Digital Media Literacy Escape Room

Item description

This low-prep escape room is designed to engage high school ELA
students in a series of activities that help them to learn about digital
media literacy. The tasks promote critical thinking about online
sources and provides students with specific strategies that they can use
to evaluate online information. This activity can be completed
individually or as part of a group.

This resource includes:

1)
Vocabulary word search – students find key terms related to digital
media literacy and find a three-number combination using the completed
puzzle.

2) Matching – match descriptions related to source information with the correct terms to create a seven-number combination.

3)
Close read – students read through a brief article about strategies
identifying and avoiding fake news, such as checking headlines,
researching the author, considering bias, etc. Students use the
information from the article to answer questions and unscramble the
shaded letters in order to complete a secret phrase.

4)
What’s Wrong? – a series of scenarios related to unreliable sources are
provided. Students will read through the scenarios and then use the
definitions of “problematic” sources on the following page to create a
five-symbol combination.

5) Cipher – students solve a
final cipher puzzle that reveals a quote related to critical thinking
and online content. Clues to solve the cipher have been included in the
previous activities.

6) Final reflections – students can
look back on their experience and identify helpful strategies for
avoiding fake news. These can be handed in for marks or used as a
discussion prompt.

7) Oops! cards – cards can be utilized
to give students a “time-out” from the game – these can be used for
groups who are working through the room faster than other groups, or for
individual students who are having difficulty working cooperatively
with others.

8) Completion certificates are included that can be filled out for students who complete all of the activities.

9) Instructions and key are included.