Unearthing Stereotypes

Media literacy and critical thinking lesson introducing the concept of stereotypes by asking students to decide whether photos are from Africa

Volcanoes: Can We Protect Cities from Lava Flows?

This is a media literacy and critical thinking activity in which students analyze a National Public Radio report and a clip from a 1940s era Superman animated cartoon for messages about engineering solutions to protect cities from volcanic lava flows.

What About Bottled Water?

Media literacy and critical thinking lesson analyzing videos and TV commercials to discern messages about decisions to purchase or not purchase bottled water.

What About Hunger?

Media literacy and critical thinking lesson analyzing videos to discern messages about possible strategies to address the problem of hunger.

What Can You Tell From a Book Cover?

Students analyze pairs of different covers for the same children’s book for messages about techniques, purpose, impact and target audience.

What Does the Dollar Bill Tell You About the United States?

Students analyze the imagery on the dollar bill for symbols and messages about the beliefs of the founders of the United States and about what constitutes media.

Where Does My Food Come From?

Media literacy and critical thinking lesson analyzing videos to discern messages about the production and transportation of food.

Where Does Water Go?

Media literacy and critical thinking lesson analyzing videos to discern messages about the role of the hydrologic cycle in creating watersheds.

White Towel Activity

A media production activity to reinforce the concept of target audiences, and how messages can be crafted for a specific audience through visuals, language and sound.

Who's Selling Me This Food?

Media literacy and critical thinking lesson analyzing videos to discern messages about the goals and impacts of food advertising.

Why Go to School?

In this media literacy activity students analyze videos for messages about why education is important.

Why Protect Our Water Resources?

Media literacy and critical thinking lesson analyzing book and report covers and tables of contents to discern messages about how people impact water supplies and what individuals and communities can do to protect water resources.

Why Vote?

In this media literacy activity students analyze videos for messages about why voting is important.

YouTube Recommendations: What Do I Do?

In this media literacy activity students analyze results from a YouTube recommendations list for messages about how to select videos based on the likelihood of their offering credible information.

“The Truth About Coronavirus” - Google Searching For COVID-19

In this media literacy activity students analyze results from two Google searches, one for “coronavirus” and one for “the real truth about coronavirus,” to reflect on the impact of search terms on the sources that Google recommends.  

Standards Alignment: National Media Literacy Alliance Joint Statement on Media Literacy Education

This 3-page document briefly summarizes the alignment of media literacy with the core standards for each of the following disciplines: library (AASL + YALSA), technology (ISTE), Journalism (JEA), Early Childhood (NAEYC), Social Studies (NCSS), ELA (NCTE), Math (NCTM), Science (NSTA), and Writing (NWP).

Briefing: Project Look Sharp's Decoding Media Constructions and Sustainability

Antonio Lopez, in his coda to Greening Media Education, summarizes the complex set of skills needed “to bring ecologically oriented cultural practice into the realm of media education (which) promotes systems thinking, collaborative learning, critical thinking, lifelong learning and digital media literacy.” This article offers cases studies of two Look Sharp lessons, one for elementary age students and another for upper level high school, each of which was designed with these skills in mind as a way to bring Lopez’s vision into practice in the classroom.

Sustainability Education and Media Literacy

Related to kit: Media Constructions of Sustainability: Food, Water, and Agriculture

This article looks at how the topic of climate change can often provoke deep emotions in students, and suggests that instead of shying away, teachers should use media literacy activities to foster discussions of what the future holds. The author stresses the importance of connecting to the emotional lives of students when raising the complex issues around sustainability.

Teaching Media Literacy & Sustainability for Younger Learners

Related to kit: Media Constructions of Sustainability: Lower Elementary

This webinar offers pedagogical techniques and curriculum materials to support a deeper understanding of how to use media documents that: support content teaching about water quality, climate change and hunger, introduce media production as a way to deepen media literacy awareness, and encourage core subject integration of ELA, math, science and social studies.

Elementary Level: First Contact Between Europeans and Native Americans

An example of leading a class through a constructivist media decoding using our lesson, First Contact. Students in this video decode two opposing paintings to understand how Europeans impacted Native American life.