Media Literacy for Young Children: Teaching Beyond the Screen Time Debates

Faith Rogow, PhD, is a media literacyleader, innovator, and founder of Insighters Educational Consulting. She wasthe founding president of the National Association for Media Literacy Education(NAMLE), a founding editorial board member of the Journal for Media Literacy Education, a founding advisor to ProjectLook Sharp, and a coauthor of NAMLE’s “Core Principles of Media Literacy Educationin the United States” (2007). For more than twenty years she has been one ofthe few people in theUnited States advocating for and creating media literacy education thatis developmentally appropriate for early childhood. Her groundbreaking article“The ABCs of Media Literacy” (Telemedium, Spring 2002) has been widelycirculated, as has her chapter—“Media Literacy in Early Childhood Education: Inquiry-BasedTechnology Integration”—in the Routledge/NAEYC anthology Technology and Digital Media in the Early Years: Tools for Teaching andLearning (Donohue 2015). She also coauthoredThe Teacher’s Guide to Media Literacy: Critical Thinking in a Multimedia World (Corwin, 2012).www.insighterseducation.com

• AcknowledgmentsStart HerePart I: Getting ReadyChapter 1: Media, Society, and Us Chapter 2: VisualLiteracy Chapter 3: How WeMake Meaning Chapter 4: Framing:How We Think About Our WorkPart II: Defining the TaskChapter 5: What IsThis “Media Literacy Education” of Which You Speak? Chapter 6: EngagingThrough InquiryChapter 7: BuildingMedia Knowledge: Key ConceptsPart III: From Pedagogy to PracticeChapter8: Integrating Media Literacy: Routines and ModificationsChapter9: Integrating Media Literacy: Planned ActivitiesChapter 10: EngagingFamiliesChapter 11: Takingthe Next StepAppendix A: 100 Words That Build Media LiteracyVocabularyAppendix B: Using Media Analysis Questions to Draw ConclusionsAbout Media Effects ResearchAppendix C: ResourcesIndexAbout the Author

This is a book by amedia literacy educator who understands digital media—and how to teach ouryoungest media users, and there is no better media literacy educator than onewho asks, “How can we respond to uncertainty with imagination rather thanfear?” Thank you, Faith. This is the question of our time.  —Anne Collier,Executive Director, The Net Safety Collaborative Rogow has gifted uswith a creative and comprehensive manual for teaching media literacy to youngchildren, a challenge of the past that this author has now conquered for theskeptical early childhood educator who might question whether media literacy isage appropriate.  —Stephanie Flores-Koulish,Professor, Media Literacy Instructor, and Director of Curriculum andInstruction for Social Justice Program, Loyola University  This is not a bookabout media. This is not a book about technology. This is a book about literacywhile using media of all kinds and technology of all kinds, and the power ofinquiry to help children understand and excel in our complex world. Faith Rogowhas done it again—she stretches our thinking, opens our minds, and provides anarray of easy-to-use strategies to support children’s literacy for today andthe future. There is no better book for helping you think, really think, abouthow to help children become media literate in today’s world. It has tips and“aha” moments on every page! —Lisa Guernsey, SeniorFellow and Strategic Advisor, New America As I read thisbook, I found myself completely engrossed. I learned, I reflected, I related. Ifound myself deep in ideas, thinking of how to capture, bottle, and pour thisknowledge into my colleagues and my teaching! Early childhood educators andchildren will learn about media beyond imagery. This book talks about thinkingcritically about media with intentionality. Readers are guided throughmethodologies and taught to become purposeful and digitally engaged,inquiry-based thinkers. —Sabrina Burroughs,Kindergarten Teacher, Technology in Early Education, Mentor