Media Literacy

I feel like my language arts education was not nearly as up to date with media literacy as the articles suggested. We maybe watched a few videos as rewards for finishing a book or a play, and we never talked about media as a whole. I only remember creating one video for class and I believe that was an extra credit assignment or a independant study project. I think that I definitely could have bennefitted from a more extenseive media education.

Considering my unit plan is dealing with media literacy, there are so many possibilities that I have to use in my planning. Like I stated in my last blog, the students could use video to create a PSA. I think that maybe creating a coupel ads based on what they know about advertising could be beneficial in educating them on the basics of advertising tricks.

Assessment

Alright so we are officially continuing this media idea for our unit plan (our being my partner and me). Assessment seems to be a little tricky because there is SO much we could do and a lot of it would take a good amount of time. Having students create their own film to demonstrate what they have learned would be very time consuming, as many people have pointed out to me. Standard 8.9.7.7 is about analyzing different types of mass media, which ties in to what we will be discussing in the classroom this week. Ideally, we WOULD be able to allow students to create their own films, but like I said, this is a little bit of a stretch. A short film in the form of a public service announcement, however, would be a good idea for a final assessment. This way, the students will be able to focus on what goes into making a PSA - the vocabulary, the script, the strategies used to influence viewers, the technology available, etc. All of these components will be able to be broken down into smaller assessments - vocab quizzes, writing of a script, demonstration of identifying strategies by providing their own examples, using the technology themselves to create their film. All building up to that one, short, PSA.