Making Meaning

1. Making Meaning Media within English

2. Making Meaning???

3. Making Meaning??? M. M. Bakhtin Jacques Derrida Meaning within a text takes place in the act of dialogue between the writer and the reader… Works proceed from origins that can never be definitely known, only constructed and deconstructed.

4. Making Meaning “Candidates appreciate and analyse alternative interpretations, making cross references where appropriate.” AQA English Language A grade criteria “…they explore and evaluate alternative and original interpretations.” AQA English Language A* grade criteria

5. Media within English “The electronic media play an increasingly significant role in defining the cultural experiences of contemporary childhood.” Buckingham 2000:16

6. Media within English “Children’s expertise with technologies gives them access to new forms of culture and communication that largely escapes parental control.” Buckingham 2000:5

7. Media within English “The attempt to protect children by restricting their access to media is doomed to fail… we now need to pay much closer attention to how we prepare children to deal with these [media] experiences.” Buckingham 2000:16

8. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8Sn01MJ9WE

9. Using Images with Poetry Part One: In groups, read through the poem – different poem for each group – decide on suitable images. Part Two: Download images and begin to sequence them – think about suitable music (tone of poem) Part Three: Prepare the text (if video editing); prepare the presentation on your poem to go with the video. Part Four: Begin showing videos/slideshows with presentations prepared by class.

10. Using Images with Poetry If making videos, they can use VE software. If making slideshows, they can use ppt. or just paper/card displays. Images/Sound can come from: • Their cameras/video cameras • Their phones • The internet (google images) • CDs • Etc.

11. Using Images with Poetry Useful activities: Imagery: what images would you associate with certain lines (break down – individual HW leading to group success) Language: What fonts/colours best fit the language of the poem? Tone: what music comes to mind when you think of the poem? Why?

12. Media within GCSE D – Describe A – Analyse E – Evaluate Say what you see Say how it works How well does it work? P – Point E – Example E – Explain

13. Media within GCSE • Writing to analyse, review, comment: Media Assignment • AO3 (i): communicate clearly and imaginatively, using and adapting forms for different readers and purposes • AO3 (ii): organise ideas into sentences, paragraphs and whole texts using a variety of linguistic and structural features

14. Media within GCSE “The task should enable the candidate to demonstrate their ability to analyse, review and comment on features of media texts such as television programmes, film, radio programmes, newspapers, advertisements and magazines… responses should be firmly rooted in a reading of media texts; effective analysis and review of their chosen text(s) will require candidates to use an appropriate critical vocabulary.”

15. Media within GCSE “shows focus on text(s) and detailed treatment of task and their purposes by expressing ideas coherently, logically and persuasively. There may be a judicious mix of overview and close reference, with technical analysis where appropriate, when writing, for example, an entry in Guide to Modern Films.” AQA GCSE media assignment – A grade

16. Media within GCSE “In Britain, the games market is twice the size of the market for video rentals and 1.4 times greater than that of cinema admissions.” Carr, Buckingham, Burn, Schott 2006:1 1). How successfully do the language and imagery of computer games magazines market the magazines to boys? 2). How far do games aimed specifically at girls differ from games aimed specifically at boys? 3). How well does [chosen game] advance its narrative in the first level?

17. Media within GCSE “In every branch of the media… new images of childhood are appearing. The children represented in these raw images are much more physical and challenging than the ones Romantic imagery accustomed us to so much that the entire Romantic definition of childhood is being called into question.” Higonnet 1998:107 1). Asbo-Culture: How is youth culture represented in [two print publications – one aimed at young people, one aimed at adults]? 2). How much have modern children’s magazines changed from those in the Victorian period? 3). How successful is [specific front cover of magazine] at marketing the magazine to very young children?

18. Media within GCSE “Multi-Channel television, for example, may bring about the decline of broadcasting… in favour of ‘narrowcasting’; while the internet is the medium par excellence for those with specialist or minority interests.” Buckingham 2000:92 1). How has children’s television changed in the UK since the 1980s? 2). Spoilt for Choice: How have multi-channel television and on demand services changed the way people watch television? 3). How are videos produced exclusively for the internet different from more commercial videos?

19. Media within GCSE • Use a research-based approach – both teacher and student need to research • Try to have some form of production element (from a magazine front cover to the first level of a computer game) • Set mini-tasks leading up to the main task • Utilise the topics of textual analysis, representation or audience when setting tasks.

20. Media Makers “[Children today] have powerful tools for inquiry, analysis, self-expression, influence and play. They have unprecedented mobility. They are shrinking the planet in ways their parents [and teachers] could never imagine. Unlike television, which was done to them, they are the actors in the digital world.” Tapscott 1998:3

21. Acting Out: KS3 Media The new KS3 Programme of Study lists 4 Cs: • Competence • D: being adaptable in a widening range of familiar and unfamiliar contexts within the classroom and beyond • E: making informed choices about ways to communicate formally and informally • Creativity • B: using inventive approaches to making meaning, taking risks, playing with language and using it to create new effects • C: using imagination to convey themes, ideas and arguments, solve problems, and create settings, moods and characters

22. Acting Out: KS3 Media • Cultural Understanding • B: Exploring how ideas, experiences and values are portrayed differently in texts from a range of cultures and traditions • Critical Understanding • A: Engaging with ideas and texts, understanding and responding to the main issues • B: assessing the validity and significance of information and ideas from different sources

23. Acting Out: KS3 Media Any or all of these activities might give young learners the chance to be creative and critical:

24. SOMETIMES IT WASN’T EASY AT ALL… Sample of ‘Afghan Girl’ before and after posterization… HE STARED RIGHT THROUGH ME…

25. http://www.myteacherpages.com/webpages/ghealey

26. References • Buckingham, David – After the Death of Childhood, Cambridge (2000) • Buckingham, Carr, Burn & Schott – Computer Games: Text, Narrative and Play, Cambridge (2006) • Higonnet, A. – Pictures of Innocence: The History and Crisis of Ideal Childhood, London (1998) • Tapscot, D. – Growing Up Digital: The Rise of the Net Generation, New York (1998)