Chapter Books for Teaching Media Literacy as part of 2nd Grade Reading

Chapter Books for Teaching Media Literacy as part of 2nd Grade Reading
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Media Literacy Lesson Plans

Media literacy has become a critical part of the Englsih curriculum for elementary students. At 2nd grade level, students only have a very basic understanding of the media and advertising industries. They are still likely to be confused by the difference between creative content and advertising, and are very susceptible to media messages. Media literacy lesson plans at 2nd grade level include information about advertising and what it means, as well as introducing students to the idea of studying film as text through the use of simple cartoons, films and age appropriate movies. Media literacy lesson plans can also include information about books which relate to the media industry, and increase knowledge of film, acting, drama and performance.

Using Movie Star Granny to Teach Media Literacy

‘Movie Star Granny’ is one of two stories in the ‘Granny Survivior’ book by Jan Dallimore and published by Black Dog Books. It is a very funny tale about a very unorthodox granny which can be used to introduce media literacy lesson plans and provides many opportunities for extension and development in the 2nd grade classroom. Here are some great ideas to get you started with media literacy lesson plans with your 2nd grade readers, using this book as a base:

share the story with various competent readers taking turns to read aloud

brainstorm famous actors, films, cartoons and preferred TV shows

develop a simple play script for students to act out for the rest of the class (in small groups)

show students how a story board works (basically a series of squares into which the action and text or dialogue for a film or movie is placed) and then have students create their own story boards for a simple story they have written

spend time online looking at some safe websites related to media and film (such as the ABC Kids site which is suited to children at this age)

use puppets to act out the action from the Movie Star Granny story

create costumes related to the story

use research tools such as magazines or the internet to find out about stunt work during movies, and whether it ever goes wrong

This post is part of the series: Chapter Books for 2nd Grade Reading

Chapter books often make their way into the curriculum at around 2nd grade level. But how do you select books that are appealing and well written, and which still contain sufficient quality illustrations to keep kids at this level interested? This series looks at some of the books on the market.

  1. Chapter Books for 2nd Grade Reading and Literature - The Granny Series
  2. Chapter Books for Teaching Media Literacy and Film