Students investigate how World War II propaganda shaped public opinion and compare those techniques to misinformation and persuasive media they encounter today. Through short research, source analysis, critique, and revision, they learn to evaluate credibility, analyze audience and purpose, and communicate evidence-based conclusions about responsibility in creating and sharing information during conflict. The work leads to a public Then and Now Expo where teams present paired poster stations, written analysis, and an evidence hunt that helps an authentic audience spot persuasive techniques across time.

Students will conduct short research using primary and secondary sources to analyze how World War II propaganda used audience, purpose, tone, imagery, symbols, color, and caption choices to shape public opinion, then compare those techniques to modern media and misinformation. They will evaluate the credibility and accuracy of print, digital, video, and image sources, compare multimedia and text-based accounts, and cite evidence clearly in a written analysis and interactive gallery display. Students will collaborate to critique and revise paired Then and Now poster stations, communicate their findings through captions, evidence-hunt questions, and expo presentations, and reflect on how their responsibility as creators and consumers of information has changed.

Students will create annotated analyses of World War II propaganda posters, speeches, or film clips; a source credibility tracker with citations; weekly draft posters revised through gallery-style critique; and short video or audio reflections on persuasive techniques and responsibility. In teams, they will produce a digital propaganda-style poster and a written compare/contrast analysis that pairs one WWII message with one modern media example, explaining audience, purpose, tone, imagery, color, symbols, and misinformation clues. By the end, each team will build an interactive Then and Now poster station for the expo with two side-by-side visuals, concise evidence-based captions, a visitor evidence-hunt card, and a before-and-after self-assessment showing how their thinking changed over five weeks.

Open with a “Truth or Technique Summit” where students rotate through WWII posters, speech clips, headlines, ads, and social media posts, sorting each as informative, persuasive, or misleading and defending their thinking with quick evidence. As a class, build an anchor chart of persuasive moves, misinformation clues, audience, purpose, tone, imagery, and color, then introduce the essential questions and the final Then and Now Expo. End with a brief whole-class debate on who is responsible for questioning messages during conflict, followed by teams choosing one WWII example and one modern media example they want to investigate first.

Host a Then and Now Expo where teams present side-by-side stations featuring one WWII propaganda poster, one modern media example, and concise captions explaining audience, purpose, tone, persuasive techniques, and misinformation clues. Invite families, classmates, a museum educator or archivist, and a media studies or journalism partner to rotate through the gallery while students lead a short evidence hunt using guiding question cards and respond to visitor questions with evidence from primary and secondary sources. Include a listening station with students’ two-minute audio or video reflections about one message they now question more carefully and the strategy that made it persuasive. End with a feedback wall where visitors leave comments about which comparisons felt most relevant today and how responsibly people should create, share, and question information during conflict.