Demographics:
For the purposes of this lesson plan, I envision to teach at my old high school, from which I had graduated myself, since I find that this way it would be the easiest for me to picture the options that would be available to me while keeping things realistic at the same time. Namely, this school is the Polyvalente Lucien-Page.
It is a French-speaking high school, located at Park Extension. It is a very large school, with students from many cultural backgrounds and social statuses. Besides the great cultural diversity among students, there is also a special section dedicated to students with hearing disabilities. In terms of the technologies available, the school owns three separate computer labs and not much more. Like in most schools, teachers can rent out DVD players, but there are no computer projectors outside of the computer labs. There is an Internet connection, however, and I would probably be able to bring my laptop to class if necessary.
This lesson plan is designed to be used in a Sec. 5 enriched English class, also known as English as Second Language – Language Arts. For the most part, the students in that class are native English speakers, trapped in the French school system. As such, there is less focus on the structure of the English language, and instead more time is spent on immersing the students in the English culture and the famous works that originate from it.
To keep realistic, I will imagine that the students in my class are about the same as my peers from my particular class at the time when I was taking that course. These students had excellent knowledge of the language itself, but for the most part they avoided the English media. They didn’t watch English TV shows and hardly knew of any movies that were made before their birth, not to mention books or short stories. However, they had a good knowledge of the French media, which can serve as an excellent starting point for exposing them to the English works.
I would asses that most of them were computer literate at the basic ‘survival’ level and maybe about 35% of them really knew what they were doing in front of a PC. They were familiar with hotmail and they knew how to watch videos on youtube, but otherwise it was hard for them to explore the web. In a classroom of 30, I assume that approximately 22 were born and raised in Montreal, 12 were of visible minorities, 10 were female, 8 lived below the general average wealth and 1 student had a hearing disability and required a personal translator to communicate with others. Considering that they were among the best students in the school, the mix was rather good. I imagine that I will have two classes in the high school nine day week, which means that they will have four days to do their homework between each class.
Rationale:
I chose to make a unit about critical approach to media because the encouragement of critical thinking is a major part of my teaching philosophy overall. It may seem that this is not directly related to social justice, but I find that it’s extremely important to make sure that the students choose carefully what to believe in, as these choices can have a profound impact on their lives.
The reconstructionist school of thought dictates that students should not be conditioned to fit the existing social norms. Reconstructionist teachers believe that by maintaining the current methods of teaching, we are perpetuating the vicious circle of our society’s self-destructive tendencies. This is true to some extent. However, they often only go half way when fighting this ‘status quo.’ Instead of opposing any form of conditioning whatsoever, they simply try to condition their students to fit newer, shinier norms from ‘the world of tomorrow’. It seems that by doing so, they give the proverbial beggar a fish, when they should be teaching him how to do the fishing. Not to mention that we first have to assume that these teachers know what is best for their students in the first place.
For the average Joe, media are almost synonymous with information sources in today’s world and thus, the ability to doubt and analyze the information they provide is an extremely valuable thing to develop. For instance, your interpretation of the media’s coverage of the war in Iraq could influence you to make choices that will lead you to join the military, to ignore the entire event and live as normal, or even to end up in Guantanamo Bay.
The help that reconstructionists can provide in face of these choices often has less to do with giving you the tools to make a sober assessment of your situation, and more with pushing you to blindly follow one of these particular choices. In their struggle for social justice, these reconstructionists go against suppressing non-traditional views among students and instead suppress the traditional ones. To me, however, allowing the students to choose their own beliefs is in itself the most important aspect of social justice. Teachers who fight for a truly free society are more likely to accept the opinions of their pupils, regardless of whether or not they are in accordance with those of their own. Students need this kind of validation if they are ever to become self-sufficient individuals.
In other words, instead of just teaching the students different things in the same way, we also need to teach them in a different way, so that they can decide for themselves what our future society will look like. After all, it will be their world, not ours! Besides giving students factual knowledge about the world, it is important to make sure that they have the opportunity to form their own ideas and opinions.
We have to remember that education exists for the benefit of the students, not for the benefit of particular political ideas.
