to disclose?
Professional standards, continued
Your answer
The FTC text says ___, so ___.
In the news
Real sourceNBC NewsNovember 15, 2023
Influencers warned by FTC over ‘inadequate’ disclosures of artificial sweetener promotions
Real creators were warned for not clearly saying they were paid, the exact question this case asks.
Real sourceABC NewsNovember 6, 2019
Popular YouTuber chimes in on federal product disclosure guide for influencers
A creator reacts to the FTC’s disclosure rules, showing how the guidance lands for people who actually post.
Notes
Sort the evidence
On your ownFollow each choice to its results. Then write whose view is missing. About 6 minutes.
Follow both choices forward. Which consequences can Gia control, which depend on viewers, and what test tells her the disclosure worked?
Post the first cut with only a brand tag in the caption
Sound-off viewers never learn the book was free
Who is affected
Viewers deciding whether to buy or borrow the book
Disclose aloud and on screen in the first seconds
Viewers weigh the recommendation knowing the relationship
Who is affected
Viewers deciding whether to buy or borrow the bookSome viewers may discount the review as an ad
Who is affected
Whose perspective is missing?
Whose view is missing from these documents? What would you ask them?
The view that is missing is ___. I would ask ___.
Check your work
On your ownAnswer the Check your work questions and mark your level in each rubric row. Then write one change you made. About 6 minutes.
Does your thesis answer both parts of the guiding question?
YesNoDo you analyze spoken, visual and written features with precise references?
YesNoDo you explain how the text builds intimacy and trust?
YesNoIs your analysis organized, with one feature per paragraph?
YesNo
How your work is scored
Mark one box in each row.
| Skill | Beginning | Developing | Proficient | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evidence | No disclosure or claim support. | Tag only. | Names the relationship clearly. | Names the relationship and supports the product claim. |
| Reasoning | Treats opinion as a substitute for disclosure. | Discloses but can’t explain why. | Explains why placement and clarity matter. | Distinguishes opinion, relationship and product claim. |
| Audience & purpose | Ignores viewers. | Assumes viewers read captions. | Works for sound-off viewers. | Works across channels with consistent wording. |
| Revision | No change. | Adds a hashtag. | Adds spoken and on-screen disclosure. | Explains each placement choice for different viewers. |
Check your work, continued
One change I made after feedback
I changed ___ because ___.
Notes
Questions to discuss
On your ownWrite a short answer to each question. Then finish My take. About 8 minutes.
1 Would knowing the book was free change how much you trust Gia’s review? Why or why not?
2 Some viewers may treat a review with a disclosure as just an ad. How could Gia keep their trust?
3 Who should make sure disclosures are clear: creators, brands or platforms?
My take
My claim: ___.
The best evidence is ___, because ___.
My take, continued
Someone who disagrees might say ___.
The limit of the evidence is ___.
I would change my mind if ___.
Notes
Talk about this case at home
Lesson 8: Is it a recommendation or an ad?
In this case, a publisher sends Gia a free novel, and her video review does not say the book was free. Your student read the email and the video script, then rewrote the opening so viewers learn about the free copy.
Questions to talk about
- How can you tell when a video review is also an ad?
- Where in a video would you look for a note that a product was free?
- Why might a review still be honest if the reviewer got the product for free?
Nobody needs to share personal stories or private information to talk about this case.
See the case online.
Lesson 9Case planDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Lesson 9: What is on your ballot, and where do you check?
Content note
This case explains general rules. It is not legal advice for your situation.
Overview
Students read a story in which Dec, who turns 18 in October, looks past the headline race on his sample ballot. He finds a school board race, a city council race and a transit bond. They compare the ballot with a creator’s voter guide that mixes facts with picks, and they read Vote.gov’s guidance for people 18 and under. They then write a personal checklist of official sources for registration, deadlines and their own sample ballot.
Before this case
Students should already be able to:
- annotate a non-literary text for address, layout and word choice
- write an analytical thesis that answers a guiding question
- sustain an organized analysis in timed conditions
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- analyze how a voter guide uses address, layout and word choice to build trust
- locate and explain where informing turns into persuading
Objectives, continued
- respond directly to a guiding question in an organized analysis
- analyze a real guide in a nonpartisan way
Materials
- This chapter, one copy per student
- Evidence A and B, used as a warm-up text
- One voter guide aimed at young or first-time voters, chosen by you; use guides from different organizations across the class
- The guiding question, printed above the guide
The task in this edition
Task: Write a guided textual analysis of an educator-selected voter guide aimed at young or first-time voters, responding to the guiding question.
Students make: Guided analysis, 600–800 words, written in 75 minutes
Fit: partial. A voter guide aimed at young people is a rich non-literary text for analyzing the shift from informing to persuading, but the case only describes the creator’s guide, so the rehearsal uses an educator-selected real guide chosen to keep the classroom nonpartisan.
Pacing
Opener (page 105): 3 min. Short on time: 2 min. Students read What happened on their own.
Key terms (pages 106 and 107): 4 min. Short on time: skip.
Look at the evidence (pages 111 and 112): 6 min. Short on time: 5 min. Students read both documents; skip the boxes.
Key idea (pages 113 and 114): 8 min. Short on time: skip. Assign the key idea and the SPJ row as reading after the analysis.
Sort the evidence (pages 115 and 116): 6 min. Short on time: skip.
Practice (page 117): 5 min. Short on time: skip.
Your task (pages 118 and 119): 10 min. Short on time: 8 min. Keep the warm-up on Evidence B to 8 minutes.
Your draft (page 120): 60 min. Short on time: 58 min. Students skip the practice paragraph and go straight to the timed analysis.
Check your work (pages 121 and 122): 5 min. Short on time: 2 min. Students answer the four questions at home.
Questions to discuss (pages 123 and 124): 8 min. Short on time: skip.
Talk about this case at home (page 125): at home.
Periods: full chapter 115 minutes; one period 75 minutes.
Lesson 9Case planDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Lesson 9 plan, continued
Standards
Global politics — key concepts: power and legitimacy Uses the course’s key concepts of power and legitimacy to examine a political issue. In this case: Students analyze how local elections confer authority.
Theory of Knowledge — Knowledge and politics (optional theme) An optional theme of the course: how political power and processes affect what counts as knowledge. In this case: Students ask how we know what a candidate or measure will do.
Codes of ethics
- SPJ Code of Ethics: Seek Truth and Report It
- RTDNA Code of Ethics: Opening statement (before the guiding principles)
- Credo for Ethical Communication: “We advocate sharing information, opinions, and feelings…” (one of nine unnumbered principles)
Heat map
Opener (page 105): Low
Key terms (pages 106 and 107): Low
Look at the evidence (pages 111 and 112): Low
Key idea (pages 113 and 114): Low
Sort the evidence (pages 115 and 116): Medium
Heat map, continued
Practice (page 117): Low
Your task (pages 118 and 119): Medium
Your draft (page 120): Medium
Check your work (pages 121 and 122): Low
Try it at your school
Find your official election information.
- With a trusted adult, visit vote.gov and choose your state or territory
- Check eligibility, preregistration and registration rules for your age
- Find a sample ballot for your address and circle one local office
- Learn what that office does before researching candidates
Who to ask: Your county or local election office, a civics teacher, a school librarian
Safety: Never share your address, birthdate or voter information in group chats. Use official government sites (.gov) for registration.
Sources
- Vote.gov, “Your state or territory’s voting information,” No date listed
- Vote.gov, “Preparing to vote: age 18 and under,” No date listed
- USAGov, “Sample ballots and voter guides,” No date listed
Sources, continued
- National Constitution Center, “The 26th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution,” No date listed
Lesson 9: What is on your ballot, and where do you check?
Dec turns 18 before the election on November 3, 2026, and his feed covers only one race on his ballot.
On your ownRead What happened. Underline the contests Mateo finds below the big race. About 3 minutes.
Your role: You’re the one who finds Dec’s official sample ballot before anyone tells him how to vote. New skill: Check an official source for your own area.
What happened
It is Sunday at the library desk. Dec turns 18 in October, before the general election on November 3, 2026. His feed is full of posts about one big race. Mateo and Gia are helping him find out what else is on his ballot.
They look at a sample ballot for the November election. The front shows the big race from Dec’s feed. The second page has more: a school board race, a city council seat and Measure T, a transit bond. Mateo notices that nobody is posting about Measure T.
A creator’s voter guide is also going around. It says registration closes “the 14th,” but it never names a state. It also tells people how to vote on the school board race and Measure T. Gia is writing a reminder for the group chat.
Mateo has his own problem. He may still be registered at his mom’s address in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Dec says he does not need anyone to pick for him. He needs to know what is on his ballot and whether he is registered in time.
Your question: What is on Dec’s ballot, and where should he check his own information?
Key terms
On your ownRead each key term and its example. Then write your first guess in the box. About 4 minutes.
Sample ballot A sample ballot is a preview of the contests and measures that will appear on your ballot.
En español: boleta de muestra
In this case: Dec’s sample ballot lists a school board race, a city council seat and Measure T below the big race from his feed.
Voter guide A voter guide is a document that explains or recommends choices in an election.
En español: guía para votantes
In this case: A creator’s voter guide mixes one deadline with two picks: “vote Candidate B” and “Measure T: yes, obviously.”
Registration Registration is signing up with your election office so that you are on the list of people who can vote.
En español: inscripción electoral
In this case: Dec turns 18 in October and needs to know whether he is registered in time. The guide’s deadline names no state.
Jurisdiction A jurisdiction is the place or area where a particular government or rule has authority.
En español: jurisdicción
In this case: Mateo may still be registered in New Bedford, Massachusetts. A different place can mean a different ballot and a different deadline.
Who is involved
Mateo
Helping Dec read the sample ballot
“Dec’s feed is all the big race. Then you flip the sample ballot: school board, city council, a transit bond. Nobody’s posting about Measure T.”
Gia
Writing the group-chat reminder
“The creator’s guide says ‘registration closes the 14th.’ Whose 14th? It doesn’t even say which state.”
Your first guess
Before you look at the evidence, what do you think is on Dec’s ballot?
My first guess is ___, because ___.
Notes
Reading passage
Down the ballot and back to the source
On your ownRead the passage. At each Stop and think box, pause and answer the question in your head or with a partner. About 6 minutes.
Words to know
- Sample ballot: A sample ballot is a preview of the contests and measures that will appear on your ballot.
- Voter guide: A voter guide is a document that explains or recommends choices in an election.
- Registration: Registration is signing up with your election office so that you are on the list of people who can vote.
- Jurisdiction: A jurisdiction is the place or area where a particular government or rule has authority.
- Claim: A claim is a statement that something is true. You can check a claim with evidence.
- Material connection: A material connection is a relationship with a brand, like payment or a free product, that viewers might not expect.
The story: One race in the feed, five on the ballot
Dec, a high school senior who drums on weekends and helps build theater sets, turns 18 in October. The general election is November 3, 2026. His social feed treats it as a single contest, one big race covered from every angle. On Sunday, at the library desk, Mateo and Gia help him find out what the feed leaves out.
The sample ballot for November is organized by level of government. Federal: U.S. Representative. State: State Senator and a Superior Court judge up for retention. Local: two seats on the Board of Education in District 3 and a City Council seat in Ward 5. And one measure: Measure T, a transit improvements bond. Mateo notices that the lower half of the ballot has almost no online presence. Nobody is posting about Measure T.
What is circulating instead is a creator’s voter guide. It promises “all you need for November,” announces that registration closes “the 14th” and tells readers to vote for Candidate B for school board and “yes, obviously” on Measure T. Dec’s response sets the terms for the case. He does not need anyone picking for him. He needs to know what is on his ballot and whether he is registered in time.
Mateo has a problem of his own. He moved from New Bedford, Massachusetts, for college and may still be registered at his mom’s address there. Different state, different ballot, different deadline. Your role is to find Dec’s official sample ballot before anyone tells him how to vote.
Stop and think. Why does the lower half of a ballot get so little attention online?
Separating information from advocacy
A sample ballot is a preview of the contests and measures that will appear on your ballot. A voter guide is a document that explains or recommends choices in an election. The distinction matters because the two serve different purposes. The sample ballot tells you what you will decide. A guide tells you what someone thinks you should decide, and sometimes also what the choices mean.
The new skill here builds on two earlier ones. From Lesson 1, you go to the original source and treat each statement as a claim that can be checked. The guide’s deadline is a claim with no jurisdiction attached, so it cannot be verified and should not be repeated. From Lesson 8, you ask about a material connection, a relationship with a brand, like payment or a free product, that viewers might not expect. Here, the guide leaves out who wrote and who funds it. That missing information does not make its picks wrong. It does mean they should be read as advocacy from an unnamed source.
A jurisdiction is the place or area where a particular government or rule has authority. Your address determines which contests appear on your ballot, which is why Mateo cannot assume his ballot matches Dec’s. Jurisdiction also shapes research. A school board and a city council have different powers, so a voter who cares about buses should learn which body runs them before comparing candidates. Mateo starts Measure T with two questions: what it would pay for, and who runs the buses.
Registration is signing up with your election office so that you are on the list of people who can vote. Because rules and deadlines vary by state, Gia’s group-chat reminder deliberately contains no deadline. It sends everyone to Vote.gov for their own registration and sample ballot, and it asks people not to post their addresses.
