Junior Kindergarten / Kindergarten

The Northwest Territories has a single curriculum for kindergarten that is based on play-based learning as outlined in the document NWT Right from the Start: Early Childhood Development Framework and Action Plan.

Verifying Online News - Introduction

Most of us turn to online sources for news, whether it’s reading a newspaper online or sharing a news story with our friends and family. But news stories are one of the hardest things to verify: sometimes early reports that turn out not to be true still circulate on social media and people may spread false reports for political or commercial reasons, or just for “fun.”

Social Studies 4-12

The social studies program in Alberta contains expectations that complement the critical thinking approach of media education. The Alberta social studies curriculum states,

In our changing society, students will need to be practised at using a variety of skills and strategies. Students will need to be able to acquire knowledge, to interpret and communicate information, and to solve problems and make decisions. In doing all of this, students require a wide range of critical and creative thinking skills and strategies that they can apply to a variety of situations.

Arts Education

The British Columbia Arts Education curriculum promotes the development of artistic habits of mind, categorized as exploring and creating, reasoning and reflecting, and communicating and documenting. Digital media literacy is present throughout these curricular competencies, which include a focus on relationships between the arts and various cultures and societies, reflecting on and making connections between creative processes, and considering how audience negotiate meaning.

Mathematics

The Ontario mathematics curriculum includes expectations that incorporate media education themes. The grade curriculum document Mathematics (2007) includes a section that explains how mathematical concepts such as probability can be applied to media criticism:

Transferable Skills

Starting in 2018-2019, Ontario students are assessed on Transferrable Skills such as critical thinking, global citizenship, communication and collaboration. According to the document Transferable Skills (n.d.),

Intellectual Property Ethics

Some of the most common ethical decisions youth face online revolve around intellectual property, but teaching kids to respect intellectual property can be particularly challenging because they may not see this as an ethical issue.

Sexual Exploitation - Safety Tips

As adults, we want to foster resilience in young people, starting when they’re young. This can be done by teaching them how to handle harassing messages or requests that make them feel uncomfortable – on the internet or in the schoolyard – and, as they get older, by teaching them how to spot and respond to emotional manipulation. The good news is that most teens are effectively handling online requests from strangers – the bigger challenge is helping them handle sexual advances from people they know.

Media Education and Body Image

There’s significant evidence that media education can counter unrealistic media representations of men’s and women’s bodies. For example, a 2015 study found that girls as young as Grade 5 who had received media literacy education in school had higher self-esteem and body satisfaction.