Understanding Media Texts

By the end of Grade 8, students will:

• explain how a variety of media texts address their intended purpose and audience
  
  
• interpret increasingly complex media texts, using overt and implied messages as evidence for their interpretations
  
  
• evaluate the effectiveness of the presentation and treatment of ideas, information, themes, opinions, issues, and/or experiences in media texts
  
  
• explain why different audiences might have different responses to a variety of media texts
  
  
• demonstrate understanding that different media texts reflect different points of view and that some texts reflect multiple points of view
  
  
• identify who produces various media texts and determine the commercial, ideological, political, cultural, and/or artistic interests or perspectives that the texts may involve

Lessons that meet the grade eight expectations

Advertising

Selling Obesity

Scientific Detectives

Sports Personalities in Magazine Advertising

Create a Youth Consumer Magazine

Alcohol

Kids, Alcohol and Advertising: Young Drinkers

Kids, Alcohol and Advertising: Understanding Brands

Kids, Alcohol and Advertising: Interpreting Media Messages

Who's on First?  Alcohol Advertising and Sports

Alcohol Myths
Gender Messages in Alcohol Advertising

Body Image

The Way We Look

Internet

ICYouSee: A Lesson in Critical Thinking

Tale of Two Cities

Research Relay

Deconstructing Web Pages
Media

Looking Through the Lenses

Whose Lenses? How Mass Media Portray Global Development

Adjusting the Focus

News Journalism Across the Media:

Introduction

Definitions and Comments about the News

The Newspaper Front Page

Radio News

Summative Activities

Newspapers

You Be the Editor

Bias in the News

Writing a Newspaper Article

Privacy

What Students Need to Know about Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy

Online Marketing to Kids: Protecting Your Privacy

Who Knows? Your Privacy in the Information Age

Stereotyping

Exposing Gender Stereotypes

Female Action Heroes

What's in a Word?

Television

The Broadcast Project

Cop Shows

Cinema Cops

Video Production of a Newscast

Tobacco

Thinking Like a Tobacco Company: Grades 7–9
 
True Story

Freedom to Smoke
 
Gender and Tobacco

Tobacco Labels

Video Games

Video Games

Killer Games

Educational Games

Jo Cool or Jo Fool: Interactive module and quiz on critical thinking for the Internet

The Target is You!: Alcohol advertising quiz

Allies and Aliens: Interactive module on online hate

Teachable Moments

Photographic Truth in the Digital Era

Pop Music Reaches Way Down

The "BadAd" Essay Writing Contest

A Fish Out of Water

A Gold Medal is Worth its Weight in Endorsements

A Tale of Two Cities

A Teletubbies Christmas

And Now a Word From Our Sponsor

Buy Nothing Day

Captive Audience?

Christmas Commercialism

Captive Audience?

Deconstructing the Titanic: Introduction to Titanic

Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty

Earth Day

Hurricane Katrina and Celebrities

Hurricane Katrina and the "Two-Photo Controversy"

Hurricane Katrina and the Internet

TV Turnoff Week

Understanding Media Forms, Conventions, and Techniques

By the end of Grade 8, students will:

• explain how individual elements of various media forms combine to create, reinforce, and/or enhance meaning
  
  
• identify the conventions and techniques used in some familiar media forms and explain how they help convey meaning and influence or engage the audience

Creating Media Texts 

By the end of Grade 8, students will:

• explain why they have chosen the topic for a media text they plan to create and identify challenges they may face in engaging and/or influencing their audience
  
  
• identify an appropriate form to suit the specific purpose and audience for a media text they plan to create and explain why it is an appropriate choice
  
  
• identify conventions and techniques appropriate to the form chosen for a media text they plan to create, and explain how they will use the conventions and techniques to help communicate their message
  
  
• produce a variety of media texts for specific purposes and audiences, using appropriate forms, conventions, and techniques

Reflecting on Media Literacy Skills and Strategies 

By the end of Grade 8, students will:

• identify what strategies they found most helpful in making sense of and creating media texts, and explain how these and other strategies can help them improve as media viewers/listeners/producers
  
  
• explain how their skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing help them to make sense of and produce media texts