Stop and think. The guide’s picks are not labeled as advocacy. How would labeling them change how Dec reads the guide?
The constitutional floor and the state rules
The Twenty-Sixth Amendment protects the right of citizens 18 and older to vote (National Constitution Center, no date listed). The National WWII Museum traces its origins to the wartime argument that people old enough to fight were old enough to vote (The National WWII Museum, October 27, 2020). Above that floor, states set the details. Most allow preregistration before 18, and some let 17-year-olds vote in primaries if they will be 18 by the general election (Ballotpedia News, September 26, 2025). NPR has reported on state efforts to raise youth registration, including preregistration (NPR, August 6, 2023).
Turnout data show both engagement and variation. CIRCLE estimates that about 47 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds voted in 2024, with large differences by state (CIRCLE, April 14, 2025).
The constitutional floor and the state rules, continued
Journalism codes draw the same line the case draws. The SPJ code tells journalists to “label advocacy and commentary” (SPJ Code of Ethics, September 6, 2014). The RTDNA code says journalism “empowers viewers, listeners and readers to make more informed decisions for themselves; it does not tell people what to believe or how to feel” (RTDNA Code of Ethics, June 11, 2015). A nonpartisan guide for Dec should meet that second standard.
Stop and think. Anika is 16. How can she take part in this election before she can vote?
Sources
Real sourceVote.govNo date listed
Your state or territory’s voting information
Real sourceNational Constitution CenterNo date listed
The 26th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution
Real sourceThe National WWII MuseumOctober 27, 2020
“Old Enough to Fight, Old Enough to Vote”: The WWII Roots of the 26th Amendment
Real sourceBallotpedia NewsSeptember 26, 2025
Most states allow teenagers to pre-register to vote before turning 18, and some let them vote in primaries
Real sourceNPRAugust 6, 2023
Some states are trying to boost youth voter registration. Here's what they're doing
Real sourceCIRCLE (Tufts University)April 14, 2025
New Data: Nearly Half of Youth Voted in 2024
Real sourceSociety of Professional Journalists (SPJ)2014
SPJ Code of Ethics
Real sourceRadio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA)2015
RTDNA Code of Ethics
Look at the evidence
On your ownRead each document. For each one, write what it shows and what it leaves out. About 6 minutes.
Evidence ASample ballot
Sample ballot for the November general election
Federal: U.S. Representative. State: State Senator; Superior Court judge (retention). Local: Board of Education, District 3 (vote for two); City Council, Ward 5. Measures: Measure T, transit improvements bond.
Look closely: Which contests sit below the big race, and which one touches Dec’s school?
What it shows
What it leaves out
Evidence BVoter guide post
A creator’s voter guide
All you need for November!! Registration closes the 14th. School board: vote Candidate B, the only one who cares about students. Measure T: yes, obviously.
Look closely: Which line could you check, and which lines tell you how to vote?
What it shows
What it leaves out
Look at the evidence, continued
What is still missing from the evidence?
Notes
Key idea: sample ballots
On your ownRead the key idea and the code of ethics. Then answer the question in the box. About 8 minutes.
A sample ballot is a preview of the contests and measures that will appear on your ballot. A measure is a question that voters decide directly, such as Measure T. A voter guide is a document that explains or recommends choices in an election. The two have different purposes. Start with the ballot for your address, and then check a guide’s facts apart from its picks.
Your address decides which contests appear on your ballot. A jurisdiction is the place or area where a particular government or rule has authority. A friend two districts over may see different local races. A school board and a city council have different jobs, so each one makes different decisions. Before you research candidates, find out which office has power over the issue you care about.
Registration is signing up with your election office so that you are on the list of people who can vote. Rules and deadlines vary by state, so do not copy a friend’s deadline. The Twenty-Sixth Amendment protects the right to vote for citizens 18 and older. Most states let people preregister before they turn 18. Several states let 17-year-olds vote in a primary if they will be 18 by the general election.
Professional standards
Real sourceSociety of Professional Journalists (SPJ)
SPJ Code of Ethics: Seek Truth and Report It
“Label advocacy and commentary.”
In plain words: Journalists who follow the SPJ code mark opinions and recommendations so readers can tell them apart from facts.
Question: The creator's guide mixes a registration deadline with “vote Candidate B.” Which lines are checkable facts, and which are picks?
Your answer
The checkable fact is ___; the picks are ___.
In the news
Real sourceNPRAugust 6, 2023
Some states are trying to boost youth voter registration. Here's what they're doing
Explains preregistration and other state steps that let teens sign up before they turn 18.
Real sourceBallotpedia NewsSeptember 26, 2025
Most states allow teenagers to pre-register to vote before turning 18, and some let them vote in primaries
Rules differ by state, so where you live decides when you can register and what you vote on.
Notes
Sort the evidence
On your ownMatch each of Dec’s questions to the rule or office that answers it. Then write whose view is missing. About 6 minutes.
Separate the two questions Dec has: what is on his ballot, and can he vote. Which rules and offices answer each, and which source should he check first?
Which contests and measures appear on Dec’s ballot
His address and district lines, drawn through redistricting
Whether Dec can register and vote in November
Twenty-Sixth Amendment: the vote at 18 cannot be denied on account of age
State rules on preregistration, deadlines and 17-year-old primary voting
Whose perspective is missing?
Whose view is missing from these documents? What would you ask them?
The view that is missing is ___. I would ask ___.
Notes
Practice: choose a response
On your ownChoose what you would do with a friend’s sample ballot. Then fix the two marked phrases. About 5 minutes.
You live at a new address. A friend sends their sample ballot and says, “Just use this one.” What should you do?
A Use it, because you and your friend live in the same state.
B Check your registration and find the official sample ballot for your address.
C Use a creator’s voter guide instead, since it covers the whole election.
Why I chose it
Improve a draft
A student’s first draft
Guys the election is coming up and it’s a big one!! 1 Registration closes on the 14th so do it now. Here’s the voter guide I use, it tells you exactly who to vote for so you don’t have to research. Also 2 drop your addresses and I’ll check if you’re registered for you. Only the big race really matters anyway, the rest is small stuff. My cousin in another state said the same deadline works for her too, so just use mine. Let’s go vote!!
Rewrite each marked phrase so it says only what the evidence supports.
Rewrite phrase 1
Rewrite phrase 2
DP Lang and Lit
Your task
On your ownRead the steps. Fill in the planner boxes before you start your draft. About 10 minutes.
Write a guided textual analysis of an educator-selected voter guide aimed at young or first-time voters, responding to the guiding question.
- Mark where Evidence B turns from informing to persuading, as a warm-up.
- Write a practice paragraph on Evidence B on the Your draft page.
- Read the guiding question above the guide your teacher gives you.
- Annotate that guide in three layers: address, layout, and the shift from fact to recommendation.
- Write your guided analysis of 600 to 800 words in 75 minutes, on paper.
Prefer typing? Scan to open the online workspace.
Address to the reader, Evidence B
Layout and hierarchy, Evidence B
Your task, continued
Where informing turns into persuading
Notes
Your draft
On your ownWrite your draft in the boxes. Use your planner from the page before. About 60 minutes.
Practice paragraph on Evidence B
Check your work
On your ownAnswer the Check your work questions and mark your level in each rubric row. Then write one change you made. About 5 minutes.
Does your thesis answer both parts of the guiding question?
YesNoDo you analyze language and design with precise references?
YesNoDo you locate and explain the shift from informing to persuading?
YesNoDid you analyze the guide without taking a side on its picks?
YesNo
How your work is scored
Mark one box in each row.
| Skill | Beginning | Developing | Proficient | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evidence | Copies one person’s deadlines. | Mentions official sources vaguely. | Points to official sources for each person’s state. | Points to official sources and explains why rules differ. |
| Reasoning | Treats a guide as the ballot. | Mentions the ballot but not local contests. | Separates ballot, guide and registration. | Explains why local offices matter to the audience. |
| Audience & purpose | Collects private info. | Generic hype. | Useful, private, nonpartisan. | Includes people not yet eligible. |
| Revision | No change. | Adds a link. | Replaces copied deadlines with official routes. | Explains how each change helps friends in different situations. |
Check your work, continued
One change I made after feedback
I changed ___ because ___.
Notes
Questions to discuss
On your ownWrite a short answer to each question. Then finish My take. About 8 minutes.
1 Which contest on the sample ballot could affect Dec’s school or his bus?
2 Mateo may still be registered in New Bedford. Why might his ballot differ from Dec’s?
3 Anika is 16. How can she be part of this election before she can vote?
4 When could a voter guide that recommends choices help a first-time voter?
My take
My claim: ___.
My take, continued
The best evidence is ___, because ___.
Someone who disagrees might say ___.
The limit of the evidence is ___.
I would change my mind if ___.
Notes
Talk about this case at home
Lesson 9: What is on your ballot, and where do you check?
In this case, a teen about to turn 18 finds local races on his ballot that his feed never mentions. Your student compared a sample ballot with a voter guide, then wrote a guide that points to official sources without telling anyone how to vote.
Questions to talk about
- What offices appear on a local ballot, besides the big races?
- Where can someone find official information about registering to vote?
- How can you tell a fact in a voter guide from a recommendation?
Nobody needs to share personal stories or private information to talk about this case.
See the case online.
Lesson 12Case planDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Lesson 12: When can a school limit what students say?
Content note
The news sources include 2026 student walkouts against federal immigration enforcement, which grew after federal agents fatally shot two people in Minneapolis. Preview them, and keep discussion on the legal questions in Anika’s case.
This case explains general rules. It is not legal advice for your situation.
Overview
Students read about Anika, a high school junior whose poster asks students to wear blue Thursday to keep the library open at lunch. They compare her poster, a posting policy and a group chat about a walkout with a summary of Tinker v. Des Moines (1969). They then compare the fact patterns and write two questions for a school contact about the posting policy.
Before this case
Students should already be able to:
- annotate a non-literary text for imagery, structure and diction
- write a guided analysis in response to a question
- sustain an organized line of analysis under time limits
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- respond directly to the guiding question about images of place and balanced sentences
- analyze imagery, structure and diction with precise references
- explain how the opinion balances student rights and school authority
- compare how the opinion addresses students and school officials
Materials
- An educator-selected passage of 300 to 400 words from the Tinker majority opinion, including the “schoolhouse gate” sentence
- The guiding question printed above the passage
- A glossary of legal terms, kept separate from the analysis
The task in this edition
Task: Write a guided textual analysis of a passage from Justice Fortas’s majority opinion in Tinker (1969) that includes the “schoolhouse gate” sentence, responding to the guiding question.
Students make: Guided analysis, 600–800 words, written in 75 minutes
The task in this edition, continued
Fit: partial. A passage from the Tinker majority opinion is a rich non-literary text for analyzing how legal writing persuades, but the case’s own materials (poster, handbook, chat) are brief, so the analysis rests mainly on an outside text.
Pacing
Opener (page 126): 3 min. Short on time: skip. the case pages. The timed analysis needs only the passage.
Key terms (pages 127 and 128): 3 min. Short on time: skip.
Look at the evidence (page 132): 5 min. Short on time: skip.
Look at the evidence (page 133): 3 min. Short on time: skip.
Key idea (pages 134 and 135): 6 min. Short on time: skip.
Sort the evidence (page 136): 4 min. Short on time: skip.
Practice (page 137): 3 min. Short on time: skip.
Your task (pages 138 and 139): 10 min. Short on time: 10 min.
Your draft (page 140): 65 min. Short on time: 65 min.
Lesson 12Case planDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Lesson 12 plan, continued
Pacing, continued
Check your work (pages 141 and 142): 5 min. Short on time: skip. Give practice feedback yourself on the four areas named in the assessment.
Questions to discuss (pages 143 and 144): 5 min. Short on time: skip.
Talk about this case at home (page 145): at home.
Periods: full chapter 112 minutes; one period 75 minutes.
Standards
Global politics — key concepts: power and legitimacy; thematic study: Rights and justice Uses the course’s key concepts of power and legitimacy within its Rights and justice thematic study to examine a political issue. In this case: Students analyze the balance between student liberty and a school’s authority.
Theory of Knowledge — Knowledge and politics (optional theme) An optional theme of the course: how political power and processes affect what counts as knowledge. In this case: Students ask how courts produce shared knowledge about rights through precedent.
Codes of ethics
- ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct: Rule 2.1 Advisor
Codes of ethics, continued
- PRSA Code of Ethics: Disclosure of Information
- AIGA Standards of Professional Practice: The designer’s responsibility to the public
Heat map
Opener (page 126): Medium
Key terms (pages 127 and 128): Low
Look at the evidence (page 132): Low
Look at the evidence (page 133): Low
Key idea (pages 134 and 135): Medium
Sort the evidence (page 136): Low
Practice (page 137): Medium
Your task (pages 138 and 139): Low
Check your work (pages 141 and 142): Low
Try it at your school
Read your school’s expression policy before you print.
