---Media Literacy Resources for Teachers---
The
Oregon Media Literacy Project
July 20, 2008
Fast Starts:
Documentaries:
1. Class Dismissed: How
TV Frames the Working Class. A
project by Pepi Leistyna ; directed by Loretta Alper ; produced & written
by Loretta Alper & Pepi Leistyna. Northampton, MA : Media Education
Foundation, c2005.
Trailer available on
youtube.com: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIJENf-s6r4
Study Guide (free) available
at Media Education Foundation: http://www.mediaed.org/videos/CommercialismPoliticsAndMedia/ClassDismissed#vidinfo
Note that at the end of the
study guide there is an extensive Òresource list for understanding social
class.Ó The resource sections include: ACTIVIST ORGANIZATIONS & WEB
RESOURCES, JOURNALS & MAGAZINES, and
SUGGESTED READINGS. This is an extensive