Instructional Resources for Teaching Media Literacy

Nov 17, 2022

Focused school boy using digital tablet in classroomBy Suzi Tonini & Tammy Langeberg
From the Colorado Virtual Library blog

Media literacy is an essential skill set for students year-round, and especially pertinent during election season. School librarians are the only certified information professionals in K-12 education and our digital native students are not immune to digital naïveté. In a 2015-16 study of more than 7,500 middle, high school, and college students, the Stanford History Education Group found that students in all age groups were “easily duped” and struggled to evaluate the credibility of information on the Internet. To prepare students for civic life, teaching media literacy skills is critical. School librarians are critical.

The instructional resources for teaching media literacy skills are growing every year and the Colorado Department of Education has created the CDE Media Literacy Resource Bank to make it easy to find free instructional tools, educator professional development, and family resources. Below are just a few examples of resources for teaching students how to critically evaluate media messages.

News Literacy Project

Common Sense Media

NewseumEd

WeTeachNYC

Free and on-demand professional learning

Informed or Influenced? Media and News Literacy Skills for Election Season and Beyond
Join News Literacy Project experts and news literacy educators to learn best practices for teaching about bias and how you can help students identify news and information that is presented in a fair and accurate way. Click here to learn more and view a recording of the live session.

Share or Beware: Help Students Fight Misinformation One Click at a Time
Support your students with learning online reasoning skills, avoiding the misinformation pitfalls of social media, and developing healthy skepticism without turning into cynics. Presenters will share ideas, teaching tips, and ready-to-use resources for helping students find reliable sources. Click here to learn more and view a recording of the live session.

Teacher librarian toolbox

Book: Killer Underwear Invasion! How to Spot Fake News, Disinformation and Lies by Elise Gravel
With quirky illustrations and a humorous tone, Elise Gravel brings her kid-accessible wit to the increasingly important subject of media literacy and equips younger readers with the skills needed to interact with global news. ~From the Publisher

Podcast: Is That a Fact?
The News Literacy Project podcast series informs listeners about news literacy issues that affect their lives through informative conversations with experts working to combat misinformation.

Video Series: Crash Course
A 12-part video series for high school and college students that teaches the history and psychology of media and skills for becoming more media savvy.

Infographic: Cultivating an Equitable School Library to Nurture Critical Curators
Infographic created by AASL to guide conversations with administrators and other educators about the importance of developing students’ media literacy and other curation skills.

If you have a question about this or any other article, please contact us at statelibrary@wyo.gov

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