AI, CS, & Digital Literacy

October 27 – November 1

Media Literacy Week is here — and it’s the perfect time to help students strengthen one of the most important skills they’ll ever learn: how to think critically about the information they see, hear, and share every day.

Whether you have five minutes or fifty, there are easy ways to get involved!

🔹 Start Small: Use a “Daily Do Now” Slide

If you’re looking for a quick, no-prep way to participate, check out the News Literacy Project’s “Daily Do Now” slides — short, discussion-ready prompts you can drop into ELA, advisory, SOAR, or any class.

Each slide poses a question or example that sparks reflection and conversation around how we know what’s real, who created a message, and why it was made. 👉 Explore the Do Now Slides

Try one this week! Project a slide as students walk in, take two minutes to talk it through, and you’ve just built media literacy into your day.

When you’re ready to go deeper, Checkology (also from the News Literacy Project) offers free, self-paced lessons and interactive modules to explore topics like misinformation, bias, and the role of journalism. 👉 Checkology Classroom Platform

📊 Dig Into the Data: Teens, Trust, and Technology

This year’s Common Sense Media report, Teens, Trust, and Technology in the Age of AI, shares some eye-opening insights:

• 41% of teens have seen images or videos that were real but misleading.

• 35% say they’ve been misled by fake content online.

• 72% say encountering false or deceptive content has changed how they evaluate what they see online.

• 35% believe AI will make it even harder to know what’s real.

These stats remind us that students want tools and language to make sense of today’s complex information landscape — and classrooms are a great place to start.

🧭 Explore Classroom Toolkits

When you’re ready to dive a little deeper, these toolkits offer adaptable activities and strategies to keep the conversation going:

📘 ODE: Navigating Now — A Practical Toolkit for Information Literacy in the Age of AI

Released this fall by the Oregon Department of Education, this new statewide resource connects traditional media-literacy skills with the realities of AI. It includes lesson ideas and frameworks that help educators weave digital, data, and information literacy across content areas.

👉 Download ODE’s Navigating Now Toolkit (PDF)

🧩 MESD: Media Literacy Week Toolkit

Developed by Multnomah ESD, this Oregon-made collection is packed with ready-to-use activities, slides, and prompts that make classroom participation simple.

👉 Open MESD’s Toolkit

🌱 Keep It Going

Start this week with one small step — maybe a Daily Do Now slide (check out slide 18 for info on the updated Sora 😱) — and build from there. When students begin asking “Who made this?” or “Can I trust it?” on their own, you’ll know the seeds of media literacy are taking root.

Here are a few easy ideas to extend learning beyond this week:

• Rotate Do Now slides throughout the month as warm-ups.

• Assign one Checkology module during advisory or social-studies time.

• Ask students to bring in examples of headlines, videos, or posts to analyze together.

💬 Final Thought

Media literacy isn’t just about spotting fake news — it’s about empowering students to understand how information shapes their world and how they can engage with it responsibly.

Thanks for all you do to nurture thoughtful, curious, and informed learners in your classrooms every day.