Use the Class One PowerPoint Presentation to introduce the course and play the Media Literacy People Bingo game to get to know the students.
Class One Grade 6 Presentation
Media Literacy People Bingo
Use the Class Two PowerPoint Presentation to quickly discuss classroom rules and routines and than have the students try to login using their student number and last year's last password. Discuss the importance of not forgetting passwords and how to remember your password all year. Finally, show students how to save their work in their HOME DRIVE and give them time to practise this skill.
Class Two Presentation
Class Three Media Literacy and Brand Recognition In class three, have the students work with a partner to recognize as many products as possible from the ABC's of Brands poster. If time permits, have the class go to the online Brand Recognition Activity and the online Battle of the Brands.
ABC's of Brands Poster
Here Are the Answers: A: ALL B: BUBBLICIOUS C: CAMPBELLS D: DAWN E: EGGO F: FRITOS G: GATORADE H: HEBREW NATIONAL I: ICE J: JELLO (SUGAR FREE) K: KOOLAID L: LYSOL M: M&M's N: NILLA WAFERS O: OREOS P: PEZ Q: Q-TIPS R: REESE'S S: STARBURST T: TIDE U: UNCLE V: V8 W: WISK X: XTRA LAUNDRY DETERGENT Y: YORK PEPPERMINT PATTIES Z: ZEST
The second is the Media Studies Triangle which examines 3 different points of view (the Media Text, the Audience, and the Production) in order to gain more meaning. All 3 points of view must be considered to fully understand the media text's meaning.
Use the activity sheet Media Studies Triangle to analyse various media text....
Let's analyse a few media texts together.....
A) Here is a Coke Commercial.....
B) Here is a PSA (Public Service Announcement) About Factory Farming Called "The Meatrix":
C) Here are Movie Posters.....
D) Now, with a partner or on your own, try using the "Media Studies Triangle" to analyse a Magazine....
Product Placement in the Movies Do a YouTube search for "Behind the Screens".... the documentary is in 5 parts on YouTube. Be sure the students are aware the three ways in which products are integrated into the movies we watch today (Cross Promotions, Merchandising, and Tie-Ins). All three are explained with examples in "Behind the Screens: Hollywood goes Hypercommercial 3 of 5" on YouTube.
Cross Promotions: the product is in the film and mentioned plus the commercials about the product mention the film.
Merchandising: what else can you sell as a result of the movie (i.e. t-shirts, mugs, toys). Some characters in movies are actually created because they can easily become toys (i.e. "ToyStory")
Tie-Ins: the product and the film have an agreement/arrangement. For example, Disney and McDonalds have had a 10 year agreement that any Disney movie will be promoted with products (toys with Happy Meals) at McDonalds.
Movie makers are nolonger interested in making great movies they are more interested in making great deals.
Product Placement Activity: Have the students find their own examples of product placement in movies they know. If possible some may even bring in the VHS or DVD. It might be more productive (and provocative) to have them review a few of their own favorite movies. Ask the students to find examples of Cross Promotions, Merchadising, and Tie-Ins
Before you get your first term poster assignment, we are going to go over a few lessons on using PhotoShop Elements.
Lessons:
1. Creating a new document (be sure it is 11 inches wide by 8.5 inches high) See the "Getting to Know the Tools in Photoshop Elements" activity sheet.
2. Finding Photos on the internet (using Google image search) and saving the images in your home drive. Open the image in PhotoShop and change the size of the image if necessary.
This term we are going to learn about the concept of "consumerism" and how our "materials economy" is killing our planet. Consumerism is the concept that an ever-expanding consumption of goods is advantageous to the economy. In other words, the more stuff we buy the better for our economy; however, what effect is all this stuff having on our environment?
We are going to watch a documentary, The Story of Stuff. A 20-minute animation of the consumerist society, narrated by Anne Leonard.
We are also going to watch the Disney-Pixar animation, Wall-e.
Next, you are going to learn to use the software Comic Life and create a comic strip about one of the topics you learned about through the documentary.
In the classroom I have an excellent resource entitled, Comic Life for Educators (FTC Publishing). Feel free to ask me for a look inside.
In order to teach how to use Comic Life, I have created two comics to teach students about Comic Life. Below is a worksheet to help you with the basics. Make a comic about whatever you want. It needs to include: LETTERING, TEXT BOX, SPEECH BUBBLES, CLIP ART, AND IMAGES.
