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Lessons 1 & 2: Introducing Media Literacy
Lessons 1 & 2 Background
Lesson Goals & Essential Questions
T1: Students will be able to comfortably participate in group discussions about topics that
are new to them.
T2: Students will be able to evaluate and think critically about news stories using a 5pronged approach.
U1: Students will understand that current events can typically be traced back to one or more
civic issues.
U2: Students will understand that stories can be evaluated based not only on their content,
but also on who presents them, how they’re presented, and why the author chooses to tell
the story to begin with.
Q1: Why should I care about the news?
Q2: How can I figure out the real story?
Lesson Rationale
These lessons are linked by a set of joint goals, in order to establish and reinforce essential
conceptual building blocks that will be carried throughout all of the following lessons.
The introduction is critical to Lesson 1, since establishing a supportive environment is positively
related to students’ motivation (Ambrose, 2010).
By introducing Lesson 1 with a discussion—including relevant, interesting videos—we are
encouraging students to participate and drive the content of the discussion. By asking students to
brainstorm, it gives the teacher the opportunity to assess their prior knowledge and experience with
the topics at hand (Ambrose, 2010). We are exposing them to multimedia sources of news to
reinforce that news is not only found in print publications.
We are encouraging the students to begin to differentiate different types of news—as a primer for
future lessons in detecting varying perspectives—and engage in discussions featuring feedback. This
fosters students to begin to use evidence to support their ideas, and gives the teacher an
opportunity to identify and reward the type of work he/she values in order to build student
motivation (Ambrose, 2010). Moreover, giving students practice applying concepts from Lesson 1 in
Lesson 2 should serve to increase their fluency in the new topics; learning accumulates gradually
with practice (Ambrose, 2010).
Towards the end of Lesson 2, we are fostering communication skills in the students by the creation
of the video on what they initially think about the issue.
Source: Ambrose, S. (2010). How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass.
Lesson Fit
Lesson 1 seeks not only to introduce the goals and definitions that serve as a basis for the
following lessons, but it also gives students an opportunity to bond with each other and drive
discussion to set the tone for a collaborative, open environment in which curriculum will be
administered. Lesson 2 allows for students to gain some independent practice applying the
main concepts from Lesson 1. Lesson 2 also allows the class to come together to determine
the overarching civic issue that they want to use to collectively create their News Remix.
Lessons 1 & 2: Introducing Media Literacy
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Learning Objectives
By the end of the lesson, students will:
S1: be skilled at methodically applying a 5-pronged media literacy approach to analyze a
story/current event
S2: be skilled at using the camera app on their iPads to record a rough video blog
D1: establish an open, trusting environment due to their commonalities with their fellow
students
D2: feel more comfortable using online resources to explore news stories
Key Messages
By the end of the lesson, students will know:
K1: how to define a civic issue and a current event
K2: how to relate a civic issue to a current event, and vice versa
K3: how to define and apply the 5 questions; author, format, audience, content, and
purpose
K4: how to access CNN Student News to find interesting, accessible current events stories
Key Terms
TERM
DEFINITION
Civic Issue
An important topic that affects your community that people are
talking about and thinking about
An important event that is happening in the world now
Author, Format, Audience, Content, Purpose
Current Event
5 Questions
Materials
• Resource: 5 Questions to Evaluate a Story (attached at the end of the lessons)
• Input: iPads
• Input: Some type of projector/screen where the video blogs can be played for the class (if
not played on iPads)
Teacher Preparation
 Brainstorm at least a few civic issues that students may be familiar with, either by talking
to students, taking note of what students are conversing about with their peers, or
conducting research into recent neighborhood news and deducing relevant themes. This
way, you’ll have several examples at his/her disposal to insert into discussion should
students not organically share examples. Moreover, keep in mind recent current events
related to the issues you select to facilitate discussion.
 Select a recent video edition of “Student News” from http://www.cnn.com/studentnews/.
You will play this for the class to summarize Section III of Lesson 1. Before playing it for the
class, watch it through and note examples of civic issues and current events.
 Brainstorm answers to the 5 Questions related to the two video blogs that you’ll take
students through in Section IV of Lesson 1
Lessons 1 & 2: Introducing Media Literacy
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Lesson 1 Body
I. Introduction to the Program and to Each Other (15 minutes)
1. Begin the introduction to this program by explaining its name, purpose, and end
product to give the students an overview (2-3 minutes):
The program that we are starting today is called News Remix. It’s called News
Remix because we’re working to learn about issues in the community and
present them to our peers in a fun, interesting way. The purpose of this
program is to teach you all how to express your opinions on these local
community issues through video. By the end of the program, we will have all
worked together to make a video about an issue that we care about.
2. Because this program will deal with issues and events that may cause sensitivity in
students, it is important to establish a dialogue in an environment where students
feel safe and supported. So, after briefly introducing the program, allow students to
introduce themselves and see what they have in common with their peers. Begin by
having students share their name or nickname and why they decided to participate in
News Remix. Because most students from IMAN self-select in the program, this is
one way to establish similarities with their peers. Then, conduct an activity called
“Where the Wind Blows” (10-15 minutes):
Arrange chairs in a circle so that there are enough chairs for all but one of the
students in the group. Ask for a student volunteer who is willing to begin by
standing in the middle of the circle.
