Discovering Media Literacy: Teaching Digital Media and Popular Culture in Elementary School

Give digital kids a voice!

Today’s kids are digital natives, but what’s the best way to help them become empowered, creative and responsible communicators across different media? Discover insights and strategies specific to children ages 5-12 in this guide from an acclaimed media literacy program: Powerful Voices for Kids. Readers will find

• Thought-provoking lesson plans that reach students of all backgrounds and abilities
• Use of a wide range of technology tools, including the Internet, video, and mobile apps, combined with an emphasis on online safety and development of essential critical thinking skills
• Materials for teacher professional development

This innovative book is equally valuable as a resource for lesson planning or for developing a full media literacy program.

"Many professional books talk about digital and media literacy, but this text addresses the complete continuum―from television to technology―and guides teachers to think deeply about their own preferences and beliefs, as well as those of their students to develop knowledgeable, informed media users and consumers for the 21st Century."
―Kristin Ziemke Fastabend, First Grade Teacher
Chicago Public Schools

Renee Hobbs is Professor and Founding Director of the Harrington School of Communication and Media at the University of Rhode Island, and Interim Director of the Graduate Program in Library and Information Studies. Professor Hobbs is one of the nation′s leading authorities on media literacy education. Through community and global service and as a leader, researcher, teacher, and advocate, Hobbs has worked to advance the quality of digital and media literacy education in the United States and around the world. She founded the Media Education Lab, whose mission is to improve the quality of media literacy education through research and community service. In the early 1990s, she created the first national teacher education program in media literacy at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. 

Renee Hobbs maintains an active research agenda that examines the intersections of the fields of media studies and education. She has published four books and dozens of articles in scholarly journals in three fields: communication, education and health. She is the founding co-editor of the Journal for Media Literacy Education, an open-access peer reviewed journal. In 2012, she served as a Fellow for the American Library Association Office of Information Technology Policy. As a field-builder, she helped found the Partnership for Media Education, which evolved into the National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE), the national membership organization for media literacy. She has sought and received exemptions on behalf of K-12 educators to protect fair use of copy-protected digital media as part of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), helping advance the benefits of digital learning for all teachers and students.  

Renee Hobbs received an Ed.D in Human Development from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, an M.A. in Communication from the University of Michigan, and a B.A. with a double major in English Literature and Film/Video Studies from the University of Michigan.

David Cooper Moore is a filmmaker and media literacy educator based in Philadelphia. He is currently the Program Director of Powerful Voices for Kids, a university-school partnership model from the Media Education Lab at the University of Rhode Island and a board member of the National Association for Media Literacy Education. His work involves designing professional development and enrichment opportunities in media literacy education for K-12 schools. He has also developed video resources and curriculum for PBS Teachers and the Center for Social Media and has published scholarship about youth media, music and popular culture in educational environments, and copyright and fair use.

David Cooper Moore received his M.F.A. in documentary filmmaking from Temple University and a B.S. in film and photography from Ithaca College.