Resources for Teachers

Close Reading Media

The Close Reading Media workshop prepares educators to teach students how to analyze and evaluate the "rules of notice" that media makers use to draw and direct audiences' attention, how media works are framed, and how we all apply our own point of view when consuming media.

Ads That Don’t Look Like Ads

In this lesson, students learn what makes something an ad and how to distinguish advertisements from reviews, focusing on the key concepts of genre, tropes, bias, disclosure, and framing. Students begin by viewing and analyzing a video to prompt critical questions about the creator’s intent and visual style, then delve into the advertising genre by learning about its essential elements, like the presence of a product and brand. Students examine the differences between the “ad” and “review” genre and also use companion reading skills to evaluate the reliability and potential bias of a source by searching for undisclosed "brand deal" or "sponsored" content. Finally, students create two media pieces about the same product—one crafted as a persuasive ad and the other as an honest review—to demonstrate their ability to apply the genre elements and tropes learned throughout the lesson.

Understanding artificial intelligence (AI) tools

Grades: 6-12

Duration: 60 to 90 minutes, plus extension activities

Author: MediaSmarts and TELUS

Learning goals:

Key concepts/big ideas:

Interacting with AI

Grades: 7-9

Duration: 1.5 - 2 hours

Author: MediaSmarts and TELUS

Learning goals

Key concepts/big ideas:

Students will understand that Interactions through digital media can have a real impact:

  • Conversations with chatbots can have emotional effects and affect what we think and believe

Digital media experiences are shaped by the tools we use:

The gift of art in the age of AI

Original digital art takes patience and skill. While yes, you could ask ChatGPT to recreate something similar with the right prompt, it doesn’t come close to the heart or care that was put into this original artwork and it doesn’t quite look the same.

Digital media literacy workshop delivery


MediaSmarts’ experts are available to facilitate virtual and in-person workshops in school and community settings for parents/guardians, educators, youth, older adults and the general public. Our workshops cover topics such as AI literacy online safety, misinformation, digital well-being, managing tech in the home, diversity and representation in media, digital citizenship, critical thinking, online hate and more.

Marketing to Teens: Talking Back

This lesson helps teens become active consumers by encouraging them to 'talk back' to advertisers when they have concerns.

Teaching Media: Media Techniques

In this lesson, students learn how different media use different techniques to communicate meaning.

The Front Page

This lesson begins by helping students to identify and understand the different aspects of news outlets. Using these skills, students will then collect and identify news stories and categorize them according to subject matter.

How to Train Your Algorithm

You can train the algorithms on social networks and video sites to show you more of what you want, and less of what you don’t want. Here are some tips:
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