45 Family Media Literacy Activities to Grow Smart Brains in a Digital Age – Help All in One Place

What’s “media literacy?” The phrase literacy connotes a excessive diploma of competency and normally implies that an individual is aware of the best way to learn and write. A literate individual, however, is nicely learn, utilizing and making use of excessive stage considering expertise throughout a broad vary of subjects. Laptop literacy means the capability to make use of computer systems nicely. Media literacy, then, is the power to make use of all types of media nicely. A media-literate individual makes use of tv, motion pictures, DVDs, laptop and video video games for particular functions, simply as a print-literate individual reads a ebook or {a magazine}, a school textual content or a newspaper for particular, varied causes.

Utilizing all visible display screen know-how deliberately is the primary, and most necessary aspect in changing into media literate. Finally as mother and father we would like youngsters and youths to be in command of small screens and never be managed by them. Analysis has verified and specialists know {that a} little one who mindlessly watches loads of TV or performs video video games endlessly is much less outfitted to develop the capacities for smart media use. A media literate little one, however, would study to self-monitor display screen time-being in a position to take it in doses-rather than make a behavior of it four-five hours a day advert nauseum. She or he would need to do different actions as a result of considering, artistic youngsters are curious beings and there is a entire world on the market to explore-screen applied sciences simply being one small a part of it.

Whereas a print-literate individual reads phrases; a media literate individual reads pictures. Utilizing evaluation, analysis, and better stage considering expertise, a media-literate individual interprets the refined messages and overt claims visible messages convey. That is the place we would like our youngsters headed-in a path of creating it second nature to assume nicely about all types of media pictures.

If we boiled down media literacy for our youngsters, I feel we might discover 5 primary expertise that we wish them to amass:

• Aware, intentional, restricted use of all types of display screen know-how

• Skill to critique visible messages and perceive their intent and mental and emotional impression

• Skill to speak info, concepts, and considerate opinions about media pictures

• An intensive understanding of media manufacturing strategies to totally recognize how such strategies as digicam angles, lighting, cuts, and so forth. impression the messages being delivered

• Skill to make use of all types of display screen know-how purposefully, and ultimately correctly

Youngsters can get pleasure from changing into media literate. The 45 household media literacy actions are grouped as follows:

30 Common actions that you could adapt and use with youngsters or teenagers.

15 Actions for kids, particularly designed for kids, ages 3-6

30 Common Household Media Literacy Actions

1. TV and books.

Maintain monitor of the dates when a TV model of a ebook is scheduled to air and encourage your youngsters to learn the ebook first, or observe up this system by suggesting they learn the ebook afterwards. Nice discussions may end up from evaluating the unique ebook and the TV model.

2. Use TV to develop youngsters’s pursuits.

Hyperlink TV packages along with your youngsters’s pursuits, actions, and hobbies. A toddler fascinated by crafts can watch craft packages for encouragement and concepts; after viewing a wildlife present, take the youngsters to a zoo and have them recall what they realized about animals from the TV program. How does the actual life expertise differ from the present they watched? Are there any similarities?

3. Time capsule.

Ask your little one to think about that she or he has been given the job of selecting 5 tv packages that can be included in a time capsule, to not be opened for 100 years. Focus on what sort of society these reveals would possibly mirror to a baby opening the time capsule 100 years from now.

4. Completely different viewpoints.

All relations watch one program collectively. The TV is then turned off and every individual writes just a few sentences about their opinions concerning the present. Focus on and examine everybody’s opinions, mentioning to your little one how totally different individuals will like or dislike the identical program. Why are all opinions legitimate? Who had probably the most persuasive opinion concerning the present? Why?

5. Watch a TV present being taped.

Take youngsters to a tv program taping both domestically or as a part of a household journey to New York or Los Angeles. To make the journey extra significant, have your youngsters draw the set, take notes on the format of the present, word the particular results, and speak about what it was like being within the viewers. Is the viewers necessary to the present? How? (It could be simpler to go to a neighborhood TV or radio station. You may go to each and discuss concerning the variations between them.)

6. Make up an alternate title.

If you’re watching a TV program or film along with your little one, ask her or him to train creativeness and consider one other title. To get issues rolling, recommend an alternate title your self. All relations can give you as many alternates as potential. Vote on one of the best. What makes it higher than all the remaining to convey the essence of the present or movie?

7. Evaluate what you see with what you anticipate.

Together with your little one, give you an outline of a present earlier than watching it, based mostly on what you’ve got learn in a TV schedule. Predict how the characters will act and the way the plot will unfold. When this system ends, take a couple of minutes to speak about what you noticed: Did both of you discover any variations between what was written within the TV schedule and what was truly proven? Have been both of you shocked by something you noticed? Is the present what you anticipated it will be? Why or why not?

