Texting is a part of daily life for most teens.  In this PBS LearningMedia online lesson for blended learning, students watch videos by teens about texting.  They then evaluate statistics about texting, and use these data to form and support their opinions.  This lesson covers a topic that is engaging to students while covering some key literacy strategies: comparing and contrasting information; determining important information; understanding fact vs. opinion; and making inferences. 

To launch this lesson, determine what students already know about texting and about the debate between parents and teens over how much texting is too much. The Teacher’s Guide accompanying this lesson provides specific questions you can use to start the discussion.  Assignments in which students write opinion pieces supported by facts from the video, charts, and lesson text are an important component of this lesson.

Visit the lesson  from the Walmart Middle School Literacy Initiative to learn more.