Virginia SOL 12.C.4.E
The Standard
Analyze media to determine the cause-and-effect relationship(s) between media coverage and public opinion trends.
Virginia Standards of Learning for English · Examining Media Messages
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students compare media coverage with public opinion data across the same period. They identify patterns, propose cause-and-effect links, and test those links against timing, evidence, and other possible causes.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students can build a timeline linking changes in coverage with changes in polling. They support a causal claim with specific evidence and explain other factors that may have shaped opinion.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may assume that coverage caused an opinion shift simply because it came first. They may ignore outside events, differences among news sources, or weak polling methods.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Give students three dated headlines and poll results from the same period. Ask them to make one supported causal claim and name one alternative explanation.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Build a wall timeline with dated headlines, major events, and poll results, then mark possible causal links with labeled arrows.
Discuss this prompt: When does repeated news coverage shape opinion, and when does it merely reflect opinion already changing?
Play Causation Challenge by sorting claim cards into supported cause, possible cause, correlation only, or insufficient evidence.
Compare local reporting and public comments about a school policy, noting whether changes in coverage align with shifts in community response.
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Printable 12.C.4.E Worksheet
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Related Standards
- 11.C.4.C
Analyze, compare, and contrast visual and verbal media messages for content (e.g., word choice and choice of information), intent (e.g., persuasive techniques),...
- 10.C.4.E
Describe possible cause-and- effect relationships between mass media coverage and public opinion trends.
- 7.C.4.B
Analyze media messages for facts, opinions, persuasive messages, word choice, and viewpoint.
- 9.C.4.F
Identify the possible cause and effect relationships between mass media coverage and public opinion trends in media messages.
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