Curriculum Video

Why This Educator Uses Aliens to Teach Media Literacy

By Kaylee Domzalski — April 4, 2024 3:40
Misinfo BS

Last month, Meredith Linsey Kitchens took her students to MisInfo Day at the University of Washington. It’s an annual event designed to teach high school students about media literacy, and misinformation.

But for the rural English teacher/librarian from Sedro-Woolley High School in Sedro-Woolley, Wash., this lesson goes beyond a single day, and is instead integrated into her entire curriculum, and the curriculums of the teachers she supports.

“I have to teach the students who are in front of me, the students with devices in their hands, the students who do everything in their world through social media.”

Here, she explains how she approaches teaching media literacy, and why it’s so important for teachers to be addressing this topic with students of all ages.

Kaylee Domzalski is a video producer for Education Week.

Video

Teaching Video Teachers, Try This: Take Classroom Lessons Into the Wild
This Wisconsin district utilizes its school forest to translate classroom lessons into the outdoors.
Fourth grade students visit The Superior School Forest in Foxboro, Wis., on Oct. 28, 2024.
Fourth grade students visit The Superior School Forest in Foxboro, Wis., on Oct. 28, 2024.
Ackerman + Gruber for Education Week
Student Achievement Video What the Dismal Nation's Report Card Means for Reading and Math
The latest results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress show declines in students’ reading with some modest progress in math.
Point Roberts Elementary School teacher Jessie Hettinga works with a group of first, second and third graders on reading at the school in Point Roberts, Wa., on Sept. 28, 2017.
Point Roberts Elementary School teacher Jessie Hettinga works with a group of first, second and third graders on reading at the school in Point Roberts, Wa., on Sept. 28, 2017.
Philip A. Dwyer/The Bellingham Herald via AP
Student Well-Being Video Teachers, Try This: Combine Movement and Academics in the Classroom
A P.E. teacher shares some ideas for incorporating movement into the classroom for greater student engagement and more effective lessons.
Students in Melissa Haggett’s first grade class start the day dancing along with Snoop Dogg’s affirmations video at Vergennes Union Elementary School in Vergennes, Vt., on Nov. 18, 2024.
Students in Melissa Haggett’s first grade class start the day dancing along with Snoop Dogg’s affirmations video at Vergennes Union Elementary School in Vergennes, Vt., on Nov. 18, 2024.
Jaclyn Borowski/Education Week
Student Well-Being Video This School Keeps Kids Moving All Day. See How It Works
Inside a school where movement is woven into academics throughout the day.
4:11
Assistant Principal Beth Bearor and kindergartener Rhys Gallup practice letters and letter sounds while walking through a rope ladder during P.E. teacher Robyn Newton’s action-based learning class at Vergennes Union Elementary School in Vergennes, Vt., on Nov. 18, 2024.
Assistant Principal Beth Bearor and kindergartener Rhys Gallup practice letters and letter sounds while walking through a rope ladder during P.E. teacher Robyn Newton’s action-based learning class at Vergennes Union Elementary School in Vergennes, Vt., on Nov. 18, 2024.
Jaclyn Borowski/Education Week