Media Literacy: Voter Education

This series of videos is part of the RAC’s educational programming. These videos include audiovisual primary sources, and are designed to be part of a media literacy curriculum.The clips of audiovisual documents serve as primary sources that can be viewed, analyzed, and discussed in a classroom setting to help students build media literacy skills.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Homework/Assignment, Lesson, Lesson Plan, Module, Primary Source, Teaching/Learning Strategy

Author: The Rockefeller Archive Center

Info-luencer: Media Literacy and Civics

This resource includes multiple lesson plans developed by Washington State teacher John Zingale and can be taught as part of in-person, hybrid, or remote instructional settings. The core content areas include social studies, civics, and media literacy and are designed for use with students in grades 6-12. Additional integrations include ELA, world languages, mathematics, physical education and science. These lessons integrate both state and national civics instruction using project-based and collaborative learning strategies. Features of these lessons include:student researchcollaborative learningdigital learning strategieslateral readingdesign and creation of infographicsTo support these lessons, additional resources are provided to help educators and families with understanding and teaching information and media literacy to young people. Resources include:introductions to media literacyeducator guidesparent guidesstudent learning standards

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Assessment

Author: Mark Ray

Why Media Literacy Matters

This 30-minute activity leads middle school or high school students to come up with reasons why even perfectly smart people are fooled by misinformation. It starts by having them consider relatively innocuous satirical headlines from The Onion that people have believed were real, then moves on to more serious and potentially consequential headlines as a way of emphasizing the importance of acquiring and using Media Literacy skills. 

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Lesley James

Toolkit for Promoting Media Literacy Instruction

This toolkit was designed by Faith Rogow (InsightersEducation.com) and commissioned by the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction Media Literacy & Digital Citizenship Program in 2023. It includes an introductory document and two slide decks with suggested scripts. It is intended to provide media literacy leaders with talking points and links to resources that can help people understand how media literacy education can help students and what it looks like in practice. 

Material Type: Teaching/Learning Strategy

Author: Lesley James

Adding Media Literacy Flavor

This slide deck is a collection of activities that can be integrated into middle school or high school English Language Arts or Social Studies units as a way of "adding Media Literacy flavor" to what you're already doing.

Material Type: Lesson Plan, Teaching/Learning Strategy

Authors: Lesley James, Lesley James

SW Washington Media Literacy Project

The SW Washington Media Literacy Project is a Washington State OSPI-funded grant to prototype the use of media literacy facilitators and Communities of Practice to promote media literacy instruction in K12 schools. This site documents the work and process of the project and includes resources and guidance to allow other schools or districts to replicate this model of professional learning and support.

Material Type: Case Study, Teaching/Learning Strategy

Author: Mark Ray

Media Literacy Portfolio

This project would consist of students learning that their digital footprint can be used to assess their learning, ethics and habits. Students will be analyzing social media types and incidents that have occurred with social media.  This includes social media's impact on news, research and above all personal choices and representation.  Each student will be creating a digital portfolio with a technology representation of themselves that they would want others to see them as.  This portfolio would include goal setting charts, goal planning, examples of quality work areas of education and areas of interest  that they are curious about or would like to learn from.  This portfolio would follow the students through middle school and continue to the high school level as part of their senior portfolio and graduation requirements from the Eatonville School District.  This piece is intended to demonstrate that media placed in digital format is a representation of you and your work.  Students can use this for their benefit and to be taken as a 21st century learner.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Travis RUsh

Media Literacy Explainers: Claims & Evidence

These two self-paced resources were created using Sway (a combination slide deck / infographic / comic format) for older middle school/younger high school students. They explain the concepts of claims and evidence in a media literacy context. 

Material Type: Lesson

Authors: Lesley James, Lesley James

Interactive Media Literacy Activity

Media Literacy Interactive Activity. Simple for students in Upper Primary and Middle School. Engage your students in true or false statements to help them understand that not everything on the internet is true. Next take steps into your lesson and meet in groups for a follow-up to see the information they have obtained. 

