LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Describe how social media apps can impact your mental health; identify ways to curate your social media feed; evaluate different ways to reduce the negative mental health impacts of social media.

HEALTH ED STANDARDS

NHES 2: Analyze the influence of family, peers, culture, media, technology, and other factors on health behaviors.

 

CASEL: Self-management; social awareness 

KEY VOCAB

intentional

authentic

gratification

algorithm

Lesson Plan: The New Rules of Social Media

Social media messes with your mood. Here’s how some teens are making sure their apps are all about the good vibes only.

Table of Contents:

1. Preparing to Read

2. Reading and Discussing

3. Building Comprehension and Vocabulary

4. Expanding SEL Opportunities

1. Preparing to Read

Before you read the article “The New Rules of Social Media,” ask your students the following pre-reading question:

How can you use social media in a way that impacts your health positively instead of negatively?

2. Reading and Discussing

  • Have your students read the article “The New Rules of Social Media" independently; read the article out loud to them; or have students partner-read the article out loud. 
  • After they’ve read the article, revisit the pre-reading question. Have their answers changed? 
  • Next, have your students answer the Close-Reading and Critical-Thinking questions, either working in small groups or independently. 


Close-Reading Questions
The following questions can be shared in printable or interactive form from the Resources tab. 

  1. Why can it be so hard for kids and teens to monitor their app usage? Give at least one reason from the article.
  2. How can you take a vacation from social media, according to what you read? List at least two ways.


Critical-Thinking Questions

  1. Are there any apps that don’t work for you, or that you notice impact your mood negatively? Name at least one app you feel doesn’t work for you, and explain why. 

  2. Write down two or three authentic Instagram or TikTok accounts that you know about. Explain why at least one of these feels authentic to you.

3. Building Comprehension and Vocab

Check students’ comprehension of and engagement with the story with the following assessment tools:

  • Quiz

  • Vocab Builder

4. Expanding SEL Opportunities

Continue the learning journey with the following extension activity:

In SOCIAL MEDIA WORKS FOR YOU, have students list the apps they use and consider which work best for them personally and why. Then, have them decide which of the apps they could live without—and commit to using one of the strategies from the article for a week to make social media work for them.

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