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Grade 4

My Media Choices

What makes a healthy media choice?

We all make choices every day about the media we consume and create. But do kids understand what makes a media choice healthy or not? Hint: It's about more than just screen time. Use the activities in this lesson to give kids a framework for making informed media choices.

See the U.K. version of this lesson plan

Learning Objectives:

  • Learn the "What? When? How Much?" framework for describing their media choices.

  • Use this framework and their emotional responses to evaluate how healthy different types of media choices are.

  • Begin to develop their own definition of a healthy media balance.

Key Vocabulary: media   ·   media balance   ·   media choices  
media:
all of the ways that large groups of people get and share information (TV, books, internet, newspapers, phones, etc.)
media balance:
using media in a way that feels healthy and in balance with other life activities (family, friends, school, hobbies, etc.)
media choices:
time spent watching, listening to, reading, or creating media
This lesson meets standards for  Common Core ELA,  ISTE,  CASEL, and  AASL .  See standards
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15 mins.
This SEL activity helps students build self-management strategies in their digital lives.  Get the quick activity

Lesson Plan

45 mins.

What You'll Need

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Classroom resources

Take-home resources

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Lesson last updated: January 2022
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