8. Which class does it match?

Utilizing a tv information, your little one will checklist all of the reveals he or she watches, then divide them into the next classes: comedy, information, cartoons, sitcoms, dramas, cleaning soap operas, police reveals, sporting occasions, instructional packages, and documentaries. Which is her or his favourite class and present? Why?

9. Predict what’s going to occur.

Throughout industrial breaks, ask your little one to foretell what’s going to occur subsequent in this system. You may talk about such questions as: In case you have been the scriptwriter, how would you finish this story? What do you assume the principle characters will do subsequent? Is it simple or tough to guess the principle occasion on this program? Why or why not?

10. The guessing sport.

Flip off the amount however depart the image on. See in case your little one can guess what is going on. To increase this right into a household sport, have everybody decide a TV character and add his/her model of that character’s phrases.

11. Letter writing.

Encourage your little one to put in writing letters to TV stations, describing why s/he likes and dislikes sure packages. Emphasize that giving factual and particular info can be useful.

12. Be a digicam operator.

Have your little one experiment with a video digicam to study the way it can manipulate a scene (omission-what it leaves out; selection-what it consists of; close-up-what it emphasizes; lengthy shot-what temper it establishes; size of shot-what’s necessary and what’s not).

13. Theme songs.

Assist your little one establish the devices and sound results used within the theme songs of his favourite reveals. Have her sing or play the music within the present and clarify what the music is doing. Does it set a temper? How? Does it inform a narrative? How does it make him/her really feel?

14. Sequence the plot: a sport.

To assist your little one perceive logical sequencing, ask her to observe a TV present whilst you write down its essential occasions, jotting every occasion on a separate card. On the completion of this system, shuffle the playing cards and ask your little one to place them in the identical order during which they appeared throughout this system. Focus on any lapses in logical sequence.

15. A time chart.

Your little one will maintain a time chart for one week of all of her actions, together with TV watching, film watching, and enjoying video video games. Evaluate the time spent on these actions and on different actions, equivalent to enjoying, homework, organized sports activities, chores, hobbies, visiting pals, and listening to music. Which actions get probably the most time? The least? Do you or your little one assume the steadiness ought to be altered? Why or why not?

16. Profitable and shedding.

Inform your little one to observe a sports activities program and checklist all of the phrases which might be used to explain profitable and shedding. Encourage a protracted checklist. You can also make this right into a pleasant competitors, for those who like, with two or extra youngsters accumulating phrases from a number of sports activities packages after which studying them aloud.

17. TV and radio.

Whereas watching TV protection of a sports activities sport, flip off the TV sound and have your little one concurrently hearken to radio protection. What does your little one take into consideration the radio protection? Concerning the TV protection? What are the strengths of every? The weaknesses?

18. Quiz present comparability.

Evaluate and distinction the big variety of sport and quiz reveals along with your little one. You will see reveals that take a look at information, reveals which might be based mostly on pure luck, and reveals which might be aimed particularly at youngsters. That are your kid’s favorites? Why?

19. TV lists.

Help your little one in making lists of all tv packages that contain hospitals, police stations, colleges, and farms, and all tv packages that comprise imaginative parts, equivalent to science fiction reveals or cartoons.

20. Tv vocabulary.

Problem your little one to hear for brand new phrases on TV and report again to the household on their definitions.

21. Essential viewing survey.

Ask your little one to observe considered one of his favourite packages with you. Afterwards, you’ll each fill out the next survey. Then examine your solutions. Are they totally different? Why? Are there proper or flawed solutions, or is far of what was recorded open to particular person interpretation?

Essential Viewing Survey

Program watched:

Characters (Record three to 5 and describe briefly):

Setting (Time and place):

Issues/Conflicts:

Plot (Record three to 5 occasions so as of prevalence):

Story theme:

Resolution:

Logic (Did the story make sense? Would this have occurred in actual life?):

Score of the present (from one to 10, with ten being the very best):

22. Physique language.

Observe physique language in commercials and/or TV reveals and movies. Discover head place, hand gestures, and eye motion. How does physique language have an effect on how you’re feeling concerning the supposed visible or verbal message? Youngsters might reduce out postures and expressions from print ads (magazines and newspapers) and see if they will discover these postures and expressions on TV or in motion pictures. How necessary is physique language to convey persuasive visible messages?

23. Variations on a narrative.

Take a look at how a specific story is dealt with otherwise by totally different channels. Use videotaped reveals to match. What are the variations? What are the similarities?