For better or for worse, teachers shape the future generations of doctors, businessmen and politicians. It is for this reason that it’s so important to make sure that they are treated with the respect they deserve and are given the chance to make full use of their potential. I believe that, when teaching, one should always give the students a degree of independence and an opportunity for creativity.
Instead of an authoritarian avatar of wisdom, I’d rather be seen as a guide, who simply helps the students through an adventure in the jungle of learning. I’m there to help them, but in the end, it’s their adventure. I’ve acquired this belief by experiencing this approach first hand, as a student.
Most of my high school experience in the French schooling system was pretty standard – classroom desks divided into rows and columns, teachers trapped in mantras of lecture and students formed like square watermelons in the rigid system. There was only one class that stood out. My enriched English teacher decided to do things a little differently. He placed the desks into groups of four, and threw the groups themselves around the classroom like islands. He encouraged student interaction and group work. He asked questions that promote thinking, rather than remembering and he gave us ample chance to actually experience the English language and culture. This is the only teacher who gave me a decent preparation for college, since he didn’t lead me by the hand and forced me to make my own decisions and take initiative on more than one occasion. I can only hope that I will be lucky enough to have a chance to teach in a similar way myself.
After all, since everyone is different, education is likely to serve different purposes for each student. As such, it is up to us to make sure that each one of them is able to grow in the direction that he or she wishes to.
Lesson Plans:
Day 1:
1. Materials: 30 printed copies of my FBI letter.
2. Objectives: The point of this lesson is to make students aware that sources of information are not infallible and that sometimes they may aim to purposefully misinform. Starting with very blatant examples such as this FBI letter, the students will have a chance to read between the lines and interpret the author’s motives based not only on what he says, but also on how he says it. They will begin to learn how to pinpoint specific imperfections and non-sequiturs in the media they assimilate. In this particular case it will be the fact that the letter contains spelling mistakes and that this would not be the case if it was indeed from a real FBI agent. They will also begin to learn how to theorize on the topic of the author’s true intentions or unconscious biases, in this case the letter being a part of a fraudulent money order payments scheme. Finally, the students will begin to explore how these concepts apply in day-to-day media, such as TV, Radio, Internet, Books, Newspapers, Music. In other words, they will begin to look critically at the sources of information that they use and start to question their validity and objectiveness.
3. Timeline:
a. Begin by showing students a printout of the FBI letter. Tell them that you received it this morning and ask if it looks legitimate to them.
b. Give them a little bit of time to read it and analyze it.
c. See if they noticed anything peculiar about the letter. Most of them will probably know right away that this letter is not really from the FBI. Ask them how they knew that and what their situation would have to look like for them to believe in the contents of this letter. The latter may help them isolate the factors that lead to their success in correctly assessing the letter.
d. If the students do not realize that the letter is fake, point out the spelling and grammar errors in the letter. Also, mention that letters like this are fairly common and usually are fake.
e. Begin a discussion about careful reading. To show the importance of looking at media with a sober eye, mention that noticing the spelling errors in this letter could mean the difference between falling victim to fraud and avoiding the problem entirely by ignoring the letter.
f. Move on to talking about the media in general, TV, Radio, Internet, Books, Newspapers, Music, etc. Ask if they ever tried to watch the same news as covered by different channels. For example, if they ever watched the coverage of an event by FoxNews and then by Jon Stewart. Talk about the differences between the angles chosen by these two sources. Point out that sometimes the message the authors are spreading is evident, but sometimes it isn’t and that sometimes it may even be unintentional.
4. Lesson Activity: The activities in this lesson include an analysis of a printed letter, group discussion about the analysis, guided discussion about the techniques of critical assimilation and finally about the broader implications pertaining to media in general.
This is the letter that would be shown to the students.
