Olympia Middle School

Talk through the kind of content you and your tween or teen pass along to friends online. What types of things do you like to share? Do you always check to make sure something is true before you share it? How do emotions factor into your decisions to share things? Have you ever shared something and later found out it wasn't true?

The Olympia baseball store will be open now through next Wednesday, February 21st. Follow the link to gear up for the upcoming season! https://orders.minervapromotions.com/olympia_hs_baseball/shop/home

Video: bit.ly/OlyNMV1 Family Activity: Decoding Images. bit.ly/OlyNMFR1 Kids find and read news in lots of different ways. But studies show they're not very good at interpreting what they see. How can we help them get better? Teaching your children about the structure of online news articles is an important place to start.

The Olympia Board of Education approved naming the OHMS baseball field the 'Ron Smith Field'. The District is working with OPBA to plan a dedication on OPBA Day - April 6th. Thank you Coach for the positive impact you have had on so many student athletes!

Today at Olympia

Use real-life examples to help kids understand how people can view the same situation with totally different perspectives. One child might experience a game on the playground as fun, while another might feel like the rules are unfair. Sibling conflict can be a great example of how two people can have wildly different opinions about the same event. With older children, talk through controversial subjects and take turns arguing for different sides to help kids understand various viewpoints.

Today at Olympia

Fake News has been around for a long time. Track its history from 63 B.C. through present day in this infographic. Where do you see Fake News today (AI anyone!?)? How does it impact your life? Does it impact the type of media you consume, or where you consume it?

https://youtu.be/mh1dLvGe06Y - BBC video When we get news from our social media feeds, it often only tells us part of the story. Our friends -- and the website's algorithms -- tend to feed us perspectives we already agree with. Check out these ways to escape the filter bubble and make sure your ideas about the world are being challenged.

Early voting begins today! Check out details for your county at www.olympia.org/vote #MaintainRetainInnovate #TaxSwap #VoteMarch19

Today at Olympia

When you see advertising on TV or on a billboard, ask your children to figure out what the ad is selling. Sometimes it's obvious, and sometimes it's not. Help them explore why certain pictures, sounds, or words are used to sell certain products. Could AI be being used in the ad?

Well-crafted headlines benefit everyone. They help readers digest information and publishers sell news stories. But what if the headline is misleading? What if it's crafted just to get clicks and not to inform? "Clickbait" headlines may benefit advertisers and publishers (think $$$), but they don't benefit readers. And when they go viral, they can badly misinform the public. This week, look for clickbait headlines in the media that you consume and discuss them with your family. How many can you find before Sunday rolls around!?

Today at Olympia

Video: bit.ly/OlyNMV2 All media comes with an author and an agenda. Help kids think critically about any media they view with critical questions that dig below the surface. And to really empower kids, have them create their own media with these same questions in mind.

Happy National School Counseling Week to our School Counselors!

6th grade students just finished their Rube Goldberg projects. The students worked extremely hard on these projects. It was a great opportunity for the students to flex their problem-solving skills.

Help your children analyze the info around them, from toy packaging to Instagram posts to news headlines, and question the purpose of the words and images they see. Teach kids how to use fact-checking tools like Snopes and FactCheck.org.

For up to date referendum news throughout February and March, please follow our district social media pages. #MaintainRetainInnovate #TaxSwap #VoteMarch19

With so much media and information coming at us through the television, phones, social media, and more, it's more important than ever for kids to understand the basics of media literacy. When kids can identify different types of news and media and the methods and meanings behind them, they're on their way to being critical thinkers and smart consumers. Throughout the month, we will be sharing a set of five tips to help your children become critical thinkers of news and media. Here is a short video to get those conversations started! bit.ly/OlyNMV5