Media Literacy

Media Literacy 


Resource 1

Common Sense Education. (2017). Cyberbullying: Be Upstanding. Retrieved from https://www.commonsense.org/education/system/files/uploads/classroom-curriculum/6-8-unit1-cyberbullyingbeupstanding.pdf?x=1

                                             
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY


Resource Critique 




            This lesson plan teaches students how to become a brave upstander when they see a person being cyberbullied. This lesson is for grades 6-8, but I think it could be modified for younger grades, as I believe it is important for all students to understand how to stand up against bullying on and offline. The lesson teaches online etiquette, creates an understanding that online behaviour has impacts, and teaches empathy. The lesson plan also includes a handout to send home to parents, which helps with communication and reinforces at home the importance of stopping bullying. The lesson also includes critical thinking questions to be discussed collaboratively which helps students develop these skills. The assessment is answering questions on a handout that is not engaging, and it does not allow for creativity. 


Classroom Application 


            By including a lesson on cyberbullying, it helps students think about online actions and their repercussions, as well as being empathetic towards their peers. I would apply assessment in a creative way, having students act out skits about the right and wrong way to respond to cyberbullying. Then students could write a reflection on how this impacted their knowledge of empathy and online interactions. 


            This video shows what to do if you are being cyberbullied. 


Connection to Ontario Curriculum


            The media literacy strand (in the front matter) states that “critical thinking as it applies to media products and messages assumes a special significance,” (p. 13). Students in this lesson are using critical thinking to help stop cyberbullying, as it influences students’ lives on and offline. 


Resource 2

Media Smarts. (2019). Break the Fake Lesson Plan: Verifying Information Online. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/language18currb.pdf

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC



Resource Critique 




            This lesson breaks down verifying online information into four easy steps, but it gives students all the information they need. Following these steps doesn’t result in deeper thinking about digital media. The lesson has an engaging and creative assessment, with students creating a public service announcement, or if they have more time a skit or an actual video based on the House Hippo example. This lesson involves students using their cellphones to create the PSA’s, which could result in problems with students not staying on task, or a student not having a phone.    
        

Here is a link to the House Hippo Video.


Classroom Application 


            Instead of having so many worksheets that students read, or have lectured to them by the teacher, I would want students to interact more with the content. Students would co-create criteria and steps to discover if a site’s information was valid and share this with the class. I would act as a coach, providing some background knowledge before and being there to ask the critical questions to have students think deeper about the creation and sharing of fake information. 


Connection to Ontario Curriculum


            The media literacy strand states that “students must be able to differentiate between fact and opinion; evaluate the credibility of sources; recognize bias; be attuned to discriminatory portrayals of individuals and groups, including women and minorities; and question depictions of violence and crime,” (p. 13). Students in this lesson are learning tools to determine if the information is factual and part of this includes researching if the source is valid. 


Resource 3

Media Smarts. (1989). Prejudice and Body Image. Retrieved from http://mediasmarts.ca/sites/mediasmarts/files/pdfs/lessonplan/Lesson_Prejudice_Body_Image.pdf

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC

Resource Critique




            This lesson plan is important to help not only with student’s literacy surrounding media advertisements but also helps with student’s body image. By using magazines to identify society’s ideal body image based on models in ads, students can begin to critically question how such an image can be harmful. Students can discuss and reflect on how this type of idealization impacts their lives and how unrealistic and hurtful this image is. The cost of materials would be low as students have to bring in one magazine each to look at images. However, as this lesson uses magazines and is from 1989, I think there would need to be a larger emphasis on online ads. 


Classroom Application


            In my class I would add a focus to online ads, like the ones students would see on their Instagram’s about weight loss products that promote unhealthy dieting, like tea cleanses. I also believe looking at social media as a whole is important, as many famous Instagram stars only post certain portions of their life which places a skewed understanding of mental health, body image, weight loss, etc. 


These ten ways to improve body image might be helpful to discuss after this lesson. The list comes from the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA).


Connection to Ontario Curriculum


            The media literacy strand states that “To develop their media literacy skills, students should have opportunities to view, analyse, and discuss a wide variety of media texts and relate them to their own experience,” (p. 13). Students in this lesson are analyzing media ads, discussing how this impacts body image and relating it to how this impacts their self-worth.



References

Common Sense Education. (2017). Cyberbullying: Be Upstanding. Retrieved from https://www.commonsense.org/education/system/files/uploads/classroom-curriculum/6-8-unit1-cyberbullyingbeupstanding.pdf?x=1

Media Smarts. (2019). Break the Fake Lesson Plan: Verifying Information Online. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/language18currb.pdf

Media Smarts. (1989). Prejudice and Body Image. Retrieved from http://mediasmarts.ca/sites/mediasmarts/files/pdfs/lessonplan/Lesson_Prejudice_Body_Image.pdf

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2006). The Ontario curriculum grades 1‐8: Language [Media Literacy]. (p. 13). Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/language18currb.pdf