Day 2:
1. Materials: A TV set with a DVD player, a DVD copy of the film Little Miss Sunshine, paper and pencil.
2. Objectives: The point of the following three lessons is to make students sensitive to underlying themes in media. After these lessons, students will begin to see how closely media are related to social and political issues. They will see that movies are not only for entertainment, but that sometimes they also attempt to get people to think about certain topics. The students will also be able to decipher the messages that entertainment media often give. By learning to assimilate these messages consciously, they will have more control while either rejecting or accepting the ideas contained in these messages. Looking at a movie like Little Miss Sunshine, they will discover a vast array of social issues that are mentioned. They will learn to think about these messages as a way to learn about the personality of the film’s author. They will also learn to consider the author’s intentions, as he uses the film to communicate with his audience. They will be able to figure out whether the author is attempting to misinform and manipulate the audience, or if he’s trying to legitimately convince the audience to follow his views. They will also begin to consider the issues brought up by the media such as this film and weigh them against their own moral values and standards thus assessing their relative legitimacy. As such, they will learn to choose what wisdom they take away from the film and what they reject as false or irrelevant. In contrast with the FBI letter, this will prepare them to deal with sources of information that do not aim to misinform, but to teach it’s audience.
3. Timeline:
a. Begin the discussion by expanding on the idea of how media often touch on broad social issues.
b. To give the students something substantial to talk about, show them the first part of the movie Little Miss Sunshine. Get the students to write down any societal themes they see in the film. These themes include ideas that pertain to our views on the elderly, homosexuals, nuclear families, physical disabilities and suicide.
4. Lesson Activity: The activities during this lesson include a short introductive discussion about societal issues in the media and then the viewing of the movie Little Miss Sunshine combined with the writing down of important themes in the movie.
Day 3:
1. Materials: A TV set with a DVD player, a DVD copy of the film Little Miss Sunshine, paper and pencil.
2. Objectives: The point of the following three lessons is to make students sensitive to underlying themes in media. After these lessons, students will begin to see how closely media are related to social and political issues. They will see that movies are not only for entertainment, but that sometimes they also attempt to get people to think about certain topics. The students will also be able to decipher the messages that entertainment media often give. By learning to assimilate these messages consciously, they will have more control while either rejecting or accepting the ideas contained in these messages. Looking at a movie like Little Miss Sunshine, they will discover a vast array of social issues that are mentioned. They will learn to think about these messages as a way to learn about the personality of the film’s author. They will also learn to consider the author’s intentions, as he uses the film to communicate with his audience. They will be able to figure out whether the author is attempting to misinform and manipulate the audience, or if he’s trying to legitimately convince the audience to follow his views. They will also begin to consider the issues brought up by the media such as this film and weigh them against their own moral values and standards thus assessing their relative legitimacy. As such, they will learn to choose what wisdom they take away from the film and what they reject as false or irrelevant. In contrast with the FBI letter, this will prepare them to deal with sources of information that do not aim to misinform, but to teach it’s audience.
3. Timeline:
a. Continue watching the film for the entire period.
b. Remind the students that they’re still supposed to write down any themes they notice.
c. Bring the students’ attention during important moments. Make sure that they’re paying attention during the scene at the pier, since that is when the main theme of the film is revealed.
4. Lesson Activity: The activities during this lesson include continuing watching Little Miss Sunshine combined with the writing down of important themes in the movie.
Day 4:
1. Materials: A TV set with a DVD player, a DVD copy of the film Little Miss Sunshine, paper and pencil.
2. Objectives: The point of the following three lessons is to make students sensitive to underlying themes in media. After these lessons, students will begin to see how closely media are related to social and political issues. They will see that movies are not only for entertainment, but that sometimes they also attempt to get people to think about certain topics. The students will also be able to decipher the messages that entertainment media often give. By learning to assimilate these messages consciously, they will have more control while either rejecting or accepting the ideas contained in these messages. Looking at a movie like Little Miss Sunshine, they will discover a vast array of social issues that are mentioned. They will learn to think about these messages as a way to learn about the personality of the film’s author. They will also learn to consider the author’s intentions, as he uses the film to communicate with his audience. They will be able to figure out whether the author is attempting to misinform and manipulate the audience, or if he’s trying to legitimately convince the audience to follow his views. They will also begin to consider the issues brought up by the media such as this film and weigh them against their own moral values and standards thus assessing their relative legitimacy. As such, they will learn to choose what wisdom they take away from the film and what they reject as false or irrelevant. In contrast with the FBI letter, this will prepare them to deal with sources of information that do not aim to misinform, but to teach it’s audience.
