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Integrating Media Literacy Education into Teaching Health, Prevention, or Life Skills

Health educators have a tough job in the face of a media culture that promotes junk food consumption over thoughtful nutrition, and that depicts highly sexualized or violent behaviors as typical or normal. Parents have a huge role to play in guiding children through the tidal waves of unhealthy media messages, but teachers play an important role, too.

In schools, media literacy can be integrated into classes variously termed Health, Life Skills or Consumer Skills. This Q&A will guide you in that effort.

What are the health, life or consumer skills standards on media literacy in my state?

Media educator Frank Baker has built a matrix showing where all 50 states have at least one reference to media studies in the ELA curriculum. Ready-to-use summaries for California, Missouri and Michigan (locations of previous NAMLE conferences) here are printer-friendly PDFs: California state curriculum standards that incorporate teaching media literacy; Missouri Grade Level Expectations incorporating media literacy skills; and standards for Michigan K-8 Health.

How do I begin integrating media education into my daily teaching?

Start with this outstanding, easy-to-implement, 12-page How to Integrate Media Literacy and Critical Thinking Into Any Curriculum (opens a PDF file in a new window) from Project Look Sharp at Ithaca College in New York, where many teachers learn how to incorporate media literacy into their classrooms.

Project LookSharp at Ithaca College offers the free, comprehensive Critical Thinking & Health: Kindergarten and First Grade Lessons, classroom-ready materials including: teacher guides, student handouts, overviews, and assessments (more than 100 pages in all).

Also check out the Media Education Lab at Temple University, which offers an outstanding free collection of education resources that will help you get started, including a Code of Best Practices for Fair Use in Media Literacy Education.

The CD-roms from the Media Literacy Project (formerly New Mexico Media Literacy Proejct) are packed with examples of media advertising and other health-related messages, for classroom analysis and learning.

You might also just jump in by incorporating filmmaking into your classwork. Check out this outstanding site at The Director in the Classroom for why and how this can engage students and enhance learning like nothing else you might try.

Are there books and resources for the classroom ?

Yes. For the best books and teaching materials selected and reviewed by members of the National Association for Media Literacy Education, visit TeachMediaLiteracy.org and use the pull-down menus at the top of the page to select your grade level and curriculum area Health/Prevention, then hit the GO button.

What other resources are available?

• Media Education Foundation Thought-provoking videos (also in DVD format), most with printed discussion guides, primarily for older teens, college-age and adults. Topics include consumer culture, media portrayals of race and sexual orientation, media violence, bullying, images of women in advertising and more.
• Media Literacy Project (formerly New Mexico Media Literacy Project) CD-ROM teaching resources, study guides and other materials, primarily around media influence on young people through alcohol and tobacco advertising.
• See also the Health & Behavior section of this website for many links to organizations and individuals doing media literacy work in the health area.

Are there online lesson plans relevant to health and life skills issues?

• Project LookSharp at Ithaca College has excellent materials, training and support for the effective integration of media literacy with critical thinking into classroom curricula at all education levels. Click the "Health" box on the home page.
• Media Awareness Network See The Lesson Library on the right sidebar, with search capability by topic area and grade level. Topics include consumerism, nutrition, tobacco advertising and violence. This is an outstanding site, and demonstrates how far the U.S. has to go in integrating media education into our curricula.
• PBS Teacher Source has a huge collection of lesson plans and activities on health and fitness.
• Media Literacy Clearinghouse has a wealth of information and links. Topics include health, alcohol advertising, tobacco advertising and more.

What are the best overall media education websites, and how can I most easily find information on them?

Use the search box in the upper left corner of this page to search what we consider to be the top media literacy sites on the web. Just enter your search term(s) and you'll get results from the best on the web.

Are there organizations and professional development opportunities to help me with my media literacy teaching?

Yes. Check  out our Community page, and review our Calendar of conferences & events

Is there a media literacy list serve or discussion group I can join to network with others like me?

Yes, our Community page has that information.

Once you learn to look and listen with media-literate eyes and ears, and to create your own messages in new media formats, your life will never be the same. That's good! Enjoy the journey.

Many thanks to media literacy consultant/speaker Frank Baker (editor of Media Literacy Clearinghouse and advisor to MediaLiteracy.com), for his help with this Teaching section.