Media Literacy

RATIONALE & RESEARCH

Media literacy is essential to participating in democratic elections and democratic life. Engaged community members must be able to gather, fact-check, analyze, and utilize information from coverage of current events and candidates and issues, polls, endorsements from groups or individuals, and details about voting procedures and access. Young people should also be encouraged to produce media themselves, both as a tool for learning and a way to expand representation of young people, and young people of color especially, in published media. K-12 schools have an important role to play in teaching media literacy and media creation.

Research tells us:

"A larger proportion of youth get their news online than any other age group, and young people are substantially more likely to get their news online than via other platforms." ("Teaching Controversial Issues in a Time of Polarization”, 2018)
"For high school students, most accessible civic opportunities are often local. Yet young people often feel that their viewpoints are not represented in local media, and relatively few find local news media to be trustworthy." ("Getting Young People to Vote: Seven Tips for the Classroom”, 2019)

LESSON PLANS & RESOURCES

JUMP TO:

Media & News Literacy

Core Principles of
Media Literacy Education

Just getting started with media literacy? Ground yourself in a basic understanding of the central goals and methods of teaching about media literacy with this resource, from the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE).
Reference

Media Literacy One-Pager

Do you need an easy way to explain the importance of media literacy or a quick-reference guide to use in a class? Check out this resource from NAMLE.
Reference

Key Questions to Ask when
Analyzing Media Messages

NAMLE created a media literacy tool known as Key Questions for Analyzing Media Messages as a foundation for building habits of inquiry about media messages. When analyzing and critiquing media, there are a plethora of key questions that can be asked based on audience and authorship, messages and meanings, and representations and reality.
Reference

Misinformation Overload

In this lesson, from PBS NewsHour Extra, students will watch videos created by members of PBS NewHour's Student Reporting Labs, learn about the role journalism plays in young people’s lives, and figure out ways to navigate the challenges of misinformation.
Lesson Plan, MS/HS

Where do we Get our News and Why Does it Matter?

This Teaching Idea from Facing History is designed to help students take stock of their media choices, explore media bias, and think about what healthy news habits they want to adopt.
Lesson Plan

Decoding Media Bias

In this lesson, by PBS NewsHour Extra, students will view the We The Voters film “MediOcracy,” and then examine current news stories and how they’re covered by the three main cable news outlets. They will conclude by examining news stories for bias/point of view.
Lesson Plan, MS/HS

Newsfeed Defenders

In this iCivics game and extension materials (designed uniquely for middle and high school audiences), students will fight hidden ads, viral deception, and false reporting as a NewsFeed Defender!
Game, MS/HS

Polling Pitfalls

Polls inundate students on social media and in the news, particularly during election season. In this lesson from PBS NewsHour Extra, students will watch a short film introducing them to important aspects of valid polling. After viewing the film, students will examine important aspects of valid polling and evaluate three polls.
Lesson Plan, MS/HS

Media Moment Mini-Lessons

Access iCivics' library of Media Moment Mini-Lessons, which each combine civic content and news literacy skills. Each mini-lesson includes a content reading, a news literacy highlight, and a one-page news literacy activity; use readings together or separately.
Videos, HS

How to Read the News Like a Fact Checker

This Teaching Idea from Facing History trains students to read online sources laterally, like professional fact checkers do, so that they can better evaluate the credibility of news they see online.
Lesson Plan

How to Spot Fake News

This webinar - facilitated by PBS NewsHour Extra, the AFT's Share My Lesson, Listenwise, and the Stanford History Education Group - prepares teachers to spot fake news and train students to be educated news consumers.
Teacher PD

Social Media's Role in Monitoring Misinformation

In this lesson from PBS NewsHour EXTRA, students will watch a video, discuss, and complete an extension activity to consider whether social media platforms should seek to delete, monitor, or discourage misinformation.
Lesson Plan, MS/HS

News. Voice. Power.

