Teaching Media Literacy

Although it may seem a bit silly to worry about "current events" with preschoolers, our national obsession with 24-hour news coverage and constant visual reminders of disastrous events in the news pretty much guarantee that even young children are exposed to the news. Unfortunately, exposure and understanding are not the same thing, especially for young children.

Purpose

To identify and guide student understanding about a news event that might be misunderstood or frightening to a young child—war, natural disaster, terrorist attack, local accident, fire, etc.

Materials

Procedure

Working as a whole group or in small groups with the Character Cards (PDF), have students use the pictures to dictate a group story. Guide them to use the five W's:

• Who is in the story?
• What happens?
• When does it happen?
• Where does it happen?
• Why does it happen?

Talk about how the five W's help everyone understand the facts of a story.

Now, have students draw or write about two or three images that come to mind when they think about the event in the news. Work with students to label or write captions for each of their drawings.

Place the drawings on a bulletin board or chalkboard. Write the five W's on the board. Have students share their descriptions/stories. As they share, see if the class can categorize or add information for each of the five W's. Once again, talk about the facts—what really happened or is happening. For ongoing news stories, continue to add to the facts and correct misconceptions.

(Adapted from Facing Fear: Helping Young People Deal With Terrorism and Other Tragic Events.)

Related Family Article: When the News Is Frightening

Resources:

• Facing Fear: Helping Young People Deal With Terrorism and Other Tragic Events from the American Red Cross is free for download and addresses issues relevant to K–2 students.
• "Talking With Kids About the News" from Talking With Kids gives parents some understanding of this concept. Tip #1, about age appropriateness, clarifies why even young children need to be able to talk or ask questions about news.
• "How To Talk to Your Child About the News" from Kids Health makes a further point about news and news exposure. Only a small part of the article deals specifically with preschoolers, but the concepts are still valid.
• "Talking and Listening" from Talking With Kids provides some excellent strategies for parents.

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