Once you have mastered the basic skills, the worksheet below shows more complex skills (i.e. ADDING A BACKGROUND, MANIPULATING A PHOTO OR CLIP ART, and ADDING AN IMAGE TO A BACKGROUND). Once you have learned how to use Comic Life, it is time to do your assignment!
You have learned about some of the problems with our "materials economy" and you have learned how to use the software Comic Life. Now you are going to create a comic strip which educates young people about one concept or idea you learned in the documentary "The Story of Stuff". Do some research on any one of the issues below and create a comic strip to teach others your age about your topic. Be sure to go back to the documentary “The Story of Stuff” and click on the “Learn More” links.
The Steps:
1. Choose a Topic from the documentary that interests you (i.e. a problem like “extraction” or a solution like “saving forests”).
2. Research and take good notes about your topic.
3. Use Comic Life to create your comic strip about your topic. When making your comic strip, be aware of your purpose (to educate about one idea from the documentary) and your audience (young people).
PROBLEMS: 1) EXTRACTION: -“we are running out of natural resources” -“coltan in the Congo”
2) PRODUCTION: - How safe are the 100 000 Synthetic chemicals used in production? - “Toxics In Toxics Out” - B.F.R.’s Brominated Flame Retardants - Human Breast Milk has the Highest Level of Many Toxic Contaminants. - Toxic Pollution from Production
3) DISTRIBUTION: - Externalized Costs: How They Keep the Prices Down and the Products Moving
4) CONSUMPTION: - A Nation of Consumers - 1% of All Products are Still In Use 6 Months After Being Purchased - Planned Obsolescence “Designed for the Dump” - Perceived Obsolescence “Change How Stuff Looks” - “Work…Watch….Spend” Treadmill
5) DISPOSAL: - “We each make 4.5 pounds of garbage a day”. - Garbage Dumps (Landfills) and Incinerators - Dioxin: the most toxic man made substance - 1:70 Ratio of Garbage at Home and Garbage at Production - Some Garbage Cannot be Recycled
SOLUTIONS: - Saving Forests - Clean Production - Labour Rights - Fair Trade - Conscious Consuming - Blocking Landfills and Incinerators - Taking Back Our Government - Sustainability - Green Chemistry - Zero Waste - Closed Loop Production - Renewable Energy - Local Living Economies
Rationale: As part of a unit on Global Bullying, students will learn about the use of child soldiers in the world (specifically in Uganda). In the unit students see bullying by individuals, by armies and by countries. In the case of child soldiers, students will see the "bullying" of these children by armies. Specifically, this lesson focuses on the civil war in Uganda. The lesson begins with the concept of "soldier", looks specifically at the problem of child soldiers in Uganda, and ends with plans to participate in the annual GuluWalk in downtown Toronto.
Curriculum Expectations: Overall Expectations: demonstrate an understanding of a variety of media texts; create a variety of media texts for different purposes and audiences, using appropriate forms, conventions and techniques;
Specific Expectations 1.1 explain how a variety of media texts address their intended purpose and audience 1.6 identify who produces various media texts and determine the commercial interests that the text may involve 3.4 produce a variety of media texts of some technical complexity for specific purpose and audiences, using appropriate forms, conventions, and techniques
Before - Activation In order to introduce the topic of child soldiers as vicitums of bullying, students will be involved in a comparison and contrast activity using Google images. Students will be asked to closed their eyes and create an image in their mind when the teacher says a word. Start with simple concepts like "ice cream", "pizza", and "math textbook". Than, say the word "soldier". Now show the photo collection below of soldiers and keep asking the students, "Is this a soldier?"
During - Processing Show the documentary "Night Commuters-Uganda" and have them complete the Media Prism worksheet. This worksheet can be started in class and finished for homework.
What we can do to help is participate in the Annual TDSB GuluWalk which raises money and awareness. Here is some information about this event that was started in Toronto.
This Year the TDSB STUDENT GULU WALK is on THURSDAY APRIL 29, 2010
After - Consolidation: Students will be asked to work in small groups to come up with a slogan for a banner the class will create and carry during the Annual TDSB GuluWalk in downtown Toronto.
