They come at us not just through newspapers and magazines but also through radio, television, the Internet, posters slapped on the sides of buses, even on T-shirts. So, on one hand, teaching media literacy principles and decoding strategies is integral to teaching critical thinking. Most teachers would agree that's an important thing to teach in school. In the higher grades, however, media literacy takes a different focus. The challenge for teachers becomes finding ways of incorporating media literacy into lessons about literature and history and science.
Books are a media message.
They are also written by someone for a particular audience and with a purpose in mind. That purpose might be to inform, persuade, or express an opinion. The message of the book and how the author created it is something teachers have discussed forever in teaching and literature. The Harry Potter books, for example, are among the most challenged books, in terms of censorship, according to the American Library Association. That is a terrific way for educators to bring a media focus to a literature lesson.