- Find your student handbook’s section on posting, dress or expression
- Write down which spaces allow student posters and whether approval is needed
- Make student-made materials clearly student-made, with no school logo
- Bring questions to student council or an advisor before planning an action
Try it at your school, continued
Who to ask: Student council advisor, a civics or government teacher, an assistant principal
Safety: Don’t pressure classmates to join a protest or skip class. Talk with a trusted adult before any action that could lead to discipline.
Sources
- U.S. Courts, “Facts and Case Summary: Tinker v. Des Moines,” No date listed
- U.S. Courts, “Fictional Scenario: Tinker v. Des Moines,” No date listed
- Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, “Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969),” 1969
Lesson 12: When can a school limit what students say?
Anika’s poster asks her school to keep the library open at lunch, and now someone in her group chat suggests a walkout.
On your ownRead What happened. Underline each plan: the poster, wearing blue and the walkout. About 3 minutes.
Your role: You’re the one who compares Tinker with each action before anyone says “can’t touch us.” New skill: Apply a precedent by comparing fact patterns.
What happened
Anika is a junior at a public high school. She wants the school library to stay open at lunch. On Tuesday afternoon, she prints a poster that says “KEEP OUR LIBRARY OPEN AT LUNCH. Wear blue Thursday.”
Mateo did the photo and layout. He put a photo of the school’s sign and logo across the top. The poster does not name Anika or any student group. The student handbook says posters need approval from the main office and the name of the student or group responsible.
On Wednesday night, someone in the group chat suggests a walkout if the school takes the poster down. The message says a 1969 Supreme Court case, Tinker v. Des Moines, means the school “can’t touch us.” Anika never suggested a walkout.
Your question: How far does Tinker cover the poster, the wear-blue plan and the walkout, and what facts are missing?
Key terms
On your ownRead each key term and its example. Then write your first guess in the box. About 3 minutes.
Precedent A precedent is an earlier court decision that judges use as a guide in similar later cases.
En español: precedente
In this case: Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) guides Anika’s case only as far as the facts match: quiet expression at a public school.
Fact pattern A fact pattern is the specific set of facts in a situation that a rule is applied to.
En español: conjunto de hechos
In this case: Anika lists each plan’s action, place, timing and rule: the poster on a school board, wearing blue on Thursday and leaving class.
Substantial disruption Substantial disruption is the standard from Tinker v. Des Moines: a public school may limit speech that would seriously disrupt school activities.
En español: alteración sustancial
In this case: Wearing blue on Thursday is quiet, like the armbands. Leaving class is conduct under the attendance rule, which Tinker does not settle.
Who is involved
Anika
Made the poster
“My poster says keep the library open at lunch, and wear blue Thursday. Now the chat says we walk out. I never said walk out.”
Mateo
Did the photo and layout
“I put the school sign across the top because it looked good. Now it reads like the school is announcing it. It isn’t.”
Your first guess
Before you look at the evidence, can the school do anything about the poster or the walkout?
My first guess is ___, because ___.
Notes
Reading passage
Reasoning from precedent
On your ownRead the passage. At each Stop and think box, pause and answer the question in your head or with a partner. About 5 minutes.
Words to know
- Precedent: A precedent is an earlier court decision that judges use as a guide in similar later cases.
- Fact pattern: A fact pattern is the specific set of facts in a situation that a rule is applied to.
- Substantial disruption: Substantial disruption is the standard from Tinker v. Des Moines: a public school may limit speech that would seriously disrupt school activities.
- Claim: A claim is a statement that something is true. You can check a claim with evidence.
- Framing: Framing is choosing which parts of a situation a message brings forward.
The story: Three actions, one slogan
Anika is a junior at a public high school who helps with theater sets and likes solving a problem herself before anyone jumps in. The problem she wants solved now is small and concrete. She wants the school library open at lunch. On Tuesday at 3:15 p.m., she prints a poster: “KEEP OUR LIBRARY OPEN AT LUNCH. Wear blue Thursday.” Mateo designed it and, for visual impact, put a photo of the school’s sign and logo across the top. The poster names no student or group.
On Wednesday at 9:02 p.m., the group chat escalates. Someone writes, “If they take the poster down we walk out Thursday. Tinker says they can’t touch us.” Another person asks whether the plan is to wear blue and walk out. Anika answers that she never asked anyone to leave class.
Then both friends look at their own part. Anika checks page 14 of the handbook. Students may post on the boards outside the cafeteria and the library if the main office approves and the material shows the responsible student’s or group’s name. Her poster has no name, and she says that part is on her. Mateo realizes his photo changed the poster’s apparent author. With the school’s sign on top, it reads like an official announcement. Before reprinting, he plans to get office approval, add Anika’s name or her group’s and leave off the logo.
Your role is to compare Tinker with each action before anyone says “can’t touch us.”
Stop and think. Why does a precedent’s reach depend on how closely the facts match?
From precedent to fact pattern
A precedent is an earlier court decision that judges use as a guide in similar later cases. The chat’s precedent is Tinker v. Des Moines (1969). Public-school students wore black armbands to protest the Vietnam War. They were suspended, and the Supreme Court ruled for them. Substantial disruption is the standard from Tinker v. Des Moines: a public school may limit speech that would seriously disrupt school activities. The Court held that a mere fear of disruption was not enough.
Precedent works by analogy, so its reach depends on how closely a new situation matches. A fact pattern is the specific set of facts in a situation that a rule is applied to. The skill here extends Lesson 11, where you compared two jobs on the same terms. Build a fact pattern for each action and set it beside Tinker’s. The wear-blue plan is silent, symbolic and done while attending class, which closely tracks the armbands. The walkout involves leaving class, so a separate attendance rule governs the conduct regardless of the message. The poster raises a question Tinker does not reach. With the school’s logo and no student name, it may look like school speech, and schools have more control over speech that appears to come from the school.
Lesson 1’s vocabulary sharpens the analysis. “Tinker says they can’t touch us” is a claim that stretches a narrow holding into a blanket immunity. The logo is framing, choosing which parts of a situation a message brings forward, and it brings the institution forward as the speaker. Mateo’s redesign corrects the frame.
Stop and think. Build a fact pattern for the walkout. Which fact moves it furthest from Tinker?
Courts, classrooms and current events
The Tinker majority wrote that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate” (Legal Information Institute, 1969). The federal judiciary’s own teaching materials pair that holding with a walkout scenario, separating the message from the act of leaving class and noting the usual attendance consequences (U.S. Courts, no date listed).
The Court revisited student expression in Mahanoy Area School District v. B. L., the case of a cheerleader’s off-campus Snapchat post. The 8 to 1 decision protected the student but said schools may still regulate some off-campus speech, such as threats (Supreme Court of the United States, June 23, 2021). Analysts noted how one changed fact pattern changed the answer (EdSurge, June 23, 2021).
Recent walkouts show the attendance question in practice. In early 2026, students in Indiana and other states walked out to protest federal immigration enforcement. Some Indianapolis-area schools treated it as an unexcused absence, and one high school issued one-day suspensions (Chalkbeat Indiana, February 11, 2026). An Indiana public media guide separated speech rights, attendance rules and discipline in the same way this case does (WFYI, February 1, 2026).
Courts, classrooms and current events, continued
Designers carry a related duty. The AIGA standards ask designers to “represent messages in a clear manner” and to avoid “false, misleading and deceptive promotion” (AIGA Standards of Professional Practice, no date listed). Mateo’s logo was not a lie, but it misled about the speaker.
Stop and think. Mateo’s logo did not state anything false. Why can it still mislead?
Sources
Real sourceLegal Information Institute, Cornell Law School1969
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969)
Real sourceU.S. CourtsNo date listed
Fictional Scenario: Tinker v. Des Moines
Real sourceSupreme Court of the United StatesJune 23, 2021
Mahanoy Area School District v. B. L. (opinion)
Real sourceEdSurgeJune 23, 2021
In a Win for Student Speech, Supreme Court Rules in Favor of the ‘Snapchat Cheerleader’
Real sourceChalkbeat IndianaFebruary 11, 2026
How schools in Marion County responded to anti-ICE student protests
Real sourceWFYI Indianapolis Public MediaFebruary 1, 2026
A guide to your rights at Indiana protests, in the streets, and at school
Real sourceAIGA, the professional association for designNo date listed
AIGA Standards of Professional Practice
Notes
Look at the evidence
On your ownRead each document. For each one, fill in both boxes. About 5 minutes.
Evidence APoster
Anika’s poster, first version
Printed Tuesday, 3:15 p.m. The poster reads “KEEP OUR LIBRARY OPEN AT LUNCH. Wear blue Thursday.” A photo of the school’s sign and logo runs across the top. No student name or group appears anywhere on the poster.
Look closely: Cover the logo photo with your hand. Who seems to be speaking now?
What it shows
What it leaves out
Evidence BHandbook policy
Student handbook, page 14
Students may post materials on the student bulletin boards outside the cafeteria and the library. Materials must be approved by the main office and must show the name of the student or group responsible.
Look closely: Underline the two requirements for every poster.
What it shows
What it leaves out
Look at the evidence, continued
Evidence CGroup chat
The walkout message
Wednesday, 9:02 p.m.
First message: “If they take the poster down we walk out Thursday. Tinker says they can’t touch us.
Reply: “Wait, wear blue AND walk out??
Look closely: Which part is a message, and which part is leaving class?
What it shows
What it leaves out
What is still missing from the evidence?
Notes
Key idea: precedent
On your ownRead the key idea and the Professional standards card. Then answer the question in the box. About 6 minutes.
A precedent is an earlier court decision that judges use as a guide in similar later cases. In Tinker v. Des Moines (1969), public-school students wore black armbands to protest the Vietnam War. The school suspended them, and the Supreme Court ruled for the students. The Court wrote that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” It also said a mere fear of disruption was not enough to limit their expression.
A precedent guides a new case only as far as the facts match. Substantial disruption is the standard from Tinker v. Des Moines: a public school may limit speech that would seriously disrupt school activities. Wearing blue on Thursday is quiet, like the armbands. A walkout is different, because students leave class. The school’s attendance rule covers that conduct, and Tinker does not settle it.
The poster raises another question. It shows the school’s sign and logo but no student name, so it may look like the school is speaking. Schools have more control over speech that looks like it comes from the school. A fact pattern is the specific set of facts in a situation that a rule is applied to. Write a fact pattern for each action before you decide whether Tinker fits it.
Professional standards
Adapted from a real sourceAmerican Bar Association (ABA), Center for Professional Responsibility
ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct: Rule 2.1 Advisor
Summary: Summary, not a quotation: in representing a client, a lawyer must use independent professional judgment and give candid advice. A lawyer may refer to moral, economic, social and political factors as well as the law.
In plain words: Lawyers must give their clients honest, independent advice, even when the client would rather hear something else.
Question: The chat says “Tinker says they can't touch us.” What would candid advice say about the walkout and attendance policy?
Professional standards, continued
Your answer
Candid advice would say ___, even though ___.
In the news
Real sourcePBS NewsHourApril 28, 2021
Student free speech makes it to the Supreme Court in former high school cheerleader's case
Explains the Snapchat case the Court used to ask when a school can punish off-campus student speech.
Real sourcePBS NewsHour (Associated Press)June 23, 2021
Supreme Court rules in favor of cheerleader who published critical social media post in First Amendment case
The 8-1 ruling protected the student but said schools may still act on some off-campus speech, like threats.
Notes
Sort the evidence
On your ownLink each piece of evidence to the claim it supports or challenges. Then name one missing view. About 4 minutes.
Test the slogan against the facts. Which evidence supports each claim, which challenges it, and which fact would you still need?
| Evidence | Claim 1Tinker means nobody can face consequences for walking out. | Claim 2The wear-blue plan closely matches Tinker’s facts. | Claim 3The poster should carry a student byline instead of the school logo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Tinker’s facts: silent armbands, no substantial disruption, a public school | Narrows | Supports | Neither |
| 2 A walkout means leaving class, which falls under the attendance rule | Challenges | Neither | Neither |
| 3 The logo photo makes the poster look like school-sponsored speech | Neither | Neither | Supports |
Still open
- What does the attendance policy say, and what process follows?
Whose perspective is missing?
Whose view is missing from these documents? What would you ask them?
The view that is missing is ___. I would ask ___.
Practice: choose a response
On your ownChoose the best reply to the group chat and explain why. Then fix the two marked lines. About 3 minutes.
Someone in Anika’s group chat says, “Tinker means nobody can get in trouble for walking out of class.” How should you respond?
A Agree, because Tinker protected students who protested at school.
B Disagree, because schools can make any rule they want about student speech.
C Say that the message and leaving class are separate questions, then check the attendance rule.
Why I chose it
Improve a draft
A student’s first draft
No, the school can’t take it down because of Tinker v. Des Moines. In that case 1 the Supreme Court said students have free speech at school. The poster is just saying the library should stay open at lunch which is not hurting anybody. We even used a nice photo of the school sign so it looks professional. The principal would be breaking the law if he took it down. This is America and students have rights. Everyone should wear blue Thursday and 2 walk out if they try.
Rewrite each marked phrase so it says only what the evidence supports.
Rewrite phrase 1
Rewrite phrase 2
DP Lang and Lit
Your task
On your ownRead the steps. Fill in the planner boxes before you start your draft. About 10 minutes.
