Opinions, perceptions and fact:
 
Using any section of USA TODAY, select an article about a famous, successful or notorious person. Pick a person (such as someone from social media, sports, apparel, movies, food, politics, etc.) that students recognize or will find interesting.
 
Create a three-column chart on the class board. Label one column “A. What I know about ___” and have the entire class volunteer at least five opinions, impressions, perceptions and stereotypes they have about that person.
 
Next, have the class read the article(s) you have chosen. Using the second column labeled “B. What
I learned about ___,” list all the facts about the person that they can find.  Have students connect the “opinions” from column A with “facts” from column B if they find matching items. Are any of the opinions in column A invalid?
 
Label the third column “C. ___ is:” and create a new five-statement picture of the person.
 
Challenge the students to look at their evaluation processes.  What do they think about how they personally have judged others?  What problems can relying on stereotypes create?  How could they become better at evaluating people?  Will this affect how they interact with classmates? Family? Neighbors?