British Columbia: English Language Arts K-7 Overview

Media Education in the English Language Arts Curriculum

The aim of English Language Arts K to 7 curriculum is "to provide students with opportunities for personal and intellectual growth through speaking, listening, reading, viewing, writing, and representing to make meaning of the world and to prepare them to participate effectively in all aspects of society."

The curriculum focuses on the literacy development and recognizes how the use of technologies and media has expanded the concept of what it is to be media literate. "Literacy today involves being able to understand and process oral, written, electronic, and multi-media forms of communication."

The curriculum states that media literacy and critical literacy must be strongly linked—"students must be supported in developing both expressive and receptive language skills using media such as film, television and the Internet"—and are reflected in the curriculum’s goals, which are:

• comprehend and respond to oral and written language critically, creatively, and articulately
• communicate ideas, information, and feelings critically, creatively, and articulately, using various media
• think critically and creatively, and reflect on and articulate their thinking and learning
• develop a continuously increasing understanding of self and others

Source: English Language Arts, Kindergarten to Grade 7: Integrated Resource Package, 2006.
British Columbia Ministry of Education
http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/pdfs/english_language_arts/2006ela_k7.pdf

On the left you will find outcome charts containing media education learning outcomes from the English Language Arts curriculum, with links to supporting free resources on the MediaSmarts site. As many of our lessons can be adapted to suit different grade levels, some lessons may be listed for more than one grade. Teachers should also note that individual lessons often satisfy a number of learning outcomes.