Submitted by: Sharon Bateman, Linda Kirby, Sharon Parker, Gary Swain, and Rod Wilson
Collaborators: Kourtney Bostain, Shannon Hyman, and Janis Jones
School: Byrd Middle School
Summary
The technology of electronic media and the art of advertising have combined to create very powerful tools of influence. These tools are capable of shaping the attitudes, values and behaviors of large numbers of people, including our young teens. Today’s middle school students are bombarded with messages, both good and bad. Now more than ever, they need the tools to help them make sense of the torrent of information coming at them in a multitude of formats. Media literacy is an area that is relevant and meaningful to every young teen as they encounter media input in their daily lives. Media literacy is a natural link based upon our students’ interests and the importance of developing critical thinking skills. With everyone having the capacity to be a media producer, it is also important to understand how media literacy relates to the construction and distribution of media. It is important for our young teens to learn to be responsible producers as well as wise consumers and active participants in today’s media world. Media literacy connects the curriculum of the Health classroom with the curriculum of the real world. Making these connections requires an educationally sound framework, leaving room for open-ended inquiry and the excitement of discovery. Using the power of media literacy, we encourage young people to make healthy choices and to interact with the media both as critical views and creators.
By combining a media literacy unit of study with the real world challenge to replicate the advertising agency’s working process, students will analyze a variety of resources, empowering them to shift from being passive consumers of media messages to critical thinkers. Students will create persuasive advertisements supporting their opinion/objective of their chosen topic. Students will collaborate with classmates to problem solve technology and the creative product, and reflect on their advertisement and its effectiveness in today’s society.
TIPC Ratings
Students are required to research their topic to obtain information that will assist them in conveying their objective.
A. Students select digital tools to assemble, evaluate, and utilize information;
B. Students apply different research skills to find relevant resources;
C. Students use information and resources to apply knowledge to real world situations – advertising agency scenario. This is a career that many of our students may find that they are interested in pursuing (media, presentation skills, creativity, integrating learning into a creative product, and technology skills).
The project is a persuasive advertisement task in which the student is trying to convey a healthy objective. The think/pair/share activity, a peer assessment, is valuable as students see each other as resources for understanding and checking for quality work against previously determined criteria, provides opportunity for students to share constructive ideas on each other’s project. Some of the persuasive advertisements will be shown during the school’s morning news broadcast to communicate the information to the student body.
A. Students communicate within and beyond the classroom in real and non-real collaboration.
B. Students share knowledge with their community using appropriate resources.
C. Students collaborate and select appropriate technologies to solve real world situations and create original work.
The media literacy unit of study further develops students’ critical thinking skills to manage the influences of the media that they come in contact with daily. With this project students learn more about a health topic, reflect on their learning, and decide the best way to convey their objective through the persuasive advertisement. Projects such as the persuasive advertisement project helps students develop personal learning materials and methods giving an ownership of the learning experience.
A. Students use multiple resources to draw conclusions, and plan and design the advertisement from new understandings.
B. Student use multiple resources to solve a real world situation, the advertising agency campaign.
C. Students use prior knowledge to develop questions for inquiry into their topic/objective.
Students utilize a program like Windows Movie Maker to create a product to share their health topic/objective.
A. Students apply critical thinking research methods and appropriate communication/presentation tools to create an original and effective advertisement.
B. Students work collaboratively to produce a persuasive advertisement to promote a healthy objective that has significant value for young teens.
Student Artifact
Anorexia from Kourtney Bostain on Vimeo.
Teen Obesity from Kourtney Bostain on Vimeo.
Superfoods! Health PSA’s our WAY! from Kourtney Bostain on Vimeo.
