Kara Johnston
July 29, 2005
GED 502: Remote Control or Self Control- Media Literacy Education
Media Literacy Unit
Source: http://www.acmevermont.org/curriculum.htm
Learning
to be critical of commercials!
Focusing Question: What messages are commercials really sending to young viewers?
Rationale:
This media literacy unit will be geared to first graders
however; it can be used with students in grades K-2 when modifications are made.
This unit will focus on helping my students to deconstruct the messages
being sent to them while watching television commercials.
There will be a total of five lessons plans taught over the course of two
weeks. The reason I decided to
focus on helping students to look at the commercials that they watch with a
critical eye is because T.V. is such a huge part of their world.
They are constantly bombarded with commercials that are aimed at getting
them to buy a new toy, snack, or piece of clothing.
I want my students to develop critical viewing skills that allow them to
independently make their own positive decisions about the information that they
are being exposed to. I know trying
to teach my first graders that everything they see on television isn’t always
real could prove to be a serious challenge.
Children at the first grade level are at the developmental stage where
they believe what they see on T.V., which might make it difficult for them to
realize that what they are viewing isn’t always true. However, I will be prepared for this and have lots of
examples and activities on hand to let them explore this issue.
Parental Involvement:
It is very important that parents are aware
of, and involved in this unit on media literacy.
This will be an opportunity for me to discuss media literacy with my
students, and their parents. I am
hoping that this unit will help parents start to think about how much television
their children are watching and think about all the advertising they are being
bombarded with. I will send out a
letter to inform parents about this unit and encourage them to get involved.
I will also need parent volunteers to tape some commercials from their
child’s favorite TV shows.
Instructional Objectives:
· Students will learn what an advertisement is.
· Students will learn what an advertiser does.
· Students will learn to view media with a critical eye, and deconstruct media messages.
· Students will be able to identify advertising techniques used to grab a viewer’s attention, and make them want to buy a product.
· Students will be able to distinguish between fantasy and reality while watching T.V. commercials.
· Students will learn that packaging doesn’t affect the toy or the taste of a food product.
·
Students will realize that this skepticism regarding commercials
should be transferred to other commercials that they see in other places and
that they hear on the radio.
Materials/Resources:
- Television
- VCR
- DVD Player
- Computer Access
- Taped TV commercials from kid and adult programs
- Chart paper
- Markers
- Video recorder
- Blank tapes
- Sentence strips
- Scissors
- Variety of art materials
- “Buy Me This” series
Vermont State Teaching Standards:
Vital Results Standards:
a.) Ask clarifying questions
b.) Restate
c.) Respond through discussion, writing, and using art forms
1.14 Students critique what they have heard (e.g., music, oral presentation). This is evident when students:
a.) Observe
b.) Describe
c.) Extend
d.) Interpret
e.) Make connections
1.15 Students use verbal and nonverbal skills to express themselves effectively. This is evident when students:
a.) Share information
d.) Make effective use of such devices as pace, volume, stress, enunciation, and pronunciation.
e.) Use language expressively and persuasively
f.) Constructively express preferences, feelings, and needs.
2.1 Students ask a variety of questions. This is evident when students:
a.) Ask questions about how things get done and how they work.
f.) Ask reflective questions that connect new ideas to personal experience.
2.7 Students respond to new information by reflecting on e respond to new information by reflecting on experience and reconsidering their opinions and sources of information.
3.7 Students make informed decisions. This is evident when students:
a.)
Seek information and base decisions on evidence from reliable sources
including prior knowledge, trying things out, peers, adults, and print and
non-print resources.
3.11 Students interact respectfully with others, including those with whom they have differences.
Fields of
Knowledge:
5.14 Students interpret and evaluate a variety of types of media including audio, graphic images, film, television, video and on-line resources. This is evident when students:
b.) Support judgments about what is seen and heard by drawing from experiences beyond the media, or by giving examples of conflicting messages in the media.
c.) Compare what is seen and heard in the media to their own lives.
