Common Core: Video Literacy

Learning Activity

"Critical thinking isn't just for the classroom. That politician citing facts and figures that seem impossible, that commercial that claims that eating a bowl of sugary cereal is somehow good for your health - these are things we need to be careful about accepting at face value. But for most of us, the experience of watching a video is a relaxing one. We watch TV and movies as entertainment and recreation, and we don't always question what we watch.

Yet as the above-cited examples indicate, messages are transmitted through video media, and we should probably try to apply the same discernment to what we watch as we do to what we read and hear. Video is becoming more pervasive with time, and whether you're watching it on TV, in a movie theater or online through YouTube and other video sites, chances are that you will absorb new information through video at some point throughout the course of your day. Just as educators are concerned with teaching students how to question and think about reading material, some are starting to apply this same consideration to video as well." -Learn.org

1. Watch the visual literacy video below (created by high school students!) explaining why using visuals in teaching is important.
2. Once you have explored the topic, develop a video literacy lesson and then teach it to your students.

Resources

Visual Literacy Abstract

How to Incorporate Visual Literacy into your Instruction