What Do We Do About Fake News?

In this media literacy activity students analyze three online articles for messages about the responsibility to ascertain credibility in news stories.

What Do You Know? Sourcing, Credibility and Bias

Media literacy and critical thinking lesson reflecting on sourcing, credibility, accuracy and bias of information presented in the media while introducing students to vocabulary and issues addressed in Media Constructions of Sustainability lessons.

What’s in My Lunchbox?

In this media literacy activity students analyze a book cover, a lunchbox, a YouTube screen grab and a webpage for messages about eating fruits and vegetables.

When to Call a Lie a Lie – Media’s Responsibility to Hold Politicians Accountable

In this media literacy activity students analyze an article and a video news commentary from liberal and conservative media sources for messages about how the media responds to lies told by President Trump.

Who's in Power in Congress: How Do You Know?

This is a media literacy and critical thinking activity in which students analyze four charts and text about who holds power in Congress for messages about credibility in media sources.

YouTube Recommendations: What Do I Do?

In this media literacy activity students analyze results from a YouTube recommendations list for messages about how to select videos based on the likelihood of their offering credible information.

YouTube Recommendations: Who’s Steering Your View?

In this media literacy activity students analyze three online articles for messages about the impact of YouTube recommendations on viewers.

“The Truth About Coronavirus” - Google Searching For COVID-19

In this media literacy activity students analyze results from two Google searches, one for “coronavirus” and one for “the real truth about coronavirus,” to reflect on the impact of search terms on the sources that Google recommends.  

College Level: Hydrofracking, Media and Credibility

Related to kit: Media Constructions of Sustainability: Fingerlakes

This 9 minute annotated video demonstrates constructivist media decoding using the lesson "Exploring the Impact of Hydrofracking on Aquifers," where college students analyze pro and anti-fracking diagrams.

Credibility, Information and Science

Designed for secondary science and environmental studies teachers, this 2 hour to full day workshop will explore the role of the internet and other media on our students understanding of information.

Where Media Literacy Meets Sustainability Education

Related to kit: Media Constructions of Sustainability: Fingerlakes

The webinar offers educators and teachers-in-training pedagogical techniques and curriculum materials to support constructivist media decoding to help students engage in critical thinking about the complex environmental, economic and social systems that underly sustainability.

RX For an Infodemic: Media Decoding, COVID-19, and Online Teaching

After describing the historical, political and social causes of our viral age of “fake news,” this article explore how constructivist media decoding provides a methodology for addressing the polarization of truth, with examples of how this work can be done in the classroom through face-to-face and virtual learning.

Checking the Facts: Media Literacy and Democracy

By integrating the process of critical questioning of media messages into the everyday classroom curriculum, we can help produce a citizenry with the skills needed to negotiate future threats to truth.

High School English: Examining Credibility and Bias in Web Sites

Related to kit: Media Constructions of Martin Luther King, Jr.

An example of leading a class through a constructivist media decoding using a lesson from our kit, Media Constructions of Martin Luther King Jr. Students analyze the white supremacist website martinlutherking.org and reflect on critical thinking and the internet.

Key Questions To Ask When Producing Media Messages

Graphic display of media production questions related to audience & authorship, messages & meanings, and representations & reality.

Key Questions to Ask When Analyzing Media Messages

Graphic display of questions related to audience & authorship, messages & meanings and representations & reality.

Critical Thinking & the News

Democracy requires an educated and literate citizenship. This 2-hour workshop provides guidelines and strategies for training our students to consistently assess the credibility, accuracy, and bias of various news sources.

Secondary Social Studies Integration with Curriculum Kits

This training will provide content and materials that enable teachers to reach both high achieving and traditionally disengaged students through use of Project Look Sharp curriculum materials that teach core social studies content and skills. The workshop will cover classroom decoding methods using key concepts and questions for media analysis, teaching 21st century critical thinking skills (e.g. identifying sourcing, credibility, and bias), and issues of copyright, accessing media documents, and assessment.

1988 Dukakis Packaging Commercial

Media literacy and critical thinking activity analyzing a commercial from the 1988 Dukakis campaign for messages about image construction in presidential campaigns.

2008 Is Obama a Muslim? Sources & Credibility

Media literacy and critical thinking lesson decoding an email, blog post, newspaper story and website articles for messages about whether Barack Obama is a Muslim, sourcing and credibility.