Teaching Media Literacy

by Belinha S. De Abreu

Though media literacy and information literacy are intertwined, there are important differences; and there has never been a more urgent need for an incisive examination of the crucial role librarians and other educators can play in teaching the skills necessary to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media. Media literate youth and adults are better able to understand the complex messages emanating from television, movies, radio, the internet, news outlets, magazines, books, billboards, video games, music, and all other forms of media. In this book, international expert De Abreu melds advice from a diverse array of practitioners and subject experts with her own research findings to examine how consuming media and technology impacts the learning of K12 students, tackling such paramount issues asfake news/alternative facts;critical thinkingdigital literacy and digital citizenship;social inclusion and equity;global interconnectivity; andsocial justice and advocacy.Inside, readers will find a wealth of intelligently crafted, ready-to-use lesson plans and activities designed to help promote critical thinking skills for K-12 students, making this a perfect teaching resource for school and public librarians, educators, and literacy instructors. Each group of lesson plans is prefaced by a well-informed and insightful discussion of the concept at hand along with guidance on how to best use the lesson plans, which can be freely adapted to any setting.

264 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2007

Reviews

[Warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half of this book provides a comprehensive review of the key components of media literacy. These components can be used in the classroom as part of a specific lesson on media literacy, or as part of a larger unit in which media plays a part. The second half of the book consists mostly of lesson plans, and most are geared toward middle school age. In addition, the lessons are broken down by form of media. A greater variety of grade levels would help here, as would sample lessons that integrate media with subject-area content knowledge, and lessons that interweave a variety of media. That said, there is also a superb glossary, timeline and media-literacy resource list at the end. Books on this topic are becoming more common, which is supportive to educators and important to education as a whole.

[Kathleen Currie Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I contributed to this book but even if I did not I would give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.

[Ginny Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of excellent ideas for teaching media literacy! Definitely one of those textbooks you keep.

[Susan Y · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is well organized and great for providing an overview of the subject of media literacy, but I was expecting more updates in the second edition, specifically inclusion of social media, which I did not find. In other words, it’s out of date.

[Amy M. Mize · Rating 4 out of 5]

MEDT 7490 Textbook Fall 2020: Recent, and this book gets 4 stars for being focused on how to use media in the classroom. Mostly practical, not theoretical.