Write a guided textual analysis of a passage from Justice Fortas’s majority opinion in Tinker (1969) that includes the “schoolhouse gate” sentence, responding to the guiding question.
- Read the guiding question. Then read the passage twice.
- Annotate in three layers: images of place, sentence balance, and concession and limit.
- Write a thesis that answers the guiding question.
- Write your guided analysis of 600 to 800 words. Start on the Your draft page.
- Stop at 75 minutes, including reading time.
Prefer typing? Scan to open the online workspace.
Images of place
Sentence balance
Concession and limit
Your task, continued
Thesis
Notes
Your draft
On your ownWrite your draft in the boxes. Use your planner from the page before. About 65 minutes.
Body paragraph: images of place, about 90 words
Body paragraph: balanced sentences, about 90 words
Check your work
On your ownAnswer the Check your work questions and mark your level in each rubric row. Then write one change you made. About 5 minutes.
Does your analysis respond directly to the guiding question?
YesNoDo you analyze imagery, structure and diction with precise references?
YesNoDo you explain how the passage balances rights and authority?
YesNoIs your analysis organized and written in clear academic language?
YesNo
How your work is scored
Mark one box in each row.
| Skill | Beginning | Developing | Proficient | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evidence | No case facts. | Names Tinker without its rule. | States Tinker’s facts and substantial | Adds a second precedent or the walkout exercise accurately. |
| Reasoning | Treats a slogan as the answer. | Applies Tinker to everything. | Compares facts and separates speech from conduct. | Varies facts to show where the precedent stops fitting. |
| Audience & purpose | Tells others to break rules. | Argues for one side only. | Recommends a clear next question for the school. | Balances effective expression with respect for process. |
| Revision | No change. | Softens tone only. | Adds the rule’s limit and removes a legal conclusion. | Explains how each edit makes the argument more precise. |
Check your work, continued
One change I made after feedback
I changed ___ because ___.
Notes
Questions to discuss
On your ownWrite a short answer to each question. Then complete each sentence frame below the questions. About 5 minutes.
1 Which changed fact would make Tinker a weaker comparison for the wear-blue plan?
2 Why might it matter whether a poster looks like it comes from the school?
3 If the poster had Anika’s name and no school logo, what would change?
My take
My claim: ___.
The best evidence is ___, because ___.
My take, continued
Someone who disagrees might say ___.
The limit of the evidence is ___.
I would change my mind if ___.
Notes
Talk about this case at home
Lesson 12: When can a school limit what students say?
In this case, a student’s poster asks her school to keep the library open at lunch, and someone in a group chat suggests a walkout. Your student compared a 1969 Supreme Court case with each plan and wrote a short analysis.
Questions to talk about
- What rules do schools often have about posters or flyers?
- Why might a school treat wearing a color differently from leaving class?
- How can a reader tell who made a poster?
Nobody needs to share personal stories or private information to talk about this case.
See the case online.
Lesson 15Case planDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Lesson 15: Is Rafa’s unpaid internship really a job?
Content note
This case explains general rules. It is not legal advice for your situation.
Overview
Students read a story in which a studio offers Rafa an unpaid summer internship running its inbox. The studio says college credit makes it legal. They read the listing, the studio’s reply and Gia’s questions, and they apply the seven factors in the Department of Labor’s Fact Sheet #71. They then write Rafa’s email asking the studio about the learning plan and supervision.
Before this case
Students should already be able to:
- annotate a non-literary text for diction and address
- write a thesis that answers a guiding question
- sustain an analysis across several paragraphs
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- respond directly to the guiding question
- analyze diction, address and omission with precise references
- explain the ideal applicant the listing constructs
Objectives, continued
- test the reading against a second, real listing
Materials
- This chapter, one copy per student
- Evidence A, printed large with the guiding question above it
- One real internship listing you select
- The annotation layers on the task page
The task in this edition
Task: Write a guided textual analysis of the studio’s internship listing in response to the guiding question, then test your reading against one real internship listing the teacher selects.
Students make: Guided analysis, 600–800 words, written in 75 minutes
Fit: partial. A job listing is a recognizable non-literary text type whose prestige language constructs an ideal applicant, which suits focused Paper 1 practice, but the case’s listing is short, so pair it with one or two real listings.
Pacing
Opener (page 146): 3 min. Short on time: 2 min. Read the first paragraph of What happened aloud.
Key terms (pages 147 and 148): 3 min. Short on time: skip.
Pacing, continued
Look at the evidence (page 152): 6 min. Short on time: 3 min. Students read Evidence A only and skip the boxes.
Look at the evidence (page 153): 3 min. Short on time: skip.
Key idea (pages 154 and 155): 6 min. Short on time: skip.
Sort the evidence (page 156): 5 min. Short on time: skip.
Practice (page 157): 5 min. Short on time: skip.
Your task (pages 158 and 159): 12 min. Short on time: 10 min. Students annotate on their own, with no group discussion.
Your draft (page 160): 60 min. Short on time: 60 min.
Check your work (pages 161 and 162): 5 min. Short on time: skip. Give feedback yourself after class.
Questions to discuss (pages 163 and 164): 5 min. Short on time: skip.
Talk about this case at home (page 165): at home.
Periods: full chapter 113 minutes; one period 75 minutes.
Lesson 15Case planDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Lesson 15 plan, continued
Standards
Global politics — thematic study: Development and sustainability Uses the course’s Development and sustainability thematic study to examine a political issue. In this case: Students examine who can afford unpaid work and what that does to access.
Language A: language and literature — Readers, writers and texts An area of exploration in the course: how readers, writers and texts interact to make meaning. In this case: Students analyze how job listings construct an ideal reader.
Codes of ethics
- NACE Principles for Ethical Professional Practice: 4. Comply with laws
- ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct: Rule 4.1 Truthfulness in Statements to Others
- ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct: Rule 4.3 Dealing with Unrepresented Person
Heat map
Opener (page 146): Low
Key terms (pages 147 and 148): Low
Look at the evidence (page 152): Low
Look at the evidence (page 153): Low
Key idea (pages 154 and 155): Low
Sort the evidence (page 156): Low
Heat map, continued
Practice (page 157): Low
Check your work (pages 161 and 162): Low
Try it at your school
Ask what the work is before you accept it.
- Before accepting any internship, ask for duties, hours, supervision and pay in writing
- Take the offer to your school counselor or college career center
- Check your state labor department’s page on minimum wage and youth work
- Compare the offer with your other commitments before deciding
Who to ask: School counselor, college career center, work-permit officer where your state uses them, state labor department
Safety: If you’re under 18, federal and state rules limit hours and certain jobs. Involve a trusted adult before accepting any work arrangement.
Sources
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, via Justia, “Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures,” 2016
Sources, continued
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, “Fact Sheet #71: Internship Programs Under the Fair Labor Standards Act,” No date listed
Lesson 15: Is Rafa’s unpaid internship really a job?
A studio offers Rafa an unpaid summer internship running its customer inbox and says college credit makes it legal.
On your ownRead What happened and underline what Rafa would do all summer. About 3 minutes.
Your role: You’re the one who checks each factor of the test before Rafa says yes. New skill: Apply a legal test factor by factor.
What happened
Rafa, 18, is a first-year college student who commutes to class and helps at his family’s shop. In April, a studio posted a listing on the campus job board for a “Summer Editing Intern.” The internship is unpaid. The listing says the intern will run the customer inbox all summer. Rafa reads it twice, looking for the editing.
On Tuesday at 11:20 a.m., the studio answers Rafa’s message. The email says college credit makes it “totally legal” not to pay him. It also asks him to start right after finals.
At lunch, Rafa talks it over with Gia, who fits café shifts around her classes. Gia asks whether the studio paid someone to run the inbox last year. Rafa says the studio’s assistant ran it. Taking the internship would also cost Rafa paid shifts at the shop. He has not said yes yet.
Your question: Is the internship mainly training for Rafa or unpaid work for the studio, and what should he ask before he decides?
Key terms
On your ownRead each key term and its example, then write your first guess in the box. About 3 minutes.
Primary beneficiary test The primary beneficiary test is how the U.S. Department of Labor decides whether an intern at a for-profit company is an employee.
En español: prueba del beneficiario principal
In this case: The studio gets its customer inbox answered all summer. Rafa asks what he would learn and who would train him.
Fair Labor Standards Act The Fair Labor Standards Act is a federal law that sets minimum wage and overtime rules for most workers.
En español: Ley de Normas Justas de Trabajo
In this case: If Rafa counts as an employee under this law, the studio must pay him at least the minimum wage.
Academic credit Academic credit is credit toward a degree that a school gives for approved work, such as an internship.
En español: créditos académicos
In this case: The studio says credit makes the unpaid role “totally legal.” Credit is one factor out of seven.
Who is involved
Rafa
Offered an unpaid summer internship
“The listing says ‘Summer Editing Intern.’ Then it says I’d run the customer inbox all summer. I read it twice looking for the editing.”
Gia
Talking the offer over with Rafa
“I almost said ‘take it, it’ll look good.’ Easy for me to say. I’m not the one giving up a summer.”
Your first guess
Before you look at the evidence, is Rafa’s offer more like training or more like a job?
My first guess is ___, because ___.
Notes
Reading passage
Seven factors and a summer
On your ownRead the passage. At each Stop and think box, pause and answer the question in your head or with a partner. About 6 minutes.
Words to know
- Primary beneficiary test: The primary beneficiary test is how the U.S. Department of Labor decides whether an intern at a for-profit company is an employee.
- Fair Labor Standards Act: The Fair Labor Standards Act is a federal law that sets minimum wage and overtime rules for most workers.
- Academic credit: Academic credit is credit toward a degree that a school gives for approved work, such as an internship.
- Compensation: Compensation is all the pay and benefits a worker receives, including hourly rates, bonuses and overtime.
The story: Totally legal?
Rafa is 18, a first-year college student who commutes and helps at his family’s shop. In April, a studio lists a “Summer Editing Intern (unpaid)” position on the campus job board. The copy is upbeat: a fast-paced studio, great exposure to the industry, college credit available. The duties are narrower. The intern will run the customer inbox all summer and help with client files. Rafa reads the listing twice, looking for the editing, and does not find it.
When he writes to ask, the studio’s reply on Tuesday at 11:20 a.m. offers a legal conclusion. Since interns get college credit, it says, it is “totally legal” not to pay him. It also asks him to start right after finals.
Rafa does what the crew has learned to do. He checks. On the train, he finds that college credit is one factor among seven. At lunch with Gia, the facts get sharper. Gia asks whether the studio paid someone to do the inbox last year, and Rafa confirms that its assistant did. Gia counts the cost: shifts at the shop, the commute and a summer without pay. She also catches herself. She almost told him to take it because it would look good, and she realizes that is easy to say when she is not the one giving up the summer. When Rafa asks whether she can tell him it is illegal, she says no. She does not know that. She can tell him which questions the studio has not answered yet.
Your role is to check each factor of the test before Rafa says yes.
Stop and think. Gia says she cannot tell Rafa the internship is illegal. Why is that the more accurate answer?
Reasoning with a multi-factor test
The primary beneficiary test is how the U.S. Department of Labor decides whether an intern at a for-profit company is an employee. It asks whether the intern or the employer mainly benefits from an unpaid internship. An intern who is an employee must be paid under the Fair Labor Standards Act, a federal law that sets minimum wage and overtime rules for most workers. The seven factors include training, links to coursework or academic credit, the academic calendar and the length of the learning period. Academic credit is credit toward a degree that a school gives for approved work, such as an internship. Another factor is whether the intern’s work complements paid employees’ work or displaces it.
The new skill is applying a legal test factor by factor. It extends Lesson 12, where you compared fact patterns to a precedent, and Lesson 11, where you compared two situations on the same terms. Gia’s question about last year is a Lesson 11 comparison. The inbox used to be a paid job. That fact bears directly on displacement.
Laid out factor by factor, the evidence is uneven. Displacement: a paid assistant did this work last year. Academic credit: listed as available, but Rafa’s school has not confirmed it. Training and supervision: no information. Calendar and duration: the studio wants him to start after finals and stay all summer, but gives no hours. A careful reader concludes that the studio’s claim is unsupported, not that the internship is illegal. The test is flexible, no single factor decides it and the facts that would decide it are missing. The test also has limits. It applies to for-profit employers, and state rules may differ.
Lesson 11’s term compensation, all the pay and benefits a worker receives, completes the picture. The offer pays nothing and costs Rafa paid shifts. His email will ask for the missing facts in writing, politely: who trains him, what a normal week looks like, the weekly hours and whether this is the assistant’s old job.
Stop and think. Which factor has the strongest evidence, and which has none? What does that imbalance mean?
The courts, the data and the profession
The primary beneficiary test grew out of litigation. Two unpaid interns on the 2010 film Black Swan sued Fox Searchlight. The appeals court opinion lists their tasks, which included answering phones, taking lunch orders, making coffee, photocopying and filing (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 2016). In 2015, the court held that the question is who is the primary beneficiary, and that is the test the Labor Department uses now (LAist, July 2, 2015; U.S.
The courts, the data and the profession, continued
Department of Labor, Fact Sheet #71, updated January 2018).