Learning Opportunities:
B.1 Learning experiences that engage students in active learning, build on prior knowledge and experiences, and develop conceptual and procedural understanding, along with student independence. For example:
b.) Strategies that help students link new learning to previous knowledge and experiences (e.g., discussion of previous experiences, free writes, pretests, "think-pair-share," three-minute pauses).
g.) Opportunities for students to bring up and explore their own misconceptions, and to replace these with accurate conceptions of knowledge.
D.2 Learning experiences that have personal, community, and/or global relevance. For example:
a.) Thematic studies that allow students to draw connections between their lives and the world beyond the classroom.
D.3 An educational climate that is collaborative, in which school staff,
families, health and human services personnel, and community members
work together to support all learners. For example:
a.) Ongoing, two-way communication with parents and community members sharing of information, solving problems, and developing and discussing standards and criteria.
Lesson Plans:
Lesson
One- The
first lesson in this unit will be devoted to getting to know the television
viewing habits of my students. I
will tell them that we are going to start a unit on investigating television
commercials, but before we start I would like to know what TV shows they watch,
and what types of commercials they normally see while watching these shows.
We will start by having a brief general class discussion on these topics.
Then I will introduce a television survey that asks students what types
of programs they watch on TV, when they watch TV, how many shows a day, and what
types of commercials they usually see while watching TV, and if they have ever
bought something based on a commercial they saw.
Each student will complete a survey but they will be allowed to have
quiet group discussions at their tables while working.
When the students finish they will bring me their surveys, so that I can
review them before teaching my next media literacy lesson.
This will give me some background knowledge on the television viewing
habits of my students, which will be helpful in teaching this unit.
Lesson
Two- Today’s
lesson will start off with a discussion on what an advertisement is and what an
advertiser does. I will record the
students’ ideas on chart paper and then we will come up with a comprehensive
definition. Then I will show a
commercial and we will discuss what the message of the commercial was. I will ask students to focus on certain things while watching
the commercial. Some things I would
like my students to consider is what’s the message of the commercial, what
things do you see that make you interested in the product, and do you think the
product that you buy in the store will be the same as the one you see on TV why
or why not? I will show them the
commercial twice and then we will deconstruct it as a class. Then we will deconstruct another commercial, and the students
will consider the same questions. Before
watching the second commercial I will introduce some persuasive techniques that
advertisers frequently use. The
students will be asked to identify whether these techniques were used in the
commercial.
Lesson
Three- For
this lesson I will need the assistance of parents to tape episodes of
children’s television programs. We
will make a chart that has three categories: food, stuff (toys), and other
commercials. We will view the
commercials during these programs and put them into one of the three categories.
We will deconstruct these commercials as we go.
Also, we will watch a few commercials that were aired during adult
programs (as long as they are appropriate) and discuss the differences in the
advertisements during children and adult programs.
We will talk about why different commercials are aired during different
programs, why is this done? We will
pay particular attention to the toy commercials that we watch have students draw
on personal experiences with these toys. Do
these personal experiences confirm what is seen in the commercial.
Lesson Four- Watch a segment from the “Buy Me This” series. Then watch a really bad product commercial. Then give the students a few minutes to think about whether the product could really work the way it was shown in the commercial, then watch the ad one more time. Have them consider whether it could work the same way it does in the ad? Are the words used to describe the toy accurate? Bring in the real toy of the commercial you just watched. Have the students think about if you could reenact what was show on the ad with the real product. Have students bring in toys that they purchased based on what they saw on TV. Can they really do what was shown on TV? Discuss the differences between fantasy and reality. Have students draw a picture of their toy and write the good and bad things about the item. Specifically, how the toy was accurately and wrongly depicted in the commercial. (Lesson adapted from the Don’t be Fooled Unit)
Lesson
Five- As
a class we will brainstorm on the importance of viewing advertisements with a
critical eye. I will bring up the
point that there are other forms of advertisements besides television
commercials. Do we need to be
critical of these ads as well, and why? We
will come up with ideas of things to do to get others in our school and
community to be critical of advertisements.
We will then develop a plan to implement in our school to help others
become media literate. For this
lesson I will let the suggestions of students guide what type of group project
we will do.
Assessments: Assessments for this unit will include examples of student work, and contributions to class and small group discussions.