Ithaca College

Project Look Sharp has posted new media literacy lessons related to the coronavirus.  

These lessons are available FREE for K-12 and college educators, created with funding from the Park Foundation. Project Look Sharp is a program of the School of Humanities & Sciences at Ithaca College, providing professional development, resources, and support for the integration of media literacy throughout the curriculum. We have more than 450 other free media literacy lessons on our website designed for teaching about sustainability, environmental issues, U.S. and global history, social justice, and more.

For High School and College Health, Economics, Information Literacy, Journalism, Psychology, and Sociology:        

COVID-19 & Climate Change: Graphic the Connection

In this media literacy activity students analyze online graphs and text for messages about the connections between the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.

How Disease Spreads: Cholera Epidemic of 1892

In this media literacy activity students analyze an anti-Semitic editorial cartoon and newspaper editorial from the 1890s, an excerpt from a contemporary magazine article and a webpage from a respected medical health center for messages about the social and scientific beliefs that inform our knowledge about how cholera spreads.

Misinformation About COVID-19: How to Figure It out 

In this media literacy activity students analyze videos for messages about what to do about misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Social Media Goes Viral: Fact Checking Messages About COVID-19

In this media literacy activity students analyze a text message, a Facebook post, a webpage from a fact checking organization and a tweet from the World Health Organization for messages about credibility of Internet information about precautionary health measures for COVID-19 

Trusting Web Videos on COVID-19 (Or Not)

In this media literacy activity students analyze for credibility four video clips of people giving prevention advice during the Covid-19 crisis: President Donald Trump, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a New York City primary care doctor during an online family information session, and a naturopathic doctor during a televangelist TV program. These were all posted online in March of 2020.

For Upper Elementary and Middle School Health, ELA, Information Literacy:

“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.

For Elementary Health and ELA:                                                                                      

Wash Your Hands – What’s the Right Way?

In this media literacy activity students analyze a comic, a graphic, a music video and a public service announcement for messages about the best way to wash your hands to protect yourself from getting sick.