The stakes are about access as well as law. PBS NewsHour reported that nearly half of U.S. interns were unpaid in 2022 (PBS NewsHour, August 26, 2023). NACE survey data show inequity in who gets paid internships (National Association of Colleges and Employers, August 8, 2023). NACE’s own ethics principles ask members to comply with “local, state, and federal” laws (NACE Principles for Ethical Professional Practice, 2025).
Stop and think. If Rafa’s school grants credit, does that settle whether the studio should pay him? Why or why not?
Sources
Real sourceU.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, via Justia2016
Glatt v. Fox Searchlight Pictures
Real sourceLAist (AirTalk)July 2, 2015
Appeals court reverses ‘Black Swan’ interns’ victory over Fox
Real sourceU.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour DivisionJanuary 2018
Fact Sheet #71: Internship Programs Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
Real sourcePBS NewsHour (YouTube)August 26, 2023
Why unpaid internships still exist despite hardships for young workers
Real sourceNational Association of Colleges and EmployersAugust 8, 2023
The Class of 2023: Inequity Continues to Underpin Internship Participation and Pay Status
Real sourceNational Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE)2025
NACE Principles for Ethical Professional Practice
Notes
Look at the evidence
On your ownRead each document, then fill in both boxes under it. About 6 minutes.
Evidence AJob listing
Studio listing on the campus job board, April
“Summer Editing Intern (unpaid). Join our fast-paced studio! You’ll run the customer inbox all summer, help with client files and get great exposure to the industry. College credit available.”
Look closely: Which words describe learning? Which words describe work?
What it shows
What it leaves out
Evidence BEmail
Studio reply to Rafa, Tuesday, 11:20 a.m.
“Thanks for your interest, Rafa! Since interns get college credit, it’s totally legal for us not to pay. We’d love for you to start right after finals.”
Look closely: Is credit one factor or the whole test? What does the email skip?
What it shows
What it leaves out
Look at the evidence, continued
Evidence CChat
Gia and Rafa, Tuesday lunch
Gia: Didn’t they pay someone to do the inbox last year?
Rafa: Yeah, their assistant.
Gia: And it’s your summer, not theirs. What about your shifts at the shop?
Look closely: Who ran the customer inbox last year? Was that person paid?
What it shows
What it leaves out
What is still missing from the evidence?
Notes
Key idea: the primary beneficiary test
On your ownRead the key idea and the code of ethics, then answer the question in the box. About 6 minutes.
A job title does not show how the work is arranged. The primary beneficiary test is how the U.S. Department of Labor decides whether an intern at a for-profit company is an employee. It asks whether the intern or the employer mainly benefits from an unpaid internship. An intern who counts as an employee must be paid under the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Fair Labor Standards Act is a federal law that sets minimum wage and overtime rules for most workers.
The Department of Labor’s Fact Sheet #71 lists seven factors. They include training, links to coursework or academic credit, the school calendar and how long the learning lasts. Academic credit is credit toward a degree that a school gives for approved work, such as an internship. Another factor is whether the intern’s work adds to paid employees’ work or replaces it. The test is flexible, and no single factor decides it.
So the studio’s email does not settle the question. Calling a job an internship does not decide it. Neither does college credit, or an intern agreeing to work for no pay. The test also has limits. It applies to for-profit employers, and state rules may differ. To apply the test, you need facts about the duties, training, supervision and hours.
Professional standards
Real sourceNational Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE)
NACE Principles for Ethical Professional Practice: 4. Comply with laws
“Comply with laws … associated with local, state, and federal entities”
In plain words: Career offices and employer recruiters who belong to NACE agree to follow federal, state and local laws.
Question: The campus job board lists the internship. What should the career office ask the studio about the seven DOL factors?
Your answer
Before posting, the career office should ask ___, because ___.
In the news
Real sourcePBS NewsHour (YouTube)August 26, 2023
Why unpaid internships still exist despite hardships for young workers
Reports that nearly half of U.S. interns were unpaid in 2022 and who can afford to take those jobs.
Real sourceNPRMay 18, 2013
Internships: Low-Paid, Unpaid Or Just Plain Illegal?
Explains when an unpaid internship can break wage law, using the ‘Black Swan’ intern lawsuit.
Notes
Sort the evidence
On your ownMatch each piece of evidence to the claim it supports or challenges, and mark what is still unknown. About 5 minutes.
Test the studio’s claim against the factor list. Which evidence points toward training, which toward a job, and what is still unknown?
| Evidence | Claim 1College credit makes the unpaid internship legal. | Claim 2The role looks more like a job than training. |
|---|---|---|
| 1 DOL: credit is one of seven factors, and no single factor decides | Challenges | Neither |
| 2 The listing: Rafa runs the customer inbox all summer | Neither | Supports |
| 3 A paid assistant ran the inbox last year | Neither | Supports |
| 4 The role is openly unpaid and offers credit (factors 1 and 3) | Neither | Challenges |
Still open
- Is there a learning plan, and who supervises?
Whose perspective is missing?
Whose view is missing from these documents? What would you ask them?
The view that is missing is ___. I would ask ___.
Practice: choose a response
On your ownChoose what Rafa should do next and explain why, then fix the two marked lines. About 5 minutes.
The studio’s unpaid internship has Rafa running its customer inbox all summer, the job a paid assistant did last year. The studio says college credit makes it legal. What should Rafa do next?
A Accept the studio’s answer, since college credit settles the question.
B Ask for the learning plan, supervision, schedule and how the role relates to paid employees’ work.
C Tell the studio that unpaid internships are against the law.
Why I chose it
Improve a draft
A student’s first draft
Hi, thanks so much for the offer! I’m really excited about this opportunity and I know it will look great on my résumé. I just wanted to ask 1 if this is legal since it’s unpaid? My friend said unpaid internships aren’t allowed. Also how many hours is it? 2 I can start whenever you need me. I really want to get into editing and this seems like a good way in. Let me know! Thank you again for thinking of me, Rafa
Rewrite each marked phrase so it says only what the evidence supports.
Rewrite phrase 1
Rewrite phrase 2
DP Lang and Lit
Your task
On your ownRead the steps and fill in the planner boxes before you start your draft. About 12 minutes.
Write a guided textual analysis of the studio’s internship listing in response to the guiding question, then test your reading against one real internship listing the teacher selects.
- Read the guiding question, then read the listing in Evidence A twice.
- Annotate three layers: prestige vocabulary, second-person address and what is left vague.
- Write a thesis that answers the guiding question.
- Draft your opening and one analytical paragraph on the Your draft page.
- Finish a guided analysis of 600 to 800 words in the time given.
- Apply the same guiding question to the real listing your teacher selected.
Prefer typing? Scan to open the online workspace.
Prestige vocabulary
Second-person address
Your task, continued
What is left vague
My thesis
Notes
Your draft
On your ownWrite your first draft in the boxes, using your planner from the page before. About 60 minutes.
First draft: your opening
First draft: one analytical paragraph
Check your work
On your ownAnswer the Check your work questions, mark your level in each rubric row and write one change you made. About 5 minutes.
Does your analysis respond directly to the guiding question?
YesNoDo you analyze diction, address and omission with precise references?
YesNoDo you explain the ideal applicant the listing constructs?
YesNoIs your analysis organized in clear academic language?
YesNo
How your work is scored
Mark one box in each row.
| Skill | Beginning | Developing | Proficient | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evidence | Relies on rumor. | Mentions pay only. | Asks about several factors. | Asks about factors and notes what the credit claim doesn’t settle. |
| Reasoning | Declares legal or illegal. | Asks for a verdict. | Gathers facts before deciding. | Connects each question to a reason it matters. |
| Audience & purpose | Gives away leverage or accuses. | Polite but vague. | Specific, respectful questions. | Specific questions plus Rafa’s own constraints. |
| Revision | No change. | Tone only. | Replaces rumor with factor-based questions. | Explains how each question helps Rafa decide. |
Check your work, continued
One change I made after feedback
I changed ___ because ___.
Notes
Questions to discuss
On your ownWrite a short answer to each question, then complete each sentence frame. About 5 minutes.
1 What would count as evidence that the promised training is happening?
2 Unpaid summers are easier for people who do not need a paycheck. Who might an unpaid internship leave out?
3 If Rafa’s school grants credit, does that settle whether the studio should pay him? Why or why not?
My take
My claim: ___.
The best evidence is ___, because ___.
My take, continued
Someone who disagrees might say ___.
The limit of the evidence is ___.
I would change my mind if ___.
Notes
Talk about this case at home
Lesson 15: Is Rafa’s unpaid internship really a job?
In this case, a college student is offered an unpaid summer internship, and the studio says college credit makes that legal. Your student compared the offer with a federal test and wrote questions to ask before saying yes.
Questions to talk about
- What questions would you ask before accepting an unpaid internship?
- How can someone tell whether a role is mostly learning or mostly work?
- Who can help a student check a job or internship offer?
Nobody needs to share personal stories or private information to talk about this case.
See the case online.
Lesson 16Case planDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Lesson 16: Who wrote the new building rule?
Content note
This case involves disability access and a request for an exception to a building rule. No student should share their own disability, health information or housing situation, so keep the discussion on Sami’s building.
This case explains general rules. It is not legal advice for your situation.
Overview
Students read a short story in which an unsigned notice says a building’s rear door will be locked at 8 p.m. That step-free door is the only one Sami can use. Students compare the notice with last year’s house rules and the entrance plan, and they map how the rule affects different residents. They read HUD’s Fair Housing Act overview as a source of questions, then rewrite the notice or write Sami’s question to the building manager.
Before this case
Students should already be able to:
- annotate a non-literary text for layout and language
- write a thesis that answers a guiding question
- sustain an analysis across several paragraphs
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- respond directly to the guiding question
- analyze layout, typography and imperative language with precise references
- treat omissions as meaningful choices
- apply the same question to a longer real notice
Materials
- This chapter, one copy per student
- Evidence A, printed large with the guiding question above it
- One longer public notice or policy announcement you select
- The annotation layers on the task page
The task in this edition
Task: Write a guided textual analysis of the unsigned notice, then apply the same guiding question to one longer real building or institutional notice the teacher selects.
Students make: Guided analysis, 600–800 words, written in 75 minutes
Fit: partial. The unsigned notice is a compact non-literary text whose layout and imperatives manufacture authority, which suits a focused Paper 1 exercise, but it is very short, so pair it with a longer real notice or policy communication.
Pacing
Opener (page 166): 3 min. Short on time: 2 min. Read the first paragraph of What happened aloud.
Key terms (pages 167 and 168): 3 min. Short on time: skip.
Look at the evidence (page 172): 6 min. Short on time: 3 min. Students read Evidence A only and skip the boxes.
Look at the evidence (page 173): 3 min. Short on time: skip.
Key idea (pages 174 and 175): 6 min. Short on time: skip.
Sort the evidence (page 176): 5 min. Short on time: skip.
Practice (pages 177 and 178): 5 min. Short on time: skip.
Your task (pages 179 and 180): 12 min. Short on time: 10 min. Students annotate on their own, with no group discussion.
Your draft (page 181): 60 min. Short on time: 60 min.
Check your work (pages 182 and 183): 5 min. Short on time: skip. Give feedback yourself after class.
Questions to discuss (pages 184 and 185): 5 min. Short on time: skip.
Talk about this case at home (page 186): at home.
Lesson 16Case planDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Lesson 16 plan, continued
Pacing, continued
Periods: full chapter 113 minutes; one period 75 minutes.
Standards
Global politics — key concepts: power and legitimacy; thematic study: Rights and justice Uses the course’s key concepts of power and legitimacy within its Rights and justice thematic study to examine a political issue. In this case: Students analyze power between landlords and tenants and who bears a rule’s costs.
Language A: language and literature — Readers, writers and texts An area of exploration in the course: how readers, writers and texts interact to make meaning. In this case: Students examine how an unsigned notice creates authority through form.
Codes of ethics
- ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct: Rule 3.1 Meritorious Claims and Contentions
- Credo for Ethical Communication: “We strive to understand and respect other communicators' intent…” (one of nine unnumbered principles)
Heat map
Opener (page 166): Medium
Key terms (pages 167 and 168): Low
Heat map, continued
Look at the evidence (page 172): Low
Look at the evidence (page 173): Low
Key idea (pages 174 and 175): Low
Sort the evidence (page 176): Medium
Practice (pages 177 and 178): Low
Check your work (pages 182 and 183): Low
Try it at your school
Ask who wrote the rule before you argue about it.
- When a new rule is posted where you live or at school, write down the date and take a photo
- Look for who issued it and what document it changes
- Ask a trusted adult to help you ask the building manager or office
- Find your city’s or county’s tenant or housing help page with an adult
Who to ask: A parent or guardian, the building manager, a local tenant or housing help line, a school social worker
Safety: Don’t post neighbors’ names, unit numbers or private situations online. Let adults handle lease disputes.
Sources
- Gothamist, “Brooklyn Landlord Does An About Face On Facial Recognition Plan,” November 21, 2019
- Legal Services NYC, “Brooklyn tenants file legal opposition to landlord’s application to install facial recognition entry system in building,” May 1, 2019
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), “Fair Housing Act overview,” No date listed
Lesson 16: Who wrote the new building rule?
