Breadcrumb
In honor of Media Literacy Week (October 23-27), we’ve compiled some of our best media literacy lesson plans and resources to help you grow your students’ digital literacy. You can draw on these lesson ideas in preparing students to both interpret media and participate in the conversation about it as digital citizens.
Digital citizenship calls for us to engage online with kindness and care and be mindful of how we use technology. Getting students ready for digital citizenship means equipping them to responsibly and ethically utilize technology and to navigate digital discourse with discernment. Media literacy is foundational for not only digital citizenship, but citizenship in general.
Why Media Literacy Is So Important
The digital public square swirls together fact and fiction, playing into our biases and tugging at our emotions for attention. When even video footage of political leaders can be faked, and rhetorical noise crowds major social media platforms, it can be hard to know what to believe.
Preparing students to sniff out misinformation and stay informed without sacrificing their mental health makes media literacy skills more important than ever.
Lesson Planning Resources
Our expert curriculum development team combined proven teaching strategies with subject matter knowledge to design these lesson plans and curricular resources.
Media Literacy Lesson Plans
Creating Healthy News Habits
![Diverse group of teen college students ignoring each other looking at mobile phones checking social media](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-09/AdobeStock_631671924.jpg?h=eda8b49e&itok=ssAx7mzy)
Where Do We Get Our News and Why Does It Matter?
![Image of boy looking at phone on bus.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/Where_Do_We_Get_Our_News_iStock-1064105690_Medium_res.jpg?h=c9f93661&itok=LOCaiMzI)
How to Read the News Like a Fact Checker
![Two high school students look at a laptop screen in a school library](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/NewEngland_Classroom_2017_%20FH256241.jpg?h=a141e9ea&itok=i6eK1LBI)
News Article Analysis
![Students in library working on computers](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/NewEngliand_Classroom_2017_FH256215.jpg?h=a141e9ea&itok=o2-bkXnP)
The Power of Images
![People hold hands in prayer in the parking lot of convenience store that was looted and burned after Michael Brown was shot by police in Ferguson, Mo.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/2014_LivinginFerguson_FH230964.jpg?h=8b6300e7&itok=E_y1giir)
Digital Citizenship Lesson Plans
The Ethics of Generative AI in the Classroom
![Students in classroom work on their laptops.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-03/facing-history-sf-drew-bird-a-033.jpg?h=4362216e&itok=IbVf0V2d)
Learning to Navigate Generative AI Content: Media Literacy Strategies
![Students in classroom work on their laptops.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-03/facing-history-sf-drew-bird-a-033.jpg?h=4362216e&itok=IbVf0V2d)
What Does It Mean to Live with Social Media?
![A group of people use their smartphones outdoors.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-11/Stock_Image_Outdoors_On_The_Phone_FH2178690.png?h=807215e1&itok=zBCKIv7y)
When Online Hate Speech Has Real World Consequences
![Picture of Children Using Mobile phones stock illustration.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-11/Children%20Using%20Mobile%20phones%20stock%20illustration.jpg?h=e4f8c841&itok=LSK2o_ZN)
Influence, Celebrity, and the Dangers of Online Hate
![Graphic of online usernames.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-11/Username_Graphic_FH2184351.jpg?h=8ad5a422&itok=nCdTsCdl)
Teaching with Current Events
Current Events in the Classroom
![A student speaks while another listens attentively.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-09/2019_classroomimage_nametagsremoved_FH2109026.jpeg?h=06ac0d8c&itok=xuOv2CjU)
Current Events Toolkit
![Students learning in class.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/2019_SL_190522_0595_FH2101381.jpg?h=0f4230fa&itok=pAqFB2Uf)
Teaching with Current Events Self-Paced Workshop
Self-Paced Course
![A student speaks while another listens attentively.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-09/2019_classroomimage_nametagsremoved_FH2109026.jpeg?h=06ac0d8c&itok=xuOv2CjU)
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