Media literacy requires a complex tool kit of critical thinking skills, applied across a variety of media formats. Media literate students can assess, analyze, evaluate, and create media products. To do this, students must be familiar with a wide range of media formats, understand the nature of media, and recognize the power of communication for human society.

     To that end, we have developed a guide to the key skills of media literacy at every grade level, using the five Core Concepts from the Center for Media Literacy, leaders in the field of media literacy, as primary inspiration. While not universally used, these core concepts are an excellent foundation for the teaching of media literacy. The original analysis that follows expands each statement into age-appropriate learning outcomes, with the associated skills, dispositions, and relevant learning standards from the Common Core and the American Association of School Librarians. Note - the information contained here does not reflect the rest of the curriculum from the Center for Media Literacy. 

     Follow the links for each foundational concept to explore how these ideas could be taught at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.