Mikva Challenge's news literacy curriculum engages students in developing the skills and knowledge to be critical news consumers then has them employ those skills to utilize media to bring change around an issue that they care about.
Curriculum, MS/HS

Facing Ferguson: News Literacy in a Digital Age

This 11-lesson unit, co-created by Facing History and the News Literacy Project, uses the killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO as a case study, for helping students explore the role of journalism in a democratic society and consider how they can become responsible consumers and producers of news and information in the digital age.
Unit Plan, Lesson Plan

Digital Civics Toolkit

This Digital Civics Toolkit, prepared by the MacArthur Research Network on Youth and Participatory Politics, is a collection of resources for educators to support youth to explore, recognize, and take seriously the civic potentials of digital life. It explores a range of civic opportunities and dilemmas via 5 modules focused on: Exploring Community Issues, Investigation, Dialogue, Voice, and Action. Each module includes guiding questions, activity ideas, and teacher resources.

Media Literacy Toolkit

This toolkit, from the IllinoisCivics.org team at the McCormick Foundation, provides classrooms with tools to help students wisely consume and produce information.

Combating Election Misinformation

Navigating Today's Information Landscape

Misinformation threatens the democratic process in unprecedented ways, especially among historically marginalized communities that are often the primary targets of voter suppression efforts. Anxiety over an ongoing public health crisis is only accelerating the spread of viral rumors, hoaxes and conspiracy theories. This resource, from the News Literacy Project, offers reliable sources for information on voting, tools for spotting fraudulent content, and strategies for making sense of election data.
Reference

Checkology, a series of 14 lessons from the News Literacy Project, shows students how to navigate today’s challenging information landscape. They will learn how to identify credible information, seek out reliable sources, and apply critical thinking skills to separate fact-based content from falsehoods. Checkology gives students the habits of mind and tools to evaluate and interpret information. And gain an understanding of the importance of the watchdog role of the press.
Lesson Plans, Reference

Media Creation

Media "Fair Use" Best Practices

Fair use is the right to use copyrighted material without permission or payment under some circumstances—especially when the cultural or social benefits of the use are predominant. This guide identifies five principles that represent the media literacy education community’s current consensus about acceptable practices for the fair use of copyrighted materials, in K–12 education and beyond.
Reference

Youth Media Creation Toolkit

Access, via the right-hand side of this CIRCLE site, a complete toolkit of lesson plans and handouts for supporting young people in creating their own civic media through on-camera interviews, GIF- and meme-making, photography, and more.
Lesson Plans

STORIES

Infographics for Change

In this video, from the Teaching Channel and CERG, you'll hear teachers and students reflect on the experience of having students make infographics to describe the theory of change around contemporary community issues.

Digital Media and Struggles for Justice

This video by the Black Youth Project explores the opportunity of students' utilization of digital media creation to advance modern struggles for justice. It was supported by the MacArthur Research Network on Youth and Participatory Politics, of which CERG is a member.

Blogging and Youth Voice

This video, produced by CERG, showcases the potential of blogging as a method of elevating youth civic voice in your classroom.

Preparing Youth for Civics and Politics in the Digital Age

In this video, produced by the Teaching Channel and CERG, learn how you can support young people to navigate civics and politics in the digital age and how you can prepare your students to become thoughtful and effective participants in our democracy.

Creating Digital Stories

In this video, produced by the Teaching Channel and CERG, ninth grade students create digital stories that illustrate their American identity and reflect on the American creed of today.

Photojournalism to Highlight Community Issues

In this video, produced by Free Spirit Media and CERG, Chicago youth explore how to use photo essays and social media to voice their concerns about issues in their communities.

Understanding and Identifying Misinformation

In this video, produced by Free Spirit Media and CERG, David Jablonsky works with his high school history class to deconstruct different types of misinformation related to the 2020 elections.

A High School Journalist Dug Into Suspensions of Black Students. What She Found Won an Award.

This New York Times article profiles a high school journalist in Iowa who followed a story about students' varied experiences with their district's disciplinary code and ended up not only exposing an important local issue but also winning an award from the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization.