Miss M's Learning Space

During my down time this summer I decided to take a media literacy online module offered by Brock. I've distilled here some of the take-aways from this module. This video is a great introduction to what media literacy is . As a side note: Jennifer Thiessen has several videos diving into media literacy and it's influence on children on her youtube channel .  Key Concepts of Media Literacy :  Media are constructions Audiences negotiate meaning Media have commercial implications Media have social and political implications Each medium has a unique aesthetic form In addition to evaluating media's message, it's important for students to apply their critical thinking to evaluate the legitimacy of resources. For example, when choosing resources to inform their opinion they need to understand where the information is coming from (i.e. is the website trustworthy and founded?).  There are several ready-made lessons for direct-teaching critical evaluat...

I found an excellent resource on EduGAINS called Critical Literacy: Is Reading Dangerous?  It goes through a sample lesson for teaching critical literacy of a poem, but I'm going to outline how it could be applied to the reading of persuasive articles.  The idea of the lesson plan is to discuss how reading could be ‘dangerous’ and includes strategies for differentiated instruction, small group and large group activities, a rubric, and curriculum connections. Activity Outline The majority of the lesson plan would apply directly to the critical literacy of a persuasive article with a few minor exceptions. For example, the lesson plan begins with critical learning, and curriculum expectations (see below) which would remain as they are for a persuasive article.  Literacy Gains: Transforming Instructional Practice Supports – Grade 7 language (N.D.) Retrieved from: http://bit.ly/1LSvhua Minds On Literacy Gains: Transforming Instructional Pra...