Building News Literacy: Lessons for Teaching Critical Thinking Skills in Elementary and Middle Schools

By: Tom Bober

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Synopsis: Every upper-elementary and middle school educator can teach news literacy and connected literacies, including text, visual, graphic, and video literacy, using this book.This book suggests that news literacy is made up of several other literacies and skills that must not only be explored across the subject areas, but also connected to students' real-world consuming and sharing habits. A series of lessons, some using technology, lay a foundation for building these multiple literacies and skills. While not meant to be a complete program, the lessons provide a holistic experience and are adaptable to personalize students' learning.The author melds strategies for finding and making meaning from information, the multiple literacies that young consumers of news must be familiar with to navigate news and other information, and the digital skills necessary to navigate today's news options. Whether students encounter news in the firewall-protected classroom or pushed out to them on their phones, the series of lessons encourage them to give pause and ask important questions as they move beyond simply consuming to become critical readers of the news.