An unsigned notice says the building’s only step-free door locks at 8 p.m., and Sami’s workshop runs later.
On your ownRead What happened and underline the two changes the notice announces. About 3 minutes.
Your role: You’re the one who photographs the notice and writes down when and where it was found. New skill: Find who has the authority to make a rule.
What happened
It is Monday morning in Sami’s apartment building. A new notice is posted beside the common-room door. It says the rear door will be locked at 8:00 p.m. every night. It also says the common room is “for resident social use only,” with “NO BUSINESS USE” in capital letters. The notice has no name, no date and no contact.
That rear door matters to Sami, who lives in apartment 3B and uses a manual wheelchair. It is the building’s only step-free entrance. The front entrance has four steps and no ramp. Sami also runs a workshop in the common room, and it goes past 8 p.m.
Caio reads last year’s house rules beside the notice. Those rules let residents reserve the common room for classes and resident-run workshops. The new notice does not say whether it replaces them. Before anyone starts arguing, Sami photographs the notice and writes down when and where she found it.
Your question: Who has the authority behind this notice, and what should Sami ask the building manager?
Key terms
On your ownRead each key term and its example, then write your first guess in the box. About 3 minutes.
Authority Authority is the power a person or group has to make or change a particular rule or decision.
En español: autoridad
In this case: The notice uses bold type and capital letters but names no issuer. Sami has to find out who has the power to make this rule.
Reasonable accommodation A reasonable accommodation is a change to a rule or practice that gives a person with a disability equal use of a place.
En español: acomodo razonable
In this case: Sami could ask the building for a key fob for the rear door, so she can get in after 8 p.m.
Documentation Documentation is a record, such as a photo, a note or an email, that shows what was said or done and when.
En español: documentación
In this case: Sami photographs the notice and writes down when and where she found it, before anyone argues about what it said.
Who is involved
Sami
Lives in 3B and runs a workshop in the common room
“Rear door locked at 8. That’s the only door I can get through. My workshop runs later. So, questions. Plural.”
Caio
Reading last year’s house rules beside the notice
“All caps, bold, no name, no date. Somebody made it look official. I still don’t know who.”
Your first guess
Before you look at the evidence, should Sami follow the new notice?
My first guess is ___, because ___.
Notes
Reading passage
Who wrote the rule?
On your ownRead the passage. At each Stop and think box, pause and answer the question in your head or with a partner. About 6 minutes.
Words to know
- Authority: Authority is the power a person or group has to make or change a particular rule or decision.
- Reasonable accommodation: A reasonable accommodation is a change to a rule or practice that gives a person with a disability equal use of a place.
- Documentation: Documentation is a record, such as a photo, a note or an email, that shows what was said or done and when.
- Decision-maker: A decision-maker is the person or group with the power to make a particular choice.
- Barrier: A barrier is something that blocks or limits a person from taking part.
The story: An anonymous notice
Sami, 23, lives in apartment 3B, studies design and uses a manual wheelchair. On Monday morning, she finds a new notice beside her building’s common-room door. It announces two changes “effective immediately.” The rear door will be locked at 8:00 p.m. nightly, and the common room is for resident social use only, with “NO BUSINESS USE” in capitals. The notice carries no name, no date and no contact.
Each change touches her directly. The building’s entrance plan lists a front entrance with four steps and no ramp, a side door for service use only and a rear door that is step-free and opens to the elevator hallway. After 8 p.m., the notice would lock the only door she can use. It would also cloud the future of the workshop she runs in the common room, which goes past 8.
Sami does not start with outrage. She photographs the notice and writes down when and where she found it, before anybody starts arguing about what it said. Caio, the oldest in the crew, brings last year’s house rules, handed out at lease signing. He reads the notice the way an editor reads copy. All caps, bold, no name, no date. Somebody made it look official, and he still does not know who.
Your role is to help Sami keep a clean record of the notice before anyone starts arguing.
Stop and think. Why does formatting signal authority without proving it?
Authority, sources and missing definitions
Authority is the power a person or group has to make or change a particular rule or decision. The case separates the look of authority from its substance. Formatting signals power but does not prove it. An unsigned notice is not automatically invalid, but its force depends on who issued it and what it claims to change.
The new skill is finding who has the authority to make a rule. It draws on three earlier skills. From Lesson 1, you compare the notice with an original document, last year’s house rules, which let residents reserve the room for “gatherings, classes and resident-run workshops” through the building office. From Lesson 7, you ask what stage the rule is at. From Lesson 10, you take the question to the office that can answer it, here the building manager. Lesson 4’s decision-maker, the person or group with the power to make a particular choice, names what Sami is looking for.
Caio’s comparison finds a definitional gap. The old rules explicitly allow resident-run workshops. The new notice bans “business use” without defining it, so nobody can yet say whether Sami’s workshop is affected. The notice also does not say whether it replaces the old rules or adds to them.
Lesson 10’s barrier, something that blocks or limits a person from taking part, describes the locked rear door. A reasonable accommodation is a change to a rule or practice that gives a person with a disability equal use of a place, such as a key fob for the rear door. Documentation is a record, such as a photo, a note or an email, that shows what was said or done and when. Sami’s photo and note will matter if the facts are disputed later. She keeps her two questions apart: who has the authority, and how she gets in after 8. Neither friend calls the notice illegal, because they do not yet know who wrote it or how the building handles access requests.
Stop and think. How does the undefined phrase “business use” change what Sami can conclude?
The law, the process and a Brooklyn example
A landlord’s policy and the law are different sources of rules. HUD says the Fair Housing Act bars housing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status or disability, and covers most housing with some exceptions (HUD, no date listed). Guidance can change even when the law does not. In 2025, HUD withdrew several fair housing guidance documents, but the Act itself stayed the same (National Association of Realtors, October 7, 2025). Enforcement continues. In 2026, the Justice Department announced a $750,000 settlement with a property management company in a disability discrimination case (U.S. Department of Justice, April 30, 2026).
Process can give tenants leverage. At Atlantic Plaza Towers in Brownsville, Brooklyn, the landlord applied to install a facial-recognition entry system. Tenants say they learned about it from the state housing agency, not the landlord.
The law, the process and a Brooklyn example, continued
Because the change needed that agency’s permission, they filed opposition (Legal Services NYC, May 1, 2019), and in November 2019 the landlord withdrew the application (Gothamist, November 21, 2019). That case turned on New York’s rent-stabilization rules, which may not apply to Sami’s building.
The NCA credo describes the posture Sami takes: “We strive to understand and respect other communicators’ intent before evaluating and responding to their messages” (NCA Credo for Ethical Communication, 2024).
Stop and think. Why might the Atlantic Plaza Towers example not apply directly to Sami’s building?
Sources
Real sourceU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)No date listed
Fair Housing Act overview
Real sourceNational Association of Realtors (Washington Report)October 7, 2025
HUD Withdraws Fair Housing Guidance Documents
Real sourceU.S. Department of JusticeApril 30, 2026
Justice Department Settles Disability Discrimination Case Against Property Management Company for $750,000
Real sourceLegal Services NYCMay 1, 2019
Brooklyn tenants file legal opposition to landlord’s application to install facial recognition entry system in building
Real sourceGothamistNovember 21, 2019
Brooklyn Landlord Does An About Face On Facial Recognition Plan
Real sourceNational Communication Association (NCA)2024
Credo for Ethical Communication
Look at the evidence
On your ownRead each document, then fill in both boxes under it. About 6 minutes.
Evidence APosted notice
Unsigned notice by the common-room door, found Monday morning
NOTICE TO ALL RESIDENTS. Effective immediately, the rear door will be locked at 8:00 p.m. nightly. The common room is for resident social use only. NO BUSINESS USE.
Look closely: Which features give the notice an official look? What is missing?
What it shows
What it leaves out
Evidence BHouse rules (excerpt)
Last year’s house rules, given out at lease signing
“Residents may reserve the common room for gatherings, classes and resident-run workshops. Reservations are made through the building office.”
Look closely: What did last year’s rules allow in the common room?
What it shows
What it leaves out
Look at the evidence, continued
Evidence CEntrance plan
Building entrance plan from the lobby directory
Front entrance: four steps, no ramp. Rear door: step-free, opens to the elevator hallway. Side door: service use only.
Look closely: Which entrance is step-free? What happens to it after 8 p.m.?
What it shows
What it leaves out
What is still missing from the evidence?
Notes
Key idea: authority
On your ownRead the key idea and the code of ethics, then answer the question in the box. About 6 minutes.
A building rule should name who made it, give a date and list a contact. This notice has none of them. Authority is the power a person or group has to make or change a particular rule or decision. Bold type and capital letters do not show who has that power. An unsigned notice is not automatically invalid, either. Sami has to find out who issued it and which document it claims to change.
A landlord’s policy and the law are different sources of rules. The Fair Housing Act is a federal law. HUD, the federal housing department, says it bars housing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status or disability. It covers most housing, with some exceptions. Under the Act, a person with a disability can ask a building for a reasonable accommodation. A reasonable accommodation is a change to a rule or practice that gives a person with a disability equal use of a place. For Sami, that could be a key fob for the rear door.
Sami cannot yet say the notice breaks the law. She does not know who wrote it, whether it replaces the house rules or how the building handles access requests. Whether a building grants an accommodation also depends on the facts. Documentation helps her keep those facts straight. Documentation is a record, such as a photo, a note or an email, that shows what was said or done and when. Her photo of the notice, with the date and place she found it, is documentation.
Professional standards
Adapted from a real sourceAmerican Bar Association (ABA), Center for Professional Responsibility
ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct: Rule 3.1 Meritorious Claims and Contentions
Summary: Summary, not a quotation: a lawyer may not bring or defend a proceeding, or argue an issue in it, without a basis in law and fact that is not frivolous. The ABA comment says lawyers must first learn the facts and the applicable law.
In plain words: Before lawyers bring a claim, they must have facts and law that support it.
Question: Before claiming a Fair Housing Act violation, what should Sami learn about the notice’s author and the building’s access process?
Professional standards, continued
Your answer
Sami first needs ___, because ___.
In the news
Real sourceGothamistNovember 21, 2019
Brooklyn Landlord Does An About Face On Facial Recognition Plan
A throwback about a door rule: the landlord needed state permission to change how tenants got in, and tenants used that process to object.
Real sourceHUD (YouTube)January 31, 2014
The Federal Fair Housing Act and Reasonable Accommodations
HUD explains how a person with a disability can ask for an exception to a building rule.
Notes
Sort the evidence
On your ownFill in each box of the map: who decides, which rules apply, who is affected and where to ask. About 5 minutes.
Map who made this rule, which rules it has to fit, who it affects and where residents can take a question. Which box is still empty?
Lock the rear door at 8 p.m. and ban business use of the common room
Unknown issuer: the owner, the manager or someone else?
Last year’s house rules allowed resident-run workshops
Fair Housing Act: disability is a protected characteristic
Sami and other residents who need the only step-free entrance
Whose perspective is missing?
Whose view is missing from these documents? What would you ask them?
The view that is missing is ___. I would ask ___.
Practice: choose a response
On your ownChoose what Sami should do first and explain why, then fix the two marked lines. About 5 minutes.
The notice says the rear door, the building’s only step-free entrance, locks at 8 p.m. It also bans “business use” of the common room. It has no name, no date and no contact. What should Sami do first?
A Ignore it until someone signs it, since an unsigned notice may not be official.
B Photograph it, compare it with last year’s house rules and ask the manager who issued it and how residents get in after 8.
C Post online that the building is breaking disability law.
Why I chose it
Improve a draft
A student’s first draft
Hi, I saw the notice about the common room and rear door. 1 This is illegal and discriminatory against disabled people like me. You can’t just make rules like this without asking. Nobody signed it and nobody told us it was coming, so I don’t even know if it’s real. I’m going to keep using the room for my workshop because the old rules said I could. A lot of neighbors are upset too. 2 Please take the notice down. Sami, 3B
Improve a draft, continued
Rewrite each marked phrase so it says only what the evidence supports.
Rewrite phrase 1
Rewrite phrase 2
Notes
DP Lang and Lit
Your task
On your ownRead the steps and fill in the planner boxes before you start your draft. About 12 minutes.
Write a guided textual analysis of the unsigned notice, then apply the same guiding question to one longer real building or institutional notice the teacher selects.
- Read the guiding question, then read the notice in Evidence A twice.
- Annotate four layers: layout, typography, commands and what is left out.
- Write a thesis that answers the guiding question.
- Draft your opening and one analytical paragraph on the Your draft page.
- Finish a guided analysis of 600 to 800 words in the time given.
- Apply the same guiding question to the longer notice your teacher selected.
Prefer typing? Scan to open the online workspace.
Layout and typography
Commands and verbs
Your task, continued
What is left out
My thesis
Notes
Your draft
On your ownWrite your first draft in the boxes, using your planner from the page before. About 60 minutes.
First draft: your opening
First draft: one analytical paragraph
Check your work
On your ownAnswer the Check your work questions, mark your level in each rubric row and write one change you made. About 5 minutes.
Does your analysis respond directly to the guiding question?
YesNoDo you analyze layout, typography and language with precise references?
YesNoDo you treat omissions as meaningful choices?
YesNoIs your analysis organized in clear academic language?