3. Timeline:
a. Finish watching the film.
b. Ask the students about the themes that they noticed in the film and write them on the blackboard. Guide them if necessary (is it really just about beauty contests?).
c. Inform the students that next class we will go to the computer lab and sign up on a discussion board.
d. Tell the students about the assignment that will be due at the end of this unit.
4. Lesson Activity: The activities during this lesson include finishing watching Little Miss Sunshine, followed by a guided discussion of the themes found in the film.
The star of Little Miss Sunshine, as she succumbs to ultimate irony in her fancy dress and makeup.
Day 5:
Materials: a TV set with a DVD player, DVD with the video about online etiquette on it.
Objectives: The students will be aware of the rules that govern online interaction. They will know how to behave on discussion boards in a manner that will make others treat them with respect. They will have the know-how of getting what they want during their dialogue with other people on the Internet. This will also spill over to their overall conduct and civilized behaviour during debates and arguments.
Timeline:
a. Before class, download the necessary youtube video using Any Video Player and burn it on a DVD.
b. Lecture about online etiquette. Hint that if they act maturely on the Internet, people will think that they’re adults.
c. Ask students about their experiences in terms of online interaction
d. Show a fun Video about online etiquette
e. Questions and answers, general discussion on the topic, perhaps contrasting student comments before seeing the video and after.
a. Remind the students about the upcoming final assignment and give them a few tips on how to handle it. For homework, each student has to come up with a media-related topic for debate.
4. Lesson Activity: The activities during this lesson include talking about online etiquette and the students’ past online experiences, as well as viewing an educational video about online etiquette and finally comments and feedback based on the video.
This particular video may not be appropriate for a high school classroom, but unfortunately I was unable to find the one I had in mind. This should at least give a rough idea of what I was thinking about, though.
Day 6:
Materials: At least 15 computers with Internet connection, a private online message board.
Objectives: The students will be ready to participate in online discussions. By the end of this lesson, they will have the opportunity to practice voicing out their opinions in a civilized way, under limited supervision. They will enter a world of opinion-sharing among communities of people spread all around the world. They will learn the basics of using a medium that will allow them to reach the proverbial man from the street, off of any street in the world.
Timeline:
a. Before class, create a private message board for the students prior to class. The message board has these sections: Classroom Discussions, Debates, Assignments
b. During class, explain the concept of message boards to the students and explain the purpose of each section on ours.
c. Take the students to the computer lab and get them to sign up for that message board.
d. Encourage them to use the Classroom Discussions section if they want to continue any conversations we had during class, or if they have any questions.
e. Tell the students that we will conduct online debates on this message board and explain its kinks.
After class, review the topics suggested by the students and discard any ones that are inappropriate or unconstructive.
Lesson Activity: The activities during this lesson include discussing the idea of message boards, singing up for the class’s message board and first inklings of conversations initiated on the said board.
An example of an online forum.
Day 7:
Materials: Appropriate and constructive student submissions for debate topics, at least 15 computers with Internet connection, paper and pencil.
Objectives: The students will know how to form and support their arguments while debating a topic. They will figure out the value of basing statements on facts rather than opinions, as well as learn the best ways to find the necessary information on the Internet. They will become familiar with the right ways to use Google, Wikipedia and sites such as personal blogs as sources of information. They will become aware of these sites’ respective levels of credibility and the acceptable methods of extracting knowledge for them (for example, using Wikipedia as a source for references rather than taking knowledge from it directly).
Timeline:
a. Draw 5 debate topics from the remaining student suggestions and divide the class so that each topic has two teams of 3 (pro and con).
b. Do a lecture on research methods to support the debates
c. Present some research exercises. For example, an online treasure hunt, where students have to find specific bits of information on given topics. For increased relevance, the topics used might actually be the ones that were chosen for the debates.
d. For homework, tell them to prepare their introductory posts that will initiate the debate threads.
Lesson Activity: The activities during this lesson include organizing the debate teams and topics, talking about research methods and doing research exercises in the computer lab.
Topics can be written on pieces of paper and drawn at random by the students.