The person in the middle needs to say a sentence of something they have
never done before. For example, “I have never traveled somewhere on an
airplane,” or “I have never been to an amusement park.” Students should be
encouraged to give examples of activities that they have an interest in doing
in the future, and that they think their peers could be interested in as well.
The goal of the activity is to find as many commonalities with peers as
possible, to avoid being the last one standing in the scenario described below.
If the person’s statement applies to someone sitting in the circle, that person
has to move to a different chair. If the statement only applies to one other
person, then that person simply switches places with the person in the
middle. However, the teacher should expect that the statement may apply to
multiple people. If multiple people need to change chairs, they should be told
that they cannot move seats to their immediate left or right. This makes the
game more lively, because it causes students to scramble to find a new chair
in order to avoid being the last one standing, which seeks to reinforce the
quest to find commonalities with peers.
As people are switching chairs, the person in the middle tries to find a new
seat, leaving someone new in the middle of the circle.
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II. Introducing Key Concepts (20 minutes)
1. Transition to defining key concepts in a way that relates the new learning to “Where
the Wind Blows”:
Now that we have heard and seen many the things we have in common, we’re
going to shift gears and talk about issues that we all care about. But, before
we can do that, let’s go over some definitions together.
2. Pose the discussion questions (10 minutes): What is an issue? What does that mean
to you? Open up the question to students for several minutes, keeping in mind the
following:
The definition of civic issue used in the curriculum is: An important topic that
affects your community that people are talking about and thinking about. As
such, teachers should look for responses that relate to key aspects of the
definition:





Related to important: big, large, serious, urgent, meaningful, key, attention
Related to topic: subject, case, problem, current event
Related to community: city, state, country, neighborhood, society, local
Related to people: family, friends, citizens, leaders, neighbors
Related to talking & thinking: in the news, rumors, conversations, popular,
hearing, witnessing, listening
You may choose to record remarkable answers for personal reference or on a
whiteboard (if there is one), especially if students provide examples of relevant civic
issues that can be used in later activities. Also, you should take note if students
mention current events (see step 5).
3. If the discussion above does not organically result in students providing examples,
you may offer some examples that you thought of in preparation for the lesson.
4. Summarize the discussion by noting great examples that the students shared. Then,
explain that this program will take a deeper look at civic issues, and give the
following definition: A civic issue is an important topic that affects your community
that people are talking about and thinking about. (5 minutes)
5. If students had given examples of current events in step 2, bring these back up. Or,
bring in your own examples from your teacher preparation. Then, give the definition
of a current event: A current event is an important event that is happening in the
world now. (5 minutes)
6. If students are having trouble distinguishing current events from civic issues, you
may want to explain them metaphorically: A civic issue as an overarching problem,
and current events are like symptoms of that problem. You can relate the overarching
issue to a cold, and the current events to the individual symptoms that are caused
by/result from the cold.
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III. Applying Key Terms (20 minutes)
1. Explain: Now that we’ve gone through the definitions of a civic issue and a current
event, we’re going to practice picking out civic issues and current events from a news
video geared towards students like you.
2. Play the video you selected during your preparation from
http://www.cnn.com/studentnews/. (10 minutes)
3. Ask students to contribute examples of current events or civic issues that they
identified in the video. (Note: Student News also has an app that you can have
students download if you’d like, given that students use iPads.) Make sure that
students’ answers are aligning with your answers from preparation. (10 minutes)
IV. Introducing the Media Literacy Approach (30 minutes)
1. Pose the (rhetorical) question: When we hear about current events, how can we
figure out the real story? This is a really hard question, because we hear stories so
many different ways. Different people will even tell different stories about the same
fun night with friends. So, one of our goals is to set up guidelines for how we can
evaluate the stories related to civic issues and current events that we’ll encounter as
we go through this program together. Evaluating doesn’t mean deciding if something
is good or bad. It actually means that we are going to learn more about the story by
asking questions about 5 main things: the author of the story, the format of the story,
the audience of the story, the content of the story, and the purpose of the story.
2. Explain these features in more depth (10 minutes):
1. Author: Who is the storyteller? Where did we find this story? What are the main pieces of
the story?
2. Format: How is the story told? Is the story emotional? What makes the story seem real?
3. Audience: What did you learn from the story? Have you experienced something like this?
Does it match your experience/what you think? How could we hear about this story in a
different way?
4. Content: What happens in the story? What characters do you relate to? What questions
do you have? What ideas does the author want you to notice? What ideas are missing?
5. Purpose: Who is controlling the story? Why are they telling the story? What is being told,
and what is being sold? Who is paying for this message? For whom is this message
good?