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Assessment, Interactive, Lesson

Author: Kylie Cotton

Health: Native Nutrition

In this lesson students will learn basic concepts about nutrition while also exploring traditional Indigenous food practices. Students will first learn about energy balance: how the human body derives energy and nutrients from food and expends it through daily activities such as exercise. Next, they will review current recommendations for eating and exercise that promote good health. Finally, they will identify plants and animals that are native to Oregon and provided a well-rounded and nutritious diet for Indigenous people since time immemorial.

Material Type: Lesson, Lesson Plan

Authors: Aujalee Moore, April Campbell

Fast Food Nutrition

Research and report on nutrition value of three favorite fast food meal items. Identifying healthier food options when eating out and how to make choices based on nutritional needs.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Author: Syd Rundback

Nutrition: What Your Body Needs

In this lesson designed to enhance literacy skills, students examine the nutritional content of different foods and learn about the health benefits and risks associated with the food choices they make.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: Walmart Foundation, WGBH Educational Foundation

What's on a Food Label Presentation

Food labels help consumers make purchasing decisions at the grocery store and provide information about what is inside the container. A food label initially helps sell the product to the consumer and gives the consumer information about the product identity, quality, nutrition, and relevant health and safety information. This presentation has 70 slides and speaker notes are included in the PowerPoint file.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Assessment

Authors: Alice Henneman, Carol Schwarz, Julie Albrecht

Ratio and Proportional Reasoning: Food Labels

In this lesson designed to enhance literacy skills, students learn how to use fractions to interpret the nutritional information contained on food labels.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: Walmart Foundation, WGBH Educational Foundation

Eat This Not That

Students will use accurate nutrition information and current research-based guidelines to describe the importance of drinking water and eating a variety of nutrient-dense foods to balance nutritional needs in a variety of settings while evaluating food labels, specifically snacks the students are eating often. Students will also demonstrate how to balance caloric intake with caloric expenditure to maintain, gain, or reduce weight in a healthy manner while reading food labels.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Assessment, Homework/Assignment

Author: Emily Tate

Ecology/Geography Classification

This short lesson was designed in collaboration with a 7th grade Life Science teacher (Paul Jeffery). The idea behind the lesson is to help students better understand ecological and geographical classifications by teaching them at the same time in their Life Science class and their Geography class. Teaching the two classifications together will help reinforce the idea of classification. While this lesson would best be taught outdoors it can also be adapted to the indoors.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Brianne Meick

Adapted Hiking

These lessons show how to modify and adapt Hiking for a inclusive classroom

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan, Teaching/Learning Strategy

Authors: gayle see, Barbara Soots, Washington OSPI OER Project

Schoolyard BioBlitz: Monthly Observations of Plants, Insects, Weather, the Sun and Moon

In this field lab students will go outside and observe a particular area of the schoolyard. Students will design investigations to complete outside and will use outdoor observations to provide evidence for our indoor activities.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Author: Alissa Naymark

Introduction to the Nature Journal

The purpose of this lesson is to show learners how to keep a nature journal. How to reflect, respond, and question the observations they see in the world.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Diagram/Illustration, Lesson Plan

Gym Class - Ultimate Frisbee: 5 Lessons for You, the Teacher

Ultimate Frisbee is simple and straightforward: a field, two teams and one disc. While it takes very little to start, it yields a lot in return by encouraging healthy bodies, lifestyles and mentalities. Ultimate Frisbee teaches responsibility and fair-play by putting officiating, game management and team conduct largely in the hands of its players. Ultimate Frisbee promotes a culture of valuing all of its members and being inclusive by gender, race/ethnicity and levels of mental and physical ability. It builds cohesion among diverse players and forms a community. It’s a safe, non-contact sport where girls and boys may play together even at the highest levels.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Game