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March 3, 2007. Using Popular Culture & Media Literacy to Meet State Standards. SC Middle Schools: Charting the Course. Frank Baker, media educator, fbaker1346@aol.com. National Media Education Conference June 23-26 St. Louis MO www.amlainfo.org. Media,Youth & Education.
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March 3, 2007 Using Popular Culture & Media Literacyto Meet State Standards SC Middle Schools: Charting the Course Frank Baker, media educator, fbaker1346@aol.com
National Media Education ConferenceJune 23-26 St. Louis MOwww.amlainfo.org
Media,Youth & Education • Youth are attracted to media • Teachers use media in instruction • Not many know what “media literacy” is • School libraries have little, if any, resources • Media literacy is in the standards, but few have the skills or knowledge to teach it.
52 percent of Americans can name “at least two members of ‘The Simpsons’ cartoon family” but only 28 percent can name two of “the five fundamental freedoms granted to them by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Media use by youth • 4:39 average time the TV set is on per day • 87% number of youth playing video games • 69% of youth have TV in their bedrooms • 60% number who say they watch commercials • 73% number of teens online regularly • 72% (15-17 year olds) say sex on TV influences their peer group
Teaching with media “Movies, advertisements, and all other visual media are tools teachers need to use and media we must master if we are to maintain our credibility in the coming years.” Jim Burke, author ofThe English Teacher’s Companion
Teaching With Film Middle Ground: October 2006Focus On Film: Learning It Through Through The Movies Who says movies aren't valuable instructional tools? When students are engaged with the content through a medium they love, they learn better and retain more.
Kaiser Family Foundation study Generation M: Multi-taskers “digital natives”
“Our students are growing up in a world saturated with media messages…yet, they(and their teachers)receive little or no training in the skills of analyzing or re-evaluating these messages, many of which make use of language, moving images, music, sound effects.”Source: R.Hobbs, Journal Adult & Adolescent Literacy, February 2004
Multi-modal literacies From an early age, students are very sophisticated readers and producers of multi-modal work. They can be helped to understand how these works make meaning, how they are based on conventions, and how they are created for and respond to specific communities or audiences.2005 Declaration, NCTE Executive Committee
NMSA recommends media literacy “The challenge will be to…. help students understand what is behind every message they receive and how to use that knowledge and their critical thinking skills to form well-rounded opinions and to become better informed consumers of media messages.”Sue Swaim, former executive director, NMSA
NMSA recommends media literacy “There are many opportunities to address media literacy throughout the school day, whether in language arts, science, social studies, math classes or through art, computer technology or health and physical education classes. Spending faculty professional development time to discuss media literacy and its impact on your students and to address it within your school’s curricula would be especially worthwhile.” Sue Swaim, former executive director, NMSA
SC recognizes media literacy in ELA Revised ELA StandardsGuiding Principle 8 An effective English language arts curriculum provides for literacy in all forms of media.
So what is media literacy? Spend the next few minutes writing your own definition.
Media literacy defined: Media literacy is concerned with helping students develop an informed and critical understanding of the nature of mass media, the techniques used by them, and the impact of these techniques. More specifically, it is education that aims to increase the students' understanding and enjoyment of how the media work, how they produce meaning, how they are organized, and how they construct reality. Media literacy also aims to provide students with the ability to create media products. Media Literacy Resource Guide, Ministry of Education Ontario, 1997
Media literacy benefits “A growing body of research suggests that media literacy instruction improves student reading, viewing, and listening comprehension of print, audio, and videotexts; message analysis and interpretation; and writing skills. As students progress, they develop transferable analytical tools for learning and gain concrete connections between the curriculum and their experiences outside of school.” Media Matters, Access Learning, March 2005
Math & Science Connections TV RATINGS/SHARES These are percentages SCIENCE RELATED GENRES
Understanding advertising Do your students know all of the common“techniques of persuasion?”
What is media literacy: • Set of skills, knowledge, abilities • Awareness of personal media habits • Understanding of how media works • Appreciation of media’s power/influence • Ability to discern; critically question/view • How meaning is created in media • Healthy skepticism • Ability to produce & create media
What media literacy is not: • media bashing • “protection” against media • just about television- or turning off the TV • just TV production • how to use AV equipment • teaching with media; rather it is teaching about the media
Best practice: Core concepts • All media are constructed • Media constructed with unique languages with their own set of rules • Media convey values & points-of-view • Audiences negotiate meaning in messages • Media= power + profit Center for Media Literacy
Best practice: Critical inquiry • Who produced the message? • For what purpose? • For which audience(s)? • What techniques are used both to attract attention and increase believability? • Who benefits from the message? • Who or what might be omitted and why?
Languages of TV & Film • CAMERASa) position b) lens c) movement • LIGHTS • EDITING • SOUND • SET DESIGN • ACTORS: expression; wardrobe
Examples Cell phone AdScript Film To Kill A Mockingbird 1 Youth produced 1
Using Popular Culture & Media Literacyto Meet State Standards Invite Frank Baker to present at your school or district’s next Professional Development Day fbaker1346@aol.comwww.frankwbaker.com