Day 8:
1. Materials: At least 15 computers with Internet connection, paper and pencil.
2. Objectives: The students will be more prepared for their online discussions. They will be armed with more substantial arguments and their online exchanges will show significant improvement in terms of relevance and persuasiveness. They will also have gained more practice in doing online research, which will be helpful for their evaluation assignment as well as any future scholarly work for this and other classes.
3. Timeline:
a. Give the students class time to do online research for the online debates that they were assigned to.
b. Support the students and help them out whenever they have trouble with their research.
c. Let the students know that they should be working on their final assignment and give more tips.
d. At the end of the lesson, point out how each team was able to find data to back up their position of the debate. Have a discussion about the implications of this.
4. Lesson Activity: The activities during this lesson include doing research for the online debates and having a discussion about how both sides of any debate can be supported by data, regardless how contradictory they are.
This is what that day’s class may look like.
Day 9:
1. Materials: 30 copies of a printout with the lyrics to the song “All Along the Watchtower”, a copy of the song itself, an mp3 player with speakers or a substitute, such as a CD player or a boom box.
2. Objectives: The students will gain practice in finding implicit themes in the entertainment media. They will also be better prepared for their final unit assignment. Those who were not sure how to deal with the assignment will now know exactly what to do. They will be able to apply this knowledge in the future and appreciate symbolism in art as a means to voice opinions and spread political ideas.
3. Timeline:
a. Hand out the lyrics to the song “All Along the Watchtower” by Bob Dylan
b. Play Jimmi Hendrix’s interpretation of the song to the students (this version is more popular and the students are more likely to have heard it before).
c. Ask the students about the key words in the lyrics and what these words might symbolize. Write the words down on the chalkboard as the students say them.
d. Ask the students about what they think the song might be about. Use a little guidance if necessary (is it really about the medieval times?).
e. Discuss the possible motives for writing this song and its intended effect.
f. Get the students to talk a little about other songs that also try to convey messages.
g. Include a strong reminder about the assignment due in two lessons.
h. Remind the students that the online debates are supposed to be ongoing and mention any interesting comments that were posted online. If it’s not going well so far, perhaps devote some class time to work on the posts in the computer lab.
4. Lesson Activity: The activities during this lesson include listening to “All Along the Watchtower” and following the lyrics, having a discussion about the lyrics and their surface meaning as well as their symbolic meaning. Then moving on to a talk about author’s motivation behind the work.
A statue of Jimmi Hendrix from Seattle
Day 10:
1. Materials: TV set with a DVD player, a DVD with the pertinent music videos
2. Objectives: The students will have a degree of closure in regards to this unit. They will get official feedback on the online debates and general message board activities. They will also be fully prepared to work on the final assignment.
3. Timeline:
a. Before class, download the necessary youtube videos using Any Video Player and burn it on a DVD.
b. Sum up the debates and list the key points that were brought up as they went on.
c. Tell the students that the message board will remain online and that if they want, they can continue debating/conversing on it throughout the rest of the semester and that you will keep mentioning interesting posts.
d. Give a detailed debriefing about the final assignment for this unit, as it is due next lesson. Talk about things like how to submit it and other technicalities.
e. Show other examples of music videos that have a deeper meaning. These can include Galang by M.I.A (and its anti-war message), Store Bought Bones by the Raconteurs (and its anti-consumerist message), the General by Dispatch (another anti-war message), as well as counter-examples, where the deeper meaning is often accidental, such as Think Twice by Celine Dion (unintentional encouragement of gender stereotypes).
f. Continue with discussion about the assignment.
4. Lesson Activity: The activities during this lesson include providing feedback about the online discussions, giving details about the final assignment, viewing of more examples for good music videos and a Q&A about the assignment.
‘Tis the union of the manliest man and the most feminine woman that ever lived!
Assignment:
Ask the students to find 3 songs/videoclips on youtube as well as lyrics to these songs. The songs would have to convey a political or a sociological message, either intentionally or not. The students have to write a 150-200 word paragraph for each video, explaining what the message is and how it is conveyed.
To submit the assignment, the students would each create thread in the ‘Assignments’ section of the message board.
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