Delaney J Cook

Lesson Plan: Critical Media Literacy

I. RATIONALE:

This lesson is incredibly important given today’s culturally context. Children are inundated with technology before they learn to crawl, but who is teaching them how to critically understand and interpret the mass media? This lesson is aimed to teach students about media literacy using the resource: https://criticalmediaproject.org/ 

II. OVERVIEW

Grade Level: 6th

Subject(s): English Language Arts,                                                                                                              

Topic of Study: Critical Media Literacy

Time Allotment: 30 mins

Standards:

6.R1.7: Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well             as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.

ISTE: Knowledge Constructor: 3c Students curate information from digital resources using a variety of tools and methods to create collections of artifacts that demonstrate meaningful connections or conclusions.

Objectives:

• Students will be able to synthesizing information found on https://criticalmediaproject.org/ to demonstrate an understanding about how media influences our identities both personal and collective. Students will demonstrate their newfound knowledge through designing an educational magazine cover with headlines and graphics that address what they learn through research on  the Critical Media Project webpage.

III. IMPLEMENTATION

1. Each of you will have your own Ipad to work on. This will be mostly an individual assignment so that each of you may individually assess media’s influence over your identity.
2. Using your Ipad log on to  https://criticalmediaproject.org/ . *At this time have print out of Media literacies page from Critical Media Project webpage pass out for students to read in pairs.
3. Instruct students that before they further explore the website on their own that first they must either access the Media literacies page online or read the printed pdf in pairs or popcorn read as a whole class. Differentiate by letting students choose to read either online or off paper.
4. Next instruct students to visit Why Identity Matters on the webpage.
5. Watch the three videos and read the content. Choose one video in particular to respond to. Respond to the following:

1. Describe a type of discrimination addressed in the video.
2. What were some of the identities claimed/discussed. How does media inform, dissuade, or perpetuate these identities?
3. What are common misrepresentations of a people or group you often see in the media?
4. Respond to the idea that our identities are socially constructed, and our biological attributes are only one part of who we are. Do you agree with this statement? Tell me why or why not.

6. Next visit the DIY page to complete the Your Turn activity. Disregard the last instruction to put your work on facebook. This is just for class purposes.
7. Next explore the site at your leisure to get inspiration for your artifact [see final assessment below].

IV. ASSESSMENT

• Artifact creation: A Magazine Cover about what you have learned from your exploration of the Critical Media Project webpage. Create headlines and a cover that convey your learning and express how media forms identity.
• Use the following magazine cover templates or your creative source. https://www.canva.com/templates/search/magazine-covers/
• See example below:

Peer Assessment Tool:

How To use: Switch magazine covers with a partner and examine their work. Using the glow and grow chart below give honest and critical constructive feedback to your partner that they could actually act on. In other words, be specific with what you want them to change, expand, or contract. In the additional comments present a why.

IIV. Bibliography

Critical Media Project. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://criticalmediaproject.org/.