Media Strand

In today’s society Media is literally everywhere, from the television, to bus stop ads, radio commercials, the Internet, music, and even in our pockets. We live in a digital age, and with this ever-changing landscape we need to develop a strong and unbiased opinion of the media in impressionable children. This is why a whole strand in the Ontario Language Curriculum is based on being Media Literate, which is giving kids the tools necessary to critically interpret, create and understand Media in all forms. For this Language Arts blog post we are supposed to write about either an issue regarding Media Literacy, or an activity you can lead that class in to teach them about Media Literacy. This post will be based on a lesson idea that I found on www.edutopia.org, written by Michael Hernandez, called Empowering Students Through Multimedia Storytelling. If you would like to read about his lesson idea I have provided a link (http://bit.ly/1Yd0zo4) or you can find an in-depth summary of the lesson in my Week 3 Exploring Resources post. The lesson is basically having the children pick an issue and creating a Multimedia New Broadcast, which they will film and present to the class.

However, in the article Hernandez talks about how Media outlets usually do not fairly represent the community or issue that they are reporting on, which creates an unfair opinion in the minds of the public. This could also be called new age propaganda. This is why I think it is important to teach children about propaganda at a younger age in this digital society. They need to be able to understand when an opinion is being subtly imprinted in their mind and must be able to think critically about how and why the media is doing this. This is one of the expectations of the Media Literacy strand in the Ontario Curriculum: identify some media forms and explain how the conventions and techniques associated with them are used to create meaning (Ont. Language Curriculum, or OLC, http://bit.ly/1Lep545, p. 14) I think it would appropriate to teach a lesson on propaganda at the grade 6-8 level, and maybe even do a little project over a week or two if possible. This is what I had in mind.

You could begin the lesson by asking the class what they think propaganda is and what it is used for. After leading a discussion with the class you can then show them pictures of classic historical propaganda from the World Wars.

Bullfighter11. 2010. WW2. [online image] http://bit.ly/1FO7ApJ

This ties in perfectly to the strand expectation listed above. After talking with the class about what they think the War propaganda is trying to accomplish, you can then move onto more modern propaganda, maybe starting from the 80s or 90s, discussing them, and working your way up to any interesting pieces of propaganda that the students see today, whether it be in a magazine, a commercial, a news broadcast etc. [demonstrate an understanding of a variety of media texts] (OLC, p. 14) For example you could play an attack ad from one of the political campaigns, much like the conservative ad that we watched in class and discuss the hidden message they are trying to convey with the class. As a homework assignment, have the students locate and decipher a piece of propaganda on their own and bring it in to discuss with the class, this can be any piece of propaganda regarding any issue or topic, anything to foster an engaging and thoughtful conversation. As a closing project on propaganda, you can then have the students create their own piece of propaganda, trying to shape an opinion about any topic that they please. [Create a variety of media texts for different purposes and audiences, using appropriate forms, conventions, and techniques. & Reflect on and identify their strengths, areas for improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful in understanding and creating media texts.] (OLC, p. 14) This can be a fun and informative lesson/project on propaganda and fostering media literacy in your students. It also hits all 4 expectations of the Media Literacy Strand In the OLC.