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WIINDMILL PRESS (Canadian publisher of media literacy books and resources)
view, read and listen to media works to obtain information and to complete assigned tasks;
distinguish between a commercial and a program:
identify different technologies;
create some simple media works.
throughout the year, concentrate on enabling students to extract information from media works by giving them worksheets, engaging in brainstorming exercises, etc
one of the language skills for grade 2 is to "re-tell stories by concentrating on begining, middle and end;" have students watch a video clip or a short animation feature and in partners re-tell the story to each other
after showing the video clip, have students describe a character by saying three things about that character; with each thing, train partners to ask "why"? For example, Brandon tells Michelle that Arthur is nice. Michelle should respond with "why" so that Brandon replies, "because Arthur found the dog."
demonstrate how voice, plays such an important role in making a character good or evil or sly or mean
use a recording device to record different types of voice and hence different types of characters
use a video camera to combine facial expressions with voice (ie mad face, mad voice); have fun with this and try to mix up non-verbal gestures like facial expressions with different voices
show an informational piece (a short video segment on rocks) and have students complete a worksheet or have students write down some interesting things they learned from the video
engage in a group discussion about some of the elements of the film that made it interesting; play back the beginning and listen to the music playing while the voice-over gave information; ask students why the music is there, what effect does it have and other such questions
show a 30 second section of a children's show and ask students whether what they'd just seen was a TV show or a commercial, giving reasons why; show a 30 second commercial and ask the same, with students giving reasons why what they've seen is a commercial
using the 3-5 descriptors which the students give you, show a variety of 30 second clips and commercials and have students identify which is a program and which is a commercial
show an example of a magazine advertisement and ask students whether what is shown is an article or an advertisement, listing reasons for their choice (you might give a lesson prior to this on the difference, depending on what you've previously studied in class); do the same for an article
using the 3-5 descriptors which the students provide, show a variety of advertisements and articles and have students distinguish between them
ask students if it would be tricky if a magazine made an article that was really an advertisement selling something (fashion and teen magazines often do this)
make a list of different "technologies" that give you informaiton (TV, radio, computer, VCR, the Internet) and why you might use that type of technology
use a variety of these technologies in your classroom
read a book and then listen to the book on cassette; ask students how the story was different when they looked at the pictures than when they listened to the story without pictures
have students bring in their favourite toy and design a print advertisement for that toy
using the video camera, have students record a commercial for their advertisement in which they are the spokesperson for the product; they will have to use voice and non-verbal expression like gestures and facial expressions to accomplish this
create a character based on characterization (evil, good, etc)
