media literacy monday: environmental print and ml

Since media literacy is a newer topic for schools there aren't a lot of scope and sequences available, which makes it difficult to incorporate in younger grades because the it is still relatively unclear what skills preschoolers should master. For example, one popular lesson with students is to discuss toy commercials and point out what is real or not. However, this is difficult for some preschoolers because to them Elmo is real. They may not understand that Elmo can't come to class or to their house because he's real on TV. One easy way to address ML with younger students is to think about what you already do. In preschool and Kindergarten pre-reading activities include environmental print. This is showing students logos from popular places and household items and having them practice identifying them. Logos are meant to be instantly recognized and were developed when most of the population was illiterate as a way for people to recognize brands they could trust.

You can make easy flashcards by using gift cards.

Here's a few logos to practice with:







The Hobby Lobby logo is for my nephew who always pretends that's where he's going shopping. (Can you guess where his mom shops?) Elle recognized "Mickey Mouse", she said "french fries" for McDonalds, she got "cheers" for Cheerios, and said "Elmo" for Sesame Street.