3. Acknowledge that using this 5-pronged approach can be difficult to absorb unless it
is practiced. So, now, we are going to apply this approach to two video blogs, or
“vlogs.”:
Watch two vlogs; one about a civic issue and one about a current event issue
a. KevJumba video about racial stereotypes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbZ9zJ22WfQ
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b. Phillip DeFrance video about Adrian Peterson child abuse case:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK53qTWjI3w&list=UUlFSU9_bUb4Rc6O
YfTt5SPw
Guide students through answering the 5 questions (using your own brainstormed
answers from teacher preparation as guidelines) about each blog.
4. To wrap up this activity, open up the discussion to students by asking them what
similarities and/or differences they saw in the vlogs, how they feel about the 5
Questions, and so on. Take the opportunity to check in with students before wrapping
up the lesson. What concepts are resonating with them, and what can they use more
practice with in Lesson 2?
V. Wrap Up (5 minutes)
Explain to students that the end of each lesson will consist of an exercise so that they can
practice sharing their opinions or ideas with their fellow classmates. Explain that although
this is only the first lesson, they’ll practice sharing anything in the lesson that they found
particularly interesting or surprising.
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Lesson 2 Body
I. Purpose of this Lesson (5 minutes)
Explain to students that the purpose of this lesson/session is to give students more time to
practice the concepts that we learned in the first lesson. This will be a much more relaxed
lesson to give students time to examine news videos. But, before the end of the lesson, the
class will come together to vote on the civic issue that they’d like to focus on for the rest of
the program.
II. Review Key Concepts from Lesson 1 (10 minutes)
Ask students what they remember from Lesson 1. Incorporate the following
definitions/comments into discussion if students do not offer them organically:
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

A civic issue is an important topic that affects your community that people are talking
about and thinking about.
A current event is an important event that is happening in the world now.
A civic issue as an overarching problem, and current events are like symptoms of that
problem.
In order to evaluate a story, we can ask questions about 5 main things: the author of
the story, the format of the story, the audience of the story, the content of the story,
and the purpose of the story.
III. Practicing Key Concepts from Lesson 1 (40 minutes)
1. Distribute the attached resource: 5 Questions to Evaluate a Story. Explain to students
that they are going to take some time with a partner to practice applying the 5
questions, and this handout is meant to help them think about what they can ask
themselves.
2. Direct students to pair off, and visit the following link:
http://www.cnn.com/studentnews/. They will already be familiar with CNN Student
News from the first lesson. Instruct students (in pairs) to browse the videos and find
a story or event that is particularly interesting to them. From there, tell them to go
through the 5 Questions with their partners. They do not need to take notes, but they
will be expected to present their findings to the class, so they should take notes on
the worksheet if it helps them to remember.
3. After students have had approximately 20-30 minutes to work on applying the 5
questions to a new story of their choosing, bring the class back together. Sit in a
circle and ask each pair to share their findings.
IV. Select an Issue to Explore as a Class (10 minutes)
1. Thank students for their participation in the preceding activity. Transition by
explaining that now that they have explored many different current events tied to
different civic issues, the class is going to take a vote on a civic issue to produce the
News Remix video. Students will be able to report on different current events and
conduct interviews related to that issue for the final product of the program.
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2. Regenerate the list of civic issues that were brought up in Lesson 1. You may do this
by using your personal notes from your preparation, as well as anything you noted
during Lesson 1. Read over the list for students, and ask them if they have any ideas
they’d like to add, or any issues that they would like to eliminate.
3. Once students have been read the list and have contributed any ideas or comments,
ask them to put their heads down to vote. Read through the list, asking students to
raise their hands when they hear the issue they want to be the focus of the class.
(Note: If students are pretty widely distributed in terms of their voting, redo the vote
and allow them to raise their hands for their top 2 or 3 choices to get to more of a
consensus.)
4. Let students know the result of the vote. Share the issue that the program will focus
on!
V. Practice Vlog to Communicate Initial Knowledge of the Issue (15 minutes)
Using the camera application on their iPads, have the students create a simple 30 second to
1 minute video where they answer the following prompts:
a. Introduce yourself
b. State the issue and why you are interested in exploring this issue
c. What do you know about the issue (or about an event related to the issue) so
far, and how do you know this?
d. What are you interested in learning more about?
VI. Wrap Up & Progress Check (10 minutes)
1. Each student should play their practice vlog for the class, to begin to be accustomed
to producing for an audience.
2. Remind students of the progress they’ve already made, and how it will inform where
they are heading. By now, they have learned about the definitions of civic issue and
current event, and they’ve seen how they are related. They have also practiced
analyzing current event stories using the 5 Questions to Evaluate a Story. This
learning will be useful to them going forward as they learn about research and
developing their own perspective, or opinion, about an issue or event.
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Resource: 5 Questions to Evaluate a Story
1. Author: Who is the storyteller? Where did we find this story? What are the
main pieces of the story?
2. Format: How is the story told? Is the story emotional? What makes the story
seem real?
3. Audience: What did you learn from the story? Have you experienced
something like this? Does it match your experience/what you think? How
could we hear about this story in a different way?
4. Content: What happens in the story? What characters do you relate to?
What questions do you have? What ideas does the author want you to
notice? What ideas are missing?
5. Purpose: Who is controlling the story? Why are they telling the story? What is
being told, and what is being sold? Who is paying for this message? For
whom is this message good?