Ithaca College

Media Literacy Week is coming soon (November 6-10) and Project Look Sharp has prepared a variety of new materials and professional development services for anyone interested in learning more about integrating media literacy into teaching. As described by NAMLE, “the purpose of Media Literacy Week is to raise the visibility of the importance and power of media literacy education and its essential role in education today.” Project Look Sharp, as in years past, will be an integral part of the event, offering online discounts, webinars, and features.

 1) To kick off the week, Project Look Sharp’s Director of Curriculum Chris Sperry will be leading a webinar titled “Integrating Media Literacy and Critical Thinking” on Monday, Nov. 6, from 3:00-4:00 p.m. EST. In collaboration with Common Sense Media, Sperry’s webinar will engage participants in analyzing classroom models of inquiry-based media analysis to explore pedagogy and practice. He will present classroom-ready strategies and free online resources from Project Look Sharp – applicable to all grade levels and subject areas – for integrating constructivist media decoding activities into curriculums. In this webinar, he will address questions such as:

• How can we motivate and teach our students to continually and habitually ask key questions about the constructed nature of their mediated worlds?
• How can I fit media literacy into my curriculum when it is already so packed?
• How can I use media analysis to teach to my core content and standards while also teaching critical media literacy skills?
• How can I have my students grapple with controversial topics in a thoughtful, honest and civil way that encourages thinking about their own biases?

Sign-ups for the webinar can be accessed through:

https://home.edweb.net/webinar/commonsense20171106/

2) Next, Executive Director Cyndy Scheibe will be hosting free online “office hours” on Wednesday, Nov. 8, from 7:00-9:00 p.m. EST.  This is a great opportunity for educators who:

• Are looking for ideas on how to integrate media literacy approaches into a specific topic or curriculum area at a specific grade level
• Want feedback on an idea for using media literacy in your classroom
• Need advice on how to assess whether media literacy is working with students
• Want more information about using inquiry-based approaches with students
• Want to learn more about Project Look Sharp’s new activity-based curriculum materials

https://projectlooksharp.org/blog/2017/11/01/cyndy-scheibe-holds-online-office-hours-media-literacy-week/

3) The Media Literacy in Every Classroom Quick Reference Guide published by and available on the ASCD (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development) website will also be sold at a discount during the entire week.

The laminated, full-color guide covers the basics of media literacy, the process of becoming media literate, insights, and key questions for analyzing media messages, along with almost fifty specific classroom integration strategies. These strategies include examples for social studies, health, STEM, English, and the arts. Through this quick reference guide, teachers will also be able to integrate media literacy into research projects, classroom assessments, and making real-world connections – giving students the tools to think critically for themselves.

ASCD is honored to partner with NAMLE to celebrate the 3rd Annual U.S. Media Literacy Week from November 6 – November 10. We would like to offer NAMLE members and partners 10% off the list price of this QRG.

http://shop.ascd.org/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductId=201079485&Media-Literacy-in-Every-Classroom-(Quick-Reference-Guide)

Use promo code MLW2017

4) Project Look Sharp will begin employing its new search feature function on its website to allow ease of specification in curriculum discovery. To further the website’s user-friendly aspects, Project Look Sharp will also begin sectioning off different curriculums in lesson collections and playlists.

1. a. Enhanced Lesson Search on our Website: 

We have added a new search feature on our website. This search allows you to target individual lessons and activities for age/grade level, subject area, and offers many more options in the advanced search.  https://www.projectlooksharp.org/search.php

Recently we have published activities on sustainability issues that can be quickly downloaded and taught within a single class period. These “quick implementation activities” are accessible through the Search feature.

1. b. Lesson Collections

We now offer sets of lessons collected by theme. The thematic collections are lessons taken from a variety of our curriculum kits, and which also include shorter activities.

These can be accessed via our top menu bar from our homepage.

Here are our recent collections:

• 2016 Presidential Campaign & the Trump Presidency 

• Climate Change 

• Economics and Social Justice 

• Elementary Critical Thinking and Skill Building 

• English Language Arts

• Global Studies

• News Accuracy & Credibility 

• The U.S. at War and Peace (American Revolution to the War in Iraq) 

Do you have a theme you would like Project Look Sharp to create? Email looksharp@ithaca.edu with your suggestions!

5) Our Curriculum Writer, Sox Sperry, will open registration during Media Literacy Week for our first online professional development training, which will cover how to facilitate challenging topics in the classroom.

Learn more about Project Look Sharp’s opportunity for educators to participate in creating new curriculum activities through our collaborative activity project to design short, high-impact “activity projects” that leverage your teaching and allow you to share your lessons with a community of peers.

http://www.projectlooksharp.org/learn/

Finally, Project Look Sharp’s Design Intern Liana Glaser’s entry recently won NAMLE’S Media Literacy Week emoji design contest and her submission will now be used as the official Media Literacy Week emoji. To use the emoji, type the Twitter hashtags #medialitwk, #mlw17, or #getsmartonline and the emoji will appear.

About the Presenters

Cyndy Scheibe, Executive Director and Founder of Project Look Sharp, is the co-author of the book The Teacher’s Guide to Media Literacy: Critical Thinking in a Multimedia World (2012, Sage/Corwin). She is also a Professor of Psychology at Ithaca College where she has taught courses in developmental psychology, media research, and media literacy for more than 25 years, and serves as the Director of the Center for Research on the Effects of Television Lab and Archive. A dynamic speaker and workshop leader, she was a founding board member of the National Association for Media Literacy Education, and is author of several articles on media literacy education and practice. She is a contributing editor to many of the media literacy curriculum kits developed by Project Look Sharp, and co-author of the Critical Thinking and Health kit series based on media literacy for elementary grades. She received her Ph.D. in Human Development (1987) from Cornell University.

Chris Sperry, Director of Curriculum and Staff Development for Project Look Sharp, has taught middle and high school social studies, English and media studies for over 30 years in Ithaca, New York. He is the author of numerous curriculum kits related to global studies and U.S. history and articles about integrating media literacy and critical thinking into the curriculum. He is the recipient of the National Council for the Social Studies 2008 Award for Global Understanding, and the 2005 National PTA and Cable Leaders in Learning Award for Media Literacy.

Sox Sperry, Curriculum Writer, began his career as teacher and curriculum designer in 1974. He is author and co-author of Project Look Sharp’s document-based history kits: Media Construction of Presidential Campaigns and Media Construction of the Middle East, Media Construction of Chemicals in the Environment, Media Construction of Resource Depletion, Media Construction of Endangered Species, Global Media Perspectives, Creativity and Aging Through the Lens of Film, Media Constructions of Martin Luther King, Jr, Media Construction of Peace and Media Construction of Social Justice.

For more information on Project Look Sharp and its staff, please visit projectlooksharp.org

Project Look Sharp is Ithaca College’s Media Literacy Initiative. Project Look Sharp supports the integration of critical thinking through media literacy in school curriculum and teaching. They do this through developing and providing lesson plans, media materials, training, and support for educators at all education levels. The purpose of media literacy education is to help individuals of all ages develop the habits of inquiry and skills of expression they need to be critical thinkers, effective communicators, and active citizens in today’s world.