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Views on the News: Media Literacy Empowerment Competencies in the Elementary Grades

Can't get to Orlando FL for the International Reading Association? Take a look at Renee's presentation notes and materials here... 

Why Use the News?

Strengthen reading comprehension  |  Build background knowledge  |  Contribute to citizenship skills

Support the development of empathy  |  Bridge between home and school  |  Spark intellectual curiosity  | Develop critical thinking skills  |

Develop communication and collaborative skills

Media Literacy Strategies for Exploring News and Current Events with Young Children

1.     DESCRIBE: What's inside the frame?

2.     IMAGINE: What's outside the frame?

3.     ASK QUESTIONS: What do you want to know?

4.     LEARN MORE: Gather new information by reading or listening

5.     REFLECT: What's important here?

6.     COMPOSE: Share what you've learned

Case Studies

Grade 1: Share Emotional Response to Build Empathy

Grade 2: Engage and Reframe to Understand Children's Interpretation Processes

Grade 3: Create a News Broadcast to Explore the Conventions of Journalism

Grade 4: Debate a Current Events Popular Culture Controversy

Grade 5: Talk Back to the News Media

Digital and Media Literacy Competencies

 

Engaging: connecting to lived experience and stimulating curiosity and motivation

Locating: finding and selecting information

Comprehending: constructing meaning through active interpretation

Analyzing: identifying author, audience, purpose and point of view and examining the relationship between form and content

Evaluating: making judgments about the value and worth of a particular message

Communicating: composing or creating a message using the processes of brainstorming, composition and revision.

Taking Action: disseminating a message to an authentic audience for the purpose of making a difference in the world outside the classroom