Lesson: Effective Use of Slogans
In this lesson students will look at various commercial slogans and analyse what makes them effective. First they will be given a list of slogans and ask them to match the slogan with the product or service (for example: "finger licking good" and KFC or "Just Do It" and Nike). Than they will review the slogans created for the GuluWalk banner and discuss which ones are most effective and why. Some examples may be "We Walk for Uganda", "Do the GuluWalk!" or "Every Step Counts!"
Lesson: Creating Banners A few weeks before the TDSB GuluWalk (last week of April), students will be given class time to contruct their banners. For uniform letters an overhead will be used with large sheets of paper for letter templates. The templates can be taped onto the bed sheets and spray paint can be used to trace the letters onto the canvas. Students will decide in advance what colours and symbols they would like on their banner (for example: hearts, footprints, and peace signs).
Instructional Strategies: visual activity (image of a soldier), deep viewing of documentary (media prism), brainstorming (slogans for banners), performance task (create banner) and field trip (TDSB GuluWalk)
Assessment and Evaluation:
Assessment for learning: ask students what they already know about child soldiers?
Assessment as learning: have students brainstorm in groups various slogans they can use for their banner. This will not be part of their final grade but a chance to explore slogans.
Assessment of learning: the culminating task for this lesson is the GuluWalk Banner (media product). It will be evaluated using a rubric. The banner will illustrate student's understanding of child soldiers as victims of bullying. They will also be asked to include a reflective journal entry about the process, their learning and their participation in the TDSB GuluWalk.
This term you are going to learn to use PhotoShop Elements to create an animation. Before we begin using PhotoShop, we will look at examples of animation projects done in the past few years.
We will start with basic skills, like drawing an object and getting it to move.
1st create a simple animation: moving one object like a bouncing ball Draw a simple picture with a small movement in each layer.
1. Be sure you have your Tools and your Layers windows open 2. Go to File and New 3. Name your document: Animation 1 4. Size is 5 inches by 5 inches 5. Resolution is 72 pixels/inch (the number of pixels or dots per square inch) 6. Mode: RGB Colour 7. Contents: Transparent 8. Now draw a simple object like a Ball or Arrow (only one colour) 9. Select the object using the Magic Wand Tool 10. Go to Edit and Copy 11. Go to Edit and Paste 12. Select the Move Tool and move the object slightly in the second layer 13. Repeat the Edit and Paste to get another layer and move slightly 14. To Animate: Select File and Save for Web, Animate and Loop and select the Internet Explorer button.
Next, we will learn how to draw a background, animate an object and merge that animation into the background.
2nd animation: animation with a background. 1. Go to File and New 2. Name your document: Animation 2; Size is 5 inches by 5 inches 3. Resolution is 72 pixels/inch; Mode: RGB Color; Contents: Background Color 4. Now design and draw a background that you would like to use for your animation using the various tools in your toolbox. DO NOT DRAW YOUR ANIMATION ON YOUR BACKGROUND LAYER! 5. Now go to Layer…. New Layer….. this is the transparent layer in which you draw your animation. 6. Now use the magic wand…. Click outside your drawing… now go to select… choose inverse (this will select your animation). Choose edit copy and edit paste. 7. Now you have a new layer with your animation…. Move it using the move tool and paste again. Repeat. 8. Now you need as many background layers as you have animation layers. To get more backgrounds, use the Duplicate Layer option under Layers in the menu. 9. Move the background layers (pattern… layer/background/layer/background). Now use the Merge Down option under Layers in the menu, this will allow you to merge one animation layer into the background layer below it. 10.Go to file save for web to animate.
ANIMATION PROJECT: CHILD SOLDIERS, CHILD LABOUR, OR GULUWALK This term you are going to create an animation PSA. The purpose of the PSA is to educate young people about the problem of Child Labour or Child Soldiers or you can promote the GuluWalk!
1st Decide the topic for your animation.
2nd Create a storyboard to plan what is going to happen in your animaton.
3rd Use PhotoShop Elements to create your animation. Start with the background FIRST! Next, draw your animation IN A DIFFERENT LAYER!
Use the activity sheet 
Here is a great website to find the different brands that appear in the movies!
Once you have mastered the basic skills, the worksheet below shows more complex skills (i.e. ADDING A BACKGROUND, MANIPULATING A PHOTO OR CLIP ART, and ADDING AN IMAGE TO A BACKGROUND).
Once you have learned how to use Comic Life, it is time to do your assignment!
