Practicing Media Literacy Skills

Lesson Plan

Day 1

Activity 1: Consider the Importance of Media Literacy

Ask students to read the text on the handout What Is Media Literacy? twice, the second time underlining words or phrases that help them understand why media literacy is important.

When they have finished, ask them to discuss the reflection questions in pairs:

• What are the benefits of media literacy?
• What are some examples of how you already use these five media literacy skills in your own life?

Invite volunteers to share some of the ways they use the five media literacy skills with the whole class.

Activity 2: Introduce the Origin, Purpose, and Content Framework 

Considering different aspects of a piece of content can help students evaluate to what extent it is helpful to them. The framework students will use in this lesson asks them to examine:

• The origin of a piece by asking themselves:
  • Who or what created it?
  • What type of piece is it? (For example, a news article, social media post, meme, etc.)
• The purpose of a piece by asking themselves:
  • What were the creator’s motives in making it? Who did they make it for?
• The content of a piece by asking themselves:
  • What information does the piece contain? Can you verify the information?
  • How, if at all, does the piece try to get your attention? (For example, using font, images, layout, sound, or language)
  • How do you feel when you look at or hear this piece? How, if at all, does the piece try to provoke an emotional response?

Explain to students that you will practice using this framework by analyzing a piece of media content together as a class. Give each student a copy of the handout Analyzing Media Content. Share that they will be listening to an excerpt from a podcast called How Did This Get Made? Ask students:

Based on this title, what do you think the podcast might be about?

Then, share the podcast description with students, which you can also find on their web page.

The award-winning comedy podcast that celebrates bad movies. Comedians and actors Paul Scheer (The League), June Diane Raphael (Grace and Frankie), and Jason Mantzoukas (Big Mouth) break down the very best of the worst films ever made—we’re talkin’ blockbuster flops, cheesy ‘80s action movies, Lifetime thrillers, obscure cult classics, and if we’re honest . . . most Nic Cage and Jason Statham movies. Plus, sometimes they’re even joined by hilarious guests like Seth Rogen, Conan O’Brien, Amy Schumer, Nicole Byer, Nick Kroll, and Charlize Theron. And the best part? They watch these bad movies so you don’t have to!

Now, ask students to discuss the following questions based on this description:

• Who are the creators of this podcast?
• What do you think their motive is in creating it?
• What do you think you could learn by listening to it?
• What perspectives do you think might be included? What perspectives might be left out?

Then, ask students to discuss how they would answer the questions in the first two sections (“origin” and “purpose”) of Part 1 in their handout. 

Play a short excerpt from the episode “Voyage of the Rock Aliens” for the students from 1:50–4:15. Ask students to discuss how they would answer the questions in the third section (“content”) of Part 1 in their handout. They can also add ideas for how they would answer the questions in the first two sections.

Ask for student volunteers to share what they wrote for the “origin,” “purpose,” and “content” sections in the handout with the whole class.

Then, ask students to fill in Part 2 in their handout with their ideas for “values” and “limitations.” Once they have finished, ask for a few volunteers to share their responses with the class.

Activity 3: Reflect on the Values and Limitations of Media Content

Ask students to reflect on the following questions using the Think-Pair-Share teaching strategy:

• Do you think every piece of content has value? Why or why not?
• Do you think every piece has limitations? Why or why not?

Day 2

Activity 1: Anticipate Information in a Piece of Media Content

Cue up a video that describes the “potato slice detox method,” such as one of those listed below. This home remedy involves placing sliced potatoes against someone’s feet overnight. While people claim that the potatoes draw toxins from the body, this does not actually happen. Students can practice their fact-checking skills on these claims.

Example videos:

• Potatoes in Socks: The Shocking Detox Remedy (alternative link) (TikTok) 
• Potato Sock Flu Remedy. It Works!! (TikTok)
• Old School Sick Home Remedy (TikTok)

Note: We have provided an alternative link to TikTok for the first example. If your school blocks TikTok, you may want to use that link, request an exception or download the video ahead of time.

Cue up the video and pause it on the first frame. Ask your students to reflect on the following questions using the Think, Pair, Share teaching strategy:

• Why do you think people would want to watch this video given what you see?
• Do you think the information in this video will be reliable? Why or why not?

Activity 2: Demonstrate Verifying Information in a Piece of Media Content

Play the video for students. Then, ask them:

• What is your initial reaction to this video?
• What do you think the creator is trying to get you to think or feel?

Give each student a new copy of the handout Analyzing Media Content. Play the video again and then ask them to fill in their notes in answer to the questions on the handout. Ask for a few volunteers to share their responses with the class. Discuss with your students:

If you saw a video like this, what steps would you take to check the information in the video?

Then, demonstrate for students how they can check to see how other websites address the claim that potato slices can detox people. Open a separate tab in your web browser that students can see.

Ask your students what key words they think would be most helpful to search for in order to verify the claim in the video. Then, type in “potato sock detox” or another similar set of key words that your students suggest. Scroll through the first few results and ask your students which websites they would click on to fact-check the claims. Click on one or two and skim through together to the relevant sections. For example, you may click on the healthline page Can Potatoes in Your Socks Cure a Cold or Other Ailments? or the verywell health page Sorry TikTok, Putting Potatoes in Your Socks Won’t Clear Toxins From Your Body. If in your reading, you come across other claims you want to verify, you can search those as well.

Finally, ask students:

• In what ways did looking up the information in the video either confirm or challenge your initial assessment of it?
• How can you use this practice of verifying information in your own life?

Activity 3: Practice Analyzing Pieces of Media Content

Note: Each group of students needs to have access to a computer or tablet connected to the Internet in order to complete this activity as written. If students don’t have their own devices, you can demonstrate the step of verifying information on your own device for all students. The handout Media Content Examples has excerpts from two sample articles for students to analyze. One example is from NPR, a national news outlet. The other is from The Onion, which publishes satirical articles, and so is not true. Students will discover this information when they research the origin of each piece of content.

Place students in small groups of 3–4. Give each group a copy of the handout Media Content Examples and another copy of the handout Analyzing Media Content. Ask them to follow the instructions on the handout for analyzing the two excerpts:

1. Read just the title and source for both pieces of media content. Then, discuss in your groups:
   • Based on these titles and sources, why do you think someone would read this article?
   • What do you think the author of this article is trying to get you to think or feel?
2. Do an online search for the two sources (NPR and The Onion). Then, discuss in your groups:
   • In what ways did looking up this information either confirm or challenge your initial assessment of them?
3. Read both excerpts. Then as a group, answer the questions in the handout Analyzing Media Content.
   • When students have finished, ask for volunteers to share their group’s answers with the class.

Activity 4: Consider How to Use Media Literacy Strategies

Ask students to reflect on the following prompts in their journals:

• Connect: How does what you learned about media literacy in this lesson connect to what you already knew?
• Extend: How does it extend or broaden your thinking about it?
• Challenge: How does it challenge or change your understanding of media literacy? What new questions does it raise for you?