Media Literacy Week! (Day 2)

Tuesday, October 22nd

This week is U.S. Media Literacy Week! The mission of the week is to highlight the power of media literacy education and its essential role in education all across the country.


Yesterday we discussed Media Literacy: what it is, why it is important, and how we would use this week to jump-start our understanding. We asked our educators and students to answer some questions about the media they are consuming on a daily basis. This was to help them gain an awareness of the media that is all around them and what choices they are making in how they are accessing it.

Today we will focus on media messaging. The first lesson in becoming media literate is always this

ALL MEDIA MESSAGES ARE CONSTRUCTED.

Let’s get your students to think about the messages they hear in the media. Show them an ad.

Have them think about who is sending the message. Is it a company? Is it a political party or candidate? Have them consider why they might be sending the message. Is there a chance of monetary gain? Who might gain from the message? Once they understand this, you can have them think about who the intended audience is. Are there any unintended consequences of a message like this?

Show this presentation (from Jaclyn Siegel) and have them answer the questions from slides 2 and 7:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1FIeTnywR8z_96o8zKuiaeFHJZYHEuZjM3WTNsRHaCL0/edit#slide=id.g41d1bf6412_1_15

After looking at a few different ads, websites or articles, ask them if they have seen a difference in their thinking when viewing media messages.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Leave a comment