24. Fast downside fixing.

Level out to your little one how fast issues are solved on many TV reveals. Focus on the variations in dealing successfully with challenges in actual life. Chances are you’ll need to embrace in your dialogue what processes you undergo to establish, confront, and resolve issues.

25. Put phrases of their mouth.

As a household watch a favourite program with the hold forth. Attempt to determine what every of the characters within the present is saying. Focus on why you consider that based mostly on previous information of this system and the way the characters are behaving. Encourage your little one to consider how she or he would write the script for every of the characters. What are the necessary issues that they are saying? Why are these thought-about necessary?

26. Make your personal household TV Information.

Collect your little one/ren and ask them to make a household TV Information for the upcoming week. What packages would they embrace? What packages would they make sure that to not embrace? Ask them to offer causes for his or her decisions.

27. Considering forward to foretell what would possibly occur.

It is a nice exercise for school-age youngsters who may have steerage in watching their favourite packages whilst you cannot be there with them. Give your little one a written checklist of 3-5 common questions that they will learn earlier than they watch a TV present. Contemplate such questions as: “What do you assume this program can be about? What do you anticipate the principle character’s troubles can be? How will he/she resolve them? Why are you watching this present and never doing one thing else?” Instruct your little one to consider the questions whereas viewing-no want to put in writing something down-just assume. As your little one watches, he/she will not be capable of cease interested by these questions-it’s simply how the mind works. Intermittently, ask your little one to debate the TV program with you, together with how this exercise helps to consider this system!

28. Ask: “What’s going to occur subsequent?”

It is a easy, but efficient exercise. Mute the commercials whereas your loved ones watches TV collectively and ask every little one and grownup what he/she thinks will occur subsequent. There aren’t any proper or flawed solutions! This provides everybody an opportunity to have interaction in artistic interaction after which to check his/her “speculation” when the present resumes. Youngsters could study simply how predictable and mundane loads of packages are and shortly enhance on the scriptwriters, including their very own artistic concepts!

29. File your kid’s favourite present.

Then play it again throughout a protracted automobile journey or round a comfy fire on a darkish winter night. The aim of this exercise can be to your little one to listen to this system, with out seeing the visuals. Speak about how the characters and their actions change because of solely listening to the present. Does your little one must hear extra intently? Why or why not? What are some essential distinctions between watching and listening?

30. Encourage your little one or teen to be a media creator.

Finally what we would like is for our youngsters to search out methods to creatively specific who they’re. You may encourage a baby to make use of a digital digicam and make a photograph collage of a household journey, as an illustration. Older youngsters and youths can create web sites, blogs, even podcasts. Display applied sciences are highly effective instruments and when used deliberately, with particular functions, our youngsters turn into media-literate within the technique of studying extra about their very own creativity and distinctive expertise.

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15 Media Actions for Youngsters, ages 3-6

Display Violence

1. Speak about real-life penalties.

If the display screen violence have been occurring in actual life, how would the sufferer really feel? In actual life what would occur to the perpetrator of the violence. Evaluate what’s on the display screen to the results of what occurs when somebody hurts one other individual in the actual world.

2. Violence shouldn’t be the best way to unravel issues.

Emphasize that hurting one other individual in any method or destroying property is flawed and will not remedy an individual’s issues. Level out to your little one that lots of the violent cartoon characters by no means appear to unravel their issues from episode to episode, and that to make use of violence is to behave with out considering of the results. Inform your little one it is highly effective and good to search out peaceable, artistic methods to unravel issues with different human beings. Select an issue your little one encountered just lately equivalent to one other little one taking a toy away and discuss concerning the affordable method the issue was resolved or might have been resolved-without hurting.

3. Anger is pure.

Speak about the truth that all of us get indignant, that it is regular. It is what we do with our anger-how we address it and specific it-that’s necessary. When display screen characters damage individuals out of anger, it is as a result of they haven’t realized the best way to cope with their anger. Your little one might make a listing of display screen characters who know the best way to cope with their anger in optimistic methods.

4. Depend the variety of violent acts.

Whereas watching a favourite cartoon along with your little one, depend the variety of precise violent actions. Level out that these are dangerous to others and you’d by no means permit him/her to do such issues to others. Whole the variety of violent actions on the finish of this system and ask your little one if he/she thought there have been that many. Determine to not watch cartoons or any reveals with such violent actions.

5. Speak about actual and fake.

In case your little one is uncovered to a violent film or online game, it’s particularly necessary to speak with him/her about the truth that the pictures have been pretend-like when your little one performs fake and that nobody was truly damage. Make it a typical follow to speak concerning the variations between actual and fake with any TV packages, motion pictures, your little one watches. Understanding this idea primary to changing into media-literate!