YesNo
How your work is scored
Mark one box in each row.
| Skill | Beginning | Developing | Proficient | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evidence | No specifics from the notice. | Mentions the notice generally. | Quotes the notice and older rule. | Quotes both and names what is still unknown. |
| Reasoning | Declares a legal violation. | Complains without a clear need. | Connects the rule to a concrete effect. | Separates the communication problem from the legal question. |
| Audience & purpose | Hostile or vague. | Polite but no request. | Specific request the manager can act on. | Specific request plus questions that clarify authority. |
| Revision | No change. | Tone edits only. | Replaces the conclusion with a question and request. | Explains how each change makes a yes more likely. |
Check your work, continued
One change I made after feedback
I changed ___ because ___.
Notes
Questions to discuss
On your ownWrite a short answer to each question, then complete each sentence frame. About 5 minutes.
1 Which missing fact would most change how you see the notice?
2 The notice bans “business use” without saying what that means. What would you need to know to decide whether Sami’s workshop counts?
3 A building may want a door locked at night. How could it keep that door secure and still let Sami in?
My take
My claim: ___.
My take, continued
The best evidence is ___, because ___.
Someone who disagrees might say ___.
The limit of the evidence is ___.
I would change my mind if ___.
Notes
Talk about this case at home
Lesson 16: Who wrote the new building rule?
In this case, an unsigned notice in an apartment building says the only step-free door will lock at 8 p.m. Your student compared the notice with last year’s building rules and practiced asking who made the new rule.
Questions to talk about
- What should a clear building or school notice include?
- Whom can people ask when a posted rule is unclear?
- Why might someone keep a photo of a notice with the date?
Nobody needs to share personal stories or private information to talk about this case.
See the case online.
Lesson 20Case planDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Lesson 20: Can the crew post this image as true?
Content note
The real sources include AI-generated images from disasters such as Hurricane Helene. Preview them, and do not share images of real people in distress, even to debunk them.
Overview
Students read a short story in which a realistic image captioned “Courtyard flooded today, stay away” spreads through a campus group chat. They compare the image, Sami’s zoom-in, a secondhand reply, a detector score and the campus alerts page with NIST’s overview of detection. They then write the verification note Jordy posts instead of the image.
Before this case
Students should already be able to:
- annotate a multimodal text in layers
- write a thesis that answers a guiding question
- sustain an organized analysis under time pressure
Objectives
Students will be able to:
- respond directly to the guiding question
- analyze image and caption together with precise references
Objectives, continued
- explain how the text positions its reader to act before checking
- test the analysis on the courtyard post
Materials
- This chapter, one copy per student
- One image post clearly labeled as generated, chosen by you and printed with its caption
- The courtyard post and two reposts with added comments, written by you
- A glossary of visual terms: framing, foreground, focal point
The task in this edition
Task: Write a guided textual analysis of an educator-selected, clearly labeled AI-generated image post and its caption, answering the guiding question, then test your analysis against the case’s courtyard post and its reposts.
Students make: Guided analysis, 600–800 words, written in 75 minutes
Fit: partial. A captioned viral image and its reposts are a legitimate multimodal non-literary text, but the case supplies only a description of the image and a one-line caption, so a Paper 1 rehearsal needs a real, clearly labeled example post.
Pacing
Opener (page 187): 3 min. Short on time: 2 min. Read the summary line aloud.
Key terms (pages 188 and 189): 3 min. Short on time: skip.
Look at the evidence (page 193): 4 min. Short on time: 3 min. Students read Evidence A only and fill in no boxes.
Look at the evidence (page 194): 3 min. Short on time: skip.
Key idea (pages 195 and 196): 5 min. Short on time: skip.
Sort the evidence (page 197): 3 min. Short on time: skip.
Practice (page 198): 3 min. Short on time: skip.
Your task (pages 199 and 200): 10 min. Short on time: 5 min. Read the guiding question aloud and start writing.
Your draft (page 201): 60 min. Short on time: 60 min.
Check your work (pages 202 and 203): 5 min. Short on time: 5 min.
Questions to discuss (pages 204 and 205): 5 min. Short on time: skip.
Talk about this case at home (page 206): at home.
Periods: full chapter 104 minutes; one period 75 minutes.
Lesson 20Case planDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Lesson 20 plan, continued
Standards
Theory of Knowledge — Knowledge and technology (optional theme) An optional theme of the course: how technology shapes the way knowledge is produced and shared. In this case: Students ask how generated images change what counts as seeing for yourself.
Language A: language and literature — Readers, writers and texts An area of exploration in the course: how readers, writers and texts interact to make meaning. In this case: Students examine how captions direct what readers see in an image.
Codes of ethics
- RTDNA Code of Ethics: Truth and accuracy above all
- SPJ Code of Ethics: Seek Truth and Report It
- PRSA Code of Ethics: Disclosure of Information
Heat map
Opener (page 187): Low
Key terms (pages 188 and 189): Low
Look at the evidence (page 193): Low
Look at the evidence (page 194): Low
Key idea (pages 195 and 196): Low
Sort the evidence (page 197): Low
Practice (page 198): Low
Heat map, continued
Your task (pages 199 and 200): Low
Your draft (page 201): Low
Check your work (pages 202 and 203): Low
Try it at your school
Pause before you share an image as news.
- Find where the image first appeared before reposting
- Check an official or independent source for the event
- If you can’t confirm it, say so or don’t share it
- Suggest a “check before posting” rule for a club account you help run
Who to ask: School librarian or media specialist, journalism advisor, campus communications office
Safety: Don’t download or share images of real people that could embarrass or harm them, even to debunk them. Report harmful fakes to a trusted adult and the platform.
Sources
- UC Berkeley School of Information, “Hany Farid breaks down the viral Helene image,” October 4, 2024
Sources, continued
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), “Reducing Risks Posed by Synthetic Content: An Overview of Technical Approaches to Digital Content Transparency,” No date listed
Lesson 20: Can the crew post this image as true?
A realistic image says the campus courtyard flooded today, and Jordy must decide what the six o’clock recap can say about it.
On your ownRead What happened and underline the caption’s claim. About 3 minutes.
Your role: You’re the one who writes the verification note Jordy posts at six. New skill: Confirm an image with independent sources.
What happened
It is Wednesday, 3:10 p.m. For twenty minutes, an image has been going around the group chat. It looks like a photo of the campus courtyard, with water over the paving and benches. The caption says, “Courtyard flooded today, stay away.” It showed up at 2:48 p.m. with no link, no date and no name.
Jordy is putting together the crew’s recap, which goes out at six. Sami has zoomed in on a hand in the picture, and the fingers seem to merge at the knuckles. Someone ran the image through a free online detector. It reported “12% likely AI-generated.”
A reply in the chat says the writer’s roommate’s friend saw water near the library. Jordy checks the campus facilities alerts page. It shows no active alerts, but its last update was Monday morning.
Your question: Did the courtyard flood today, and what should the recap say about the image?
Key terms
On your ownRead each key term and its example, then write your first guess in the box. About 3 minutes.
Provenance Provenance is information about where an image or a document came from and how it has been handled.
En español: procedencia
In this case: The courtyard image arrived at 2:48 p.m. with no link, no date and no named poster. Its provenance is unknown.
Corroboration Corroboration is support for a claim from an independent source.
En español: corroboración
In this case: A campus alert or someone’s dated photo of the courtyard could corroborate the flood. A roommate’s friend’s report of water near the library cannot.
Verification note A verification note is a short record of what you checked, what you found and what is still unknown.
En español: nota de verificación
In this case: Instead of posting the image, the recap says what the crew checked, what it found and what is still unknown.
Who is involved
Sami
Checking where the image came from
“Everyone’s zooming in on the hand. I did too, and it’s weird. But I still don’t know who posted this.”
Jordy
Putting the six o’clock recap together
“The recap goes out at six. Right now I have an image with no source, a strange hand and an alerts page that hasn’t updated since Monday.”
Your first guess
Before you look at the evidence, do you think the courtyard flooded today?
My first guess is ___, because ___.
Notes
Reading passage
When the honest answer is unverified
On your ownRead the passage. At each Stop and think box, pause and answer the question in your head or with a partner. About 5 minutes.
Words to know
- Provenance: Provenance is information about where an image or a document came from and how it has been handled.
- Corroboration: Corroboration is support for a claim from an independent source.
- Verification note: A verification note is a short record of what you checked, what you found and what is still unknown.
- Claim: A claim is a statement that something is true. You can check a claim with evidence.
- Holding statement: A holding statement is a short update that says what is known, what is still being checked and when people will hear more.
- Correction: A correction is a public statement that replaces wrong information with accurate information.
The story: A deadline and a picture
The crew’s casebook began with a seven-second clip in a group chat. It ends with a single image. At 2:48 p.m. on a Wednesday, a photo-like picture of the campus courtyard appears in the chat, showing water over the paving and benches. Its caption reads, “Courtyard flooded today, stay away.” It arrives with no link, no date on the image and no original poster named. A person in the foreground holds up a phone.
Jordy, who edits the crew’s films and checks every cut before calling it finished, is assembling the six o’clock recap. Within twenty minutes, four pieces of evidence have arrived, and each points somewhere different. Sami posts a zoomed screenshot at 3:02 showing a foreground hand whose fingers seem to merge at the knuckles. A free online detector reports “12% likely AI-generated.” A reply relays that the writer’s roommate’s friend saw water near the library. And at 3:10, Jordy checks the campus facilities alerts page: “No active alerts. Last update: Monday, 9:15 a.m.”
Sami, a design student who notices details for a living, is the first to step back from them. The hand is weird, she agrees, but the more important question is who posted the image first, and when. Jordy states the dilemma plainly. They wanted a clean yes or no, and they do not have one.
Your role is to write the verification note Jordy posts at six.
Stop and think. Why can a detector score answer the wrong question even if it is accurate?
Weighing evidence without overclaiming
Provenance is information about where an image or a document came from and how it has been handled. Checking provenance first is the Lesson 1 skill, finding the original source, applied to images. This image has none, so every other clue has to be weighed without an anchor.
Each clue has a specific weakness. The caption is a claim, a statement that something is true that can be checked with evidence. The hand is an anomaly, which justifies closer scrutiny and proves nothing, since generated images can look natural and real photos can look strange. The detector score is uninterpretable without knowing the tool’s error rates. Sami’s question, twelve percent of what, gets at that. It also answers a different question from the one that matters. Even a perfect detector could not say whether the courtyard flooded today. The secondhand report fails on two counts: it is not firsthand, and it concerns the library, not the courtyard.
Corroboration is support for a claim from an independent source. Lesson 9’s skill, checking the official source for your area, points to the alerts page, but its last update on Monday limits what its silence can mean. A dated photo from someone at the courtyard would be stronger.
The new skill is confirming an image with independent sources, and publishing only what was checked. Jordy rejects the middle path of posting the image with a question mark, because the image travels regardless of the punctuation. The recap instead carries a verification note, a short record of what you checked, what you found and what is still unknown. It is a descendant of Lesson 1’s holding statement, which says what is known, what is still being checked and when people will hear more. It also sets up Lesson 3’s obligation. If new evidence arrives, a correction or update appears where the note did. “Unverified” is sometimes the most accurate conclusion available.
Stop and think. Why does a question mark fail to stop an image from misleading people?
Detection, provenance and professional standards
NIST’s overview of synthetic content describes provenance data, labeling, watermarking and detection, and it explains the technical limits of each (NIST, November 20, 2024). Real incidents show why no single signal suffices. The Hurricane Helene image of a crying girl with a puppy had no traceable photographer or outlet, and forensics researcher Hany Farid identified internal inconsistencies (UC Berkeley School of Information, October 4, 2024). The News Literacy Project’s RumorGuard check on that image models a verification note, setting out what is known, what is not and why (RumorGuard, no date listed). In 2023, fake images of a Pentagon explosion were shared by verified accounts, showing that a trusted-looking sharer is not provenance (CNN, May 22, 2023).
Detection, provenance and professional standards, continued
Human perception is not a reliable safeguard. In a PNAS study, people could not reliably distinguish AI-synthesized faces from real ones (Nightingale and Farid, February 14, 2022).
Journalism codes frame Jordy’s choice as a duty. The RTDNA code says journalism “verifies, provides relevant context, tells the rest of the story and acknowledges the absence of important additional information” (RTDNA Code of Ethics, June 11, 2015). The SPJ code asks journalists to “identify sources clearly” (SPJ Code of Ethics, September 6, 2014).
Stop and think. Who could be harmed if the crew called a real photo fake?
Sources
Real sourceNational Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)November 20, 2024
Reducing Risks Posed by Synthetic Content: An Overview of Technical Approaches to Digital Content Transparency
Real sourceUC Berkeley School of InformationOctober 4, 2024
Hany Farid breaks down the viral Helene image
Real sourceRumorGuard (News Literacy Project)No date listed
Widely shared image of crying girl and puppy after Helene is AI generated
Real sourceCNNMay 22, 2023
‘Verified’ Twitter accounts share fake image of ‘explosion’ near Pentagon, causing confusion
Real sourcePNAS (Nightingale & Farid)February 14, 2022
AI-synthesized faces are indistinguishable from real faces and more trustworthy
Real sourceRadio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA)2015
RTDNA Code of Ethics
Real sourceSociety of Professional Journalists (SPJ)2014
SPJ Code of Ethics
Look at the evidence
On your ownRead each document and write what it shows and what it leaves out. About 4 minutes.
