SEPTEMBER 30, 2023

Once per cycle, Class VII students meet in the library for one of the newest courses on 92nd Street—Information Literacy—which focuses specifically on media and news literacy. Created by Middle School Librarian and Advisor Ms. Chesterman, this new class is being piloted in the seventh grade, and all students in Class VII will take the course this year.

While the library team actively promotes information literacy through classroom lessons, research project support, and one-on-one consultations, throughout the last couple of years Ms. Chesterman recognized the need to centralize this work and create a structured media literacy class in Middle School.

“Students' digital literacy needs grow rapidly in Middle School,” Ms. Chesterman explained. “By introducing this class, we aim to provide students with a strong foundation in information literacy skills to support them on their academic journeys here at Nightingale and beyond the classroom.”

In this new course, students will learn how to cite their sources properly, how to critically evaluate images and videos in the news and on the internet, how to identify mis- and disinformation, how to distinguish credible sources from unreliable ones, and how to evaluate unfamiliar websites, Ms. Chesterman shared.

“The curriculum aims to empower students with the skills to discover and analyze information on their own; to navigate the congested information landscape with confidence and a critical eye,” Ms. Chesterman said. “I hope that students will take away a sense of empowerment from learning these skills, so that they can thrive in today’s information age.”