TEACHING MEDIA

LITERACY IN THE
SCHOOL LIBRARY
Presented by Amanda Harding
and Nick Berrios
 Over the weekend, how many
hours would you guess you
spent consuming media?

Audience What are some examples?

Poll
What is your definition of
media literacy?
Online Dictionary for Library
and Information Science

“The ability to
access, analyze, evaluate, and create
messages in a variety of forms (print,
audio, film/video, Internet, etc.) based
on an informed, critical understanding
of the nature of mass media, the
techniques used by producers of
media, and the impact of those
techniques on the individual and
society”
National Association for Media Literacy Education

“Media literacy is the ability to

access, analyze, evaluate, create, and act
using all forms of communication.

In its simplest terms, media literacy builds upon the foundation of

traditional literacy and offers new forms of reading and writing.

Media literacy empowers people to be critical thinkers and

makers, effective communicators and active citizens.”
 Center for Media Literacy
"the ability to communicate
competently in all media forms as well as to
access, understand, analyze, evaluate and participate
with powerful images, words and sounds that make up
our contemporary mass media culture”

■ Educational Philosophy - "Empowerment through Education"

– Media literacy is education for life in a global media
world
– The heart of media literacy is informed inquiry
– Media literacy is an alternative to censoring, boycotting,
or blaming "the media"
 Illinois State Definition and Standards
Currently in Illinois, the only requirements for media literacy are centered around internet safety and
cyberbullying. However, House Bill 1559 was passed by the state house last month and has moved into
the state senate, where it has already gained sponsors. HB1559 defines media literacy as:

The ability to access, analyze, evaluate, create, and communicate

using a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, print, visual,
audio, interactive, and digital texts.

If passed by the senate, it would require all high schools to have a unit in their curriculum that analyzes:
• the purpose of media messages and how they are constructed;
• explicit and implicit media messages;
• values and points of view that are included and excluded in the media;
• how the media may influence ideas and behaviors; and
• the importance of obtaining information from multiple media sources.
 Scope of Media Literacy
In the Classroom

Internet Safety Copyright and Fair Use Research Methods Critical Thinking
Understanding Digital Defining and applying copyright Properly utilizing research skills Analyzing real world media
Citizenship, including harms and fair use, including properly and databases to identify through a critical lens
such as cyberbullying and citing sources. credible sources on a topic.
internet predators.
 Reliable and Credible Sources

Why it matters for students…

They are able view different forms of media objectively
They are prevented from being so easily persuaded or influenced
They know when they're reading/seeing something truthful, or when they need to
question source
Real world study (2012): Assessment of 770 seventh graders from the Northeastern
United States conducted to determine the answer to the following questions:
1. What criteria do seventh graders use to evaluate source websites?
2. What evidence do seventh graders use to determine author's level of expertise?
https://www.academia.edu
 "[Students] queried me about whether the 9/11 attacks
were an inside job, whether the Newtown school shooting
was a hoax, whether climate change was merely a shift in
weather patterns...These questions not only express
credulity for fraud and suspicion about facts, but many of
them also echo ideas traceable to far-right misinformation
efforts and heightened political polarization."

- Chris Doyle, Education Week

 Edutopia
• This is an educational foundation with resources and strategies to help middle
schoolers identify accuracy, bias, and reliability in content they read.

Checkology
• This is a paid subscription service that tests student's media literacy through
multimedia lessons focused on evaluating the news.

Some Tools CRAAP Test

• series of questions to ask when evaluating information
to Help • C – Currency: The Timeliness of the information.
• R – Relevance: The importance of the information for your needs.
• A – Authority: The Source of the information.
• A – Accuracy: The reliability, truthfulness and correctness of the content.
• P – Purpose: The reason the information exists.

Fact Checkers
• Snopes – https://www.snopes.com/
• Factcheck.org – https://www.factcheck.org/
• WhoWhatWhen – http://www.sbrowning.com/whowhatwhen/
 Access and
Analyze- Activity
■ Generally, what is the intended purpose of
advertisements?

■ Strategies used:
– Use prior knowledge and experience
when conducting analysis
– Gain understanding of a message by
analyzing purpose, audience, point
of view, character, plot, theme, mood
 CCSS.ELA.RI 7.6- Determine an author’s point of view or purpose
in a text and analyze how the author distinguishes his or her
position from that of others.

Common CCSS.ELA.RI 7.7- Compare and contrast a text to an audio, video,

or multimedia version of the text, analyzing each medium’s
portrayal of the subject (e.g., how the delivery of a speech affects

Core State the impact of the words).

Standards to CCSS.ELA.RI 7.9- Analyze how two or more authors writing about
the same topic shape their presentations of key information by

Reference emphasizing different evidence or advancing different

interpretations of facts.

CCSS.ELA.SL 7.2- Analyze the main ideas and supporting details

presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually,
quantitatively, orally) and explain how the ideas clarify a topic,
text, or issue under study.
 Bait and Switch
• Promises customers a bargain
• Persuaded to perhaps spend
more money than intended
• Phrase "unbelievable price" may
have customers believe they are
receiving a bargain when there
are similar items on the market
sold at a much cheaper price
Emotional Appeals

■ Causes viewers to feel certain

emotions, i.e. excitement,
sadness, or fear
■ Consumers associate that
feeling with the product
■ Might sway them towards one
product over another
Celebrity
Spokesperson

• Celebrity is used to endorse the ad

• If a consumer is a fan of the celebrity, they
are more likely to purchase the product
• Associate specific product with person
they admire
Glittering
Generalities
■ Uses vague words to evoke
strong emotion or positive
feeling
■ Lacks information and
does not convey meaning
■ Consumers accept this
claim without any evidence
or support
Analyzing Persuasive Techniques in Advertisements

■ Questions to consider:
– What is the message?
– Who is the target audience?
– Who, if anyone, is present in the advertisement?
– Is the ad emotional, or appeal to any emotions?
– Why were specific techniques used?
Commercial A
Commercial B
Analyzing Persuasive Techniques in Advertisements

■ Questions to consider:
– What is the message?
– Who is the target audience?
– Who, if anyone, is present in the advertisement?
– Is the ad emotional, or appeal to any emotions?
– Why were specific techniques used?
Creating
Propaganda Activity
■ Take the information we just learned
about advertisements, and apply that
knowledge by creating propaganda and
satire.
■ Explore sketch.io, a free online tool that
allows anyone to create, edit, and share
images.
 CC.7.W.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which
the development, organization, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-
specific expectations for writing types are defined in
standards 1–3 above.)

Common Core CC.7.W.5 With some guidance and support from

Standards to
peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as
needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or
trying a new approach, focusing on how well

Reference purpose and audience have been addressed.

CC.7.W.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to

produce and publish writing and link to and cite
sources as well as to interact and collaborate with
others, including linking to and citing sources.
Sketch.io
Sketch.io is a browser based “digital
makerspace” that is completely free,
making it a great tool for teachers
because it is hardware and software
agnostic. It also integrates into
Google Classroom, giving Google
schools even more functionality.
Q&A