Evidence AGroup-chat post
The courtyard image and its caption
Image, described: a photo-like view of the campus courtyard with water over the paving and benches. A person in the foreground holds up a phone. Caption: “Courtyard flooded today, stay away.” Shared Wednesday at 2:48 p.m. with no link, no date on the image and no original poster named.
Look closely: Underline what the caption claims. Circle what the post is missing.
What it shows
What it leaves out
Evidence BScreenshot
Sami’s zoom-in on the hand
Zoomed screenshot of the foreground hand: the fingers seem to merge at the knuckles. Sami posted it in the crew chat on Wednesday at 3:02 p.m.
Look closely: What does the odd hand tell you? What can it not tell you?
What it shows
What it leaves out
Look at the evidence, continued
Evidence CDetector result
A score from a free online detector
“12% likely AI-generated.”
Look closely: What did the tool measure? Does it say anything about the flood?
What it shows
What it leaves out
Evidence DWeb page
The campus facilities alerts page, checked at 3:10 p.m.
“No active alerts. Last update: Monday, 9:15 a.m. Scheduled elevator maintenance in Science Hall, completed.”
Look closely: When was this page last updated? Compare that with the caption’s claim.
What it shows
What it leaves out
What is still missing from the evidence?
Key idea: provenance
On your ownRead the key idea and the code of ethics, then answer the question in the box. About 5 minutes.
Provenance is information about where an image or a document came from and how it has been handled. Check it first when an image claims to show a news event. An image can look polished and still be generated, edited, old or shared with the wrong caption. The courtyard image arrived with no link, no date and no named poster, so its provenance is unknown.
A detail or a tool can give a clue, but it cannot settle the question. An odd-looking hand is a reason to look closer. A natural-looking hand does not prove that an image is real, either. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) describes several ways to track, label, watermark and detect synthetic content, such as AI-generated images. NIST explains that each approach has technical limits.
For a claim about a real event, look for the earliest post, its date and place, and corroboration. Corroboration is support for a claim from an independent source. Here, that could be a campus alert or someone’s dated photo of the courtyard. If you cannot confirm the claim, write a verification note. A verification note is a short record of what you checked, what you found and what is still unknown.
Professional standards
Real sourceRadio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA)
RTDNA Code of Ethics: Truth and accuracy above all
“Journalism verifies, provides relevant context, tells the rest of the story and acknowledges the absence of important additional information.”
In plain words: The RTDNA code asks news staff to say what they checked and to admit what they still do not know.
Question: The facilities page shows no active alerts but was last updated Monday. What should Jordy's note say is still unknown?
Your answer
Still unknown: ___, because ___.
In the news
Real sourceNPRMay 22, 2023
Fake viral images of an explosion at the Pentagon were probably created by AI
A realistic fake image spread fast and briefly moved markets before officials confirmed nothing happened.
Real sourceCNNMay 22, 2023
‘Verified’ Twitter accounts share fake image of ‘explosion’ near Pentagon, causing confusion
A blue check was not proof: accounts that looked trustworthy still shared an image with no real source.
Notes
Sort the evidence
On your ownSort each piece of evidence under the claim it bears on and fill in each box. About 3 minutes.
Two claims are in play: the flood and the image. Sort each piece of evidence under the claim it actually bears on. What would settle either one?
| Evidence | Claim 1The courtyard flooded today. | Claim 2The image was generated by AI. |
|---|---|---|
| 1 The image shows water in a courtyard, with no date or source | Supports | Neither |
| 2 Facilities alerts page at 3:10 p.m.: no active alerts | Challenges | Neither |
| 3 Secondhand report of water near the library | Supports | Neither |
| 4 An odd hand and a 12% detector score | Neither | Leaves open |
Still open
- The image’s earliest source and date
Whose perspective is missing?
Whose view is missing from these documents? What would you ask them?
The view that is missing is ___. I would ask ___.
Practice: choose a response
On your ownChoose what Jordy should do, explain why and fix the two marked phrases. About 3 minutes.
The recap goes out at six. What should Jordy do about the courtyard image?
A Post the image with a question: “Is the courtyard flooded?”
B Say the image is fake, because the hand looks wrong.
C Leave the image out, report what the crew checked and say the flood is not confirmed.
Why I chose it
Improve a draft
A student’s first draft
Heads up everyone!! 1 The courtyard flooded today so don’t go over there. Some people are saying the picture is AI because the hand looks weird but I ran it through a detector and it said 12% AI so it’s basically real. My roommate also said her friend saw water near the library earlier, so that pretty much confirms it. Stay safe and 2 tell your friends, we don’t want anyone getting hurt or ruining their shoes lol. We’ll post more if we hear anything else about it.
Rewrite each marked phrase so it says only what the evidence supports.
Rewrite phrase 1
Rewrite phrase 2
DP Lang and Lit
Your task
On your ownRead the steps and fill in the planner boxes before you start your draft. About 10 minutes.
Write a guided textual analysis of an educator-selected, clearly labeled AI-generated image post and its caption, answering the guiding question, then test your analysis against the case’s courtyard post and its reposts.
- Read the guiding question printed above the text.
- Annotate the post in layers: composition, realism cues, caption syntax and imperatives.
- Write a thesis that answers the guiding question.
- Write the guided analysis, 600 to 800 words, on lined paper.
- Write your final paragraph on the Your draft page. Test your analysis on the courtyard post.
- Stop writing at 75 minutes.
Prefer typing? Scan to open the online workspace.
Annotation layers (sample uses the courtyard post)
Your task, continued
Thesis
Notes
Your draft
On your ownWrite your draft in the boxes, using your planner from the page before. About 60 minutes.
Final paragraph: test your analysis on the courtyard post
Check your work
On your ownAnswer the Check your work questions, mark your level in each rubric row and write one change you made. About 5 minutes.
Does your analysis respond directly to the guiding question?
YesNoDo you analyze image and caption together with precise references?
YesNoDo you explain how the text positions its reader to act?
YesNoIs your line of analysis organized from start to finish?
YesNo
How your work is scored
Mark one box in each row.
| Skill | Beginning | Developing | Proficient | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evidence | Treats the image as proof. | Cites a detector or a detail as a verdict. | Checks the earliest source and an independent record. | Checks several sources and names what each can’t show. |
| Reasoning | Declares real or fake with no basis. | Hedges without explaining why. | Matches confidence to evidence. | Separates authenticity of the file from truth of the event. |
| Audience & purpose | Urges spreading. | Warns without guidance. | Gives followers a safe next step. | Gives a next step, a follow-up time and a way to contribute evidence. |
How your work is scored, continued
| Skill | Beginning | Developing | Proficient | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revision | No change. | Softens words only. | Replaces the verdict with a verification note. | Explains how each change protects followers and credibility. |
One change I made after feedback
I changed ___ because ___.
Notes
Questions to discuss
On your ownWrite a short answer to each question, then complete the sentence frames. About 5 minutes.
1 What would you need beyond the image to support the caption’s claim?
2 Do you agree with Jordy’s choice to leave the image out of the recap, and why?
3 Who could be harmed if the crew called a real photo fake?
4 The alerts page shows nothing new since Monday. Does that prove the courtyard did not flood?
My take
My claim: ___.
My take, continued
The best evidence is ___, because ___.
Someone who disagrees might say ___.
The limit of the evidence is ___.
I would change my mind if ___.
Notes
Talk about this case at home
Lesson 20: Can the crew post this image as true?
In this case, a realistic image in a group chat claims that a campus courtyard flooded today. Your student checked where the image came from and wrote a short note that says what is known and what is not.
Questions to talk about
- What would you check before you share a picture of breaking news?
- Where does your town or school post official alerts?
- Why can saying you are not sure yet be better than guessing?
Nobody needs to share personal stories or private information to talk about this case.
See the case online.
Key terms
Academic credit Academic credit is credit toward a degree that a school gives for approved work, such as an internship.
En español: créditos académicos
Accountability Accountability is owning a mistake and doing what you said you would do to fix it.
En español: rendición de cuentas
Authority Authority is the power a person or group has to make or change a particular rule or decision.
En español: autoridad
Challenge A challenge is a formal request to remove or restrict a book or other library material.
En español: impugnación
Claim A claim is a statement that something is true. You can check a claim with evidence.
En español: afirmación
Consent Consent is permission a person gives for something specific, such as sharing a record with a named person.
En español: consentimiento
Context Context is the information around an event or a quote that you need to understand what it means.
En español: contexto
Correction A correction is a public statement that replaces wrong information with accurate information.
En español: corrección
Corroboration Corroboration is support for a claim from an independent source.
En español: corroboración
Disclosure A disclosure is a clear statement that tells people about a relationship or fact they would want to know.
En español: divulgación
Documentation Documentation is a record, such as a photo, a note or an email, that shows what was said or done and when.
En español: documentación
Education record An education record is a record directly about a student that a school or college keeps.
En español: expediente educativo
Endorsement An endorsement is a message that shares someone's opinion or experience of a product to promote it.
En español: respaldo
Fact pattern A fact pattern is the specific set of facts in a situation that a rule is applied to.
En español: conjunto de hechos
Fair Labor Standards Act The Fair Labor Standards Act is a federal law that sets minimum wage and overtime rules for most workers.
En español: Ley de Normas Justas de Trabajo
FERPA FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, is a federal law about who can see student education records.
En español: FERPA (Ley de Derechos Educativos y Privacidad de la Familia)
Key terms, continued
Framing Framing is choosing which parts of a situation a message brings forward.
En español: encuadre
Holding statement A holding statement is a short update that says what is known, what is still being checked and when people will hear more.
En español: comunicado provisional
Jurisdiction A jurisdiction is the place or area where a particular government or rule has authority.
En español: jurisdicción
Material connection A material connection is a relationship with a brand, like payment or a free product, that viewers might not expect.
En español: conexión material
Precedent A precedent is an earlier court decision that judges use as a guide in similar later cases.
En español: precedente
Primary beneficiary test The primary beneficiary test is how the U.S. Department of Labor decides whether an intern at a for-profit company is an employee.
En español: prueba del beneficiario principal
Provenance Provenance is information about where an image or a document came from and how it has been handled.
En español: procedencia
Reasonable accommodation A reasonable accommodation is a change to a rule or practice that gives a person with a disability equal use of a place.
En español: acomodo razonable
Reconsideration policy A reconsideration policy is a library's written process for reviewing a challenge to a book.
En español: política de reconsideración
Registration Registration is signing up with your election office so that you are on the list of people who can vote.
En español: inscripción electoral
Sample ballot A sample ballot is a preview of the contests and measures that will appear on your ballot.
En español: boleta de muestra
Selection criteria Selection criteria are the written standards a library uses to decide which materials to include.
En español: criterios de selección
Substantial disruption Substantial disruption is the standard from Tinker v. Des Moines: a public school may limit speech that would seriously disrupt school activities.
En español: alteración sustancial
Verification note A verification note is a short record of what you checked, what you found and what is still unknown.
En español: nota de verificación
Voter guide A voter guide is a document that explains or recommends choices in an election.
En español: guía para votantes
My progress
After each case, write the date and your level for each skill: Beginning, Developing, Proficient or Advanced.
| Case | Date | Evidence | Reasoning | Audience and purpose | Revision |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | |||||
| 3 | |||||
| 6 | |||||
| 7 | |||||
| 8 | |||||
| 9 | |||||
| 12 | |||||
| 15 | |||||
| 16 | |||||
| 20 |
Track the work across the yearDP Lang and Lit educator edition
Track the work across the year
Each case has the same four rubric rows, so growth is easy to see. Mark the level each student or group reached, case by case.
| Case | Evidence | Reasoning | Audience | Revision | Took a civic step |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Is the screening canceled? | |||||
| 3 What should a group do after a public mistake? | |||||
| 6 What can your family see in your college records? | |||||
| 7 Did one complaint get the novel banned? | |||||
| 8 Is it a recommendation or an ad? | |||||
| 9 What is on your ballot, and where do you check? | |||||
| 12 When can a school limit what students say? | |||||
| 15 Is Rafa’s unpaid internship really a job? | |||||
| 16 Who wrote the new building rule? | |||||
| 20 Can the crew post this image as true? |
About course names and standardsDP Lang and Lit educator edition
About course names and standards
AP, Pre-AP and IB activities are practice designed by No, Pero Why?. They are not official College Board or IB materials. Honors expectations are set by your school.
Framework sources
IB Diploma Programme Language A: language and literature (guide for first assessment 2021)
- International Baccalaureate, Language A: language and literature course page: https://ibo.org/programmes/diploma-programme/curriculum/language-and-literature/language-a-language-and-literature/
- International Baccalaureate, Language A: language and literature guide, first assessment 2021: https://ibo.org/globalassets/new-structure/university-admission/pdfs/subject-guides/language-a-language-literature-guide.pdf
- International Baccalaureate, latest curriculum updates: https://ibo.org/university-admission/latest-curriculum-updates/
Checked September 25, 2026.