Display Promoting

6. Blind style take a look at.

Present your little one how she will take a look at the claims of commercials. Have her do a blind style take a look at. It may be accomplished with a variety of meals equivalent to three or 4 sorts of soda pop, spaghetti sauce, cereal-your kid’s favorites. Are the merchandise as nice because the commercials claimed? Can she inform the distinction between a generic model and a well-known one? Can she establish merchandise by title? Do the commercials make merchandise appear totally different than they are surely? Why or why not? It is a enjoyable exercise to do with a number of youngsters. Have a style take a look at social gathering!

7. Draw footage of a sense.

Recommend that your little one draw an image depicting how he feels after watching two various kinds of TV commercials. What are the variations between the photographs? Focus on your kid’s emotions concerning the totally different industrial messages. Image the client. Youthful youngsters can watch a industrial after which draw an image of the kind of individual they assume will purchase the product. After discussing the kid’s image, clarify how varied viewers appeals are utilized in commercials to draw particular audiences.

8. Cartoon adverts.

Whereas watching cartoons, your little one can search for particular cartoon characters that seem in common commercials. Clarify the variations between the industrial and the cartoon: Within the industrial, the character sells a product; within the cartoon, the character entertains us. The following time she watches TV, have her report back to you if she sees any cartoon characters promoting merchandise.

9. The toy connection.

When visiting a toy retailer, you and your little one can search for toys which were

marketed on TV or promoted by TV personalities. Level out to him how the toys marketed on TV initially appear extra engaging than these he hasn’t seen marketed.

10. Invent a personality.

Your little one can decide a product, equivalent to a favourite cereal, and create an imaginary character that can be utilized to promote the product. He/she might draw an image or role-play the character. Or, utilizing puppets, stage an imaginative industrial for a made-up product. Afterwards talk about along with your little one what he or she did to inform individuals concerning the product. Watch just a few commercials and level out primary promoting strategies equivalent to making the product trying bigger than life, repeating a jingle, and displaying joyful youngsters utilizing the product.

Display Information

TV information incorporates parts that will not be applicable for younger youngsters. As a lot as potential, watch information when your little one is in mattress or not within the room. Shield your toddler from graphic pictures and subjects that she/he isn’t able to deal with cognitively or emotionally.

Display Stereotypes

11. Not higher, simply totally different.

Youngsters are by no means too younger to begin studying the message that variations don’t make anybody higher than anybody else. Level out how every member of the family has his or her personal particular person preferences, habits, concepts, and behaviors. Variations make us all distinctive and fascinating. When your little one sees a racist or sexist stereotype on the display screen, clarify that the writers of the script made an error in portraying the character in that gentle.

12. Change the image.

Play a sport along with your little one: When she encounters a display screen stereotype, ask her whether or not different varieties of individuals might play that function. As an example, if the secretary is a younger lady, clarify that males are secretaries, too, and that many older girls are very competent secretaries.

13. Ladies, boys, and toys.

As you stroll by means of a toy retailer, level out varied toys to your little one, asking every time whether or not the toy is made for a boy or a lady. Ask if any little one might simply as nicely play with the toy. Encourage your little one to search out toys that will be enjoyable for ladies and boys to play with. Then, when your little one sees toy commercials on TV, level out whether or not solely little boys or little women are enjoying with the toys.

14. Play: Who’s lacking?

Typically what youngsters see on the display screen doesn’t signify all nationalities and the range she or he encounters in preschool, kindergarten, or on the playground. Whereas watching favourite cartoons or motion pictures along with your little one, talk about who’s missing-such as an older individual; a disabled individual, or an individual of a sure race or nationality. You may as well talk about what varieties of individuals your little one encounters extra usually on the screen-young, glamorous, joyful white individuals normally take up nearly all of the visible pictures with males outnumbering girls 3 to 1!

15. Mannequin dialogue of display screen stereotypes.

When your loved ones watches a favourite TV program or a preferred DVD, you possibly can assist your teen establish stereotypical roles, behaviors, and attitudes by holding household conversations to contain your partner and/or older youngsters. Whereas watching this system or film, the adults and the older youngsters take notes, monitoring at any time when they spot a stereotype of age, gender, or race. After watching, flip off the TV/VCR and talk about everybody’s observations. Utilizing every member of the family’s notes, compile a grasp checklist of the stereotypical statements and portrayals that have been famous. This dialogue could be made extra fascinating for those who taped this system (or replay the DVD in applicable scene/s), so you possibly can refer again to it as relations talk about the stereotypes they noticed. Your toddler will hearken to this household media literacy dialog and take up necessary info whereas the others share their concepts.