Students will launch the Clue Hunter investigation by sorting historical and modern media examples, testing first ideas about persuasive intent, comparing a primary and secondary source connected to the Cultural Revolution, and generating focused questions for the inquiry notebook.

Students will sort historical and modern media examples for intent, generate a focused investigation question, draft a hypothesis, and build a peer-tested plan for collecting and comparing evidence about propaganda, persuasion, and information.

Students will gather and document evidence from curated historical and modern media sources, annotate persuasive tools and source purpose, test the credibility of their judgments through critique, and revise their records before continuing investigation.

Students will analyze patterns and contradictions in their collected media evidence, refine conclusions about when messages inform, persuade, or control thinking, and turn that analysis into a public-facing Clue Hunter Gallery Walk board with interactive reflection prompts and an evidence-based oral explanation.

Students will present their Clue Hunter Gallery Walk boards and research notebooks to peers and invited adults, defend their judgments about whether sources inform, persuade, or control thinking, and document how feedback changed their analysis.