Virginia SOL CE.9.d
The Standard
evaluating the effect of social media on political campaigns, politics, and civic discourse
Virginia Standards of Learning for History and Social Science · The student will apply history and social science skills to explain the role of the media and social media and the influence on local, state, and national levels of government by
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students examine who created a political post, who is meant to see it, and how its message might spread. They judge how posts can increase participation, shape campaign messages, or weaken discussion through false claims and personal attacks. They support each judgment with details from the post or source.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Given several posts, a student can identify the creator, audience, purpose, claim, and supporting evidence. The student can compare likely effects on campaigns and public discussion at local, state, and national levels.
Common Misconceptions
- Students often treat likes and shares as proof that a claim is accurate. They may think their feed shows the full public debate, overlooking algorithms, paid targeting, and repeated sharing. They may also label social media as entirely helpful or harmful instead of judging each effect.
How to Assess It
- Show one teacher-created campaign post that makes a claim and displays a high share count. Ask students to identify the audience, judge one likely effect, and support that judgment with two details.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give groups six printed mock posts to sort into informs, persuades, mobilizes, misleads, or inflames, then require one evidence note per card.
Ask students to write: Does social media improve political participation, harm civic discussion, or do both, and what evidence supports your view?
Play Source Check Relay with mock posts, awarding points for identifying the creator, claim, evidence, target audience, and missing context.
Compare printed official posts from a mayor, governor, and president, then note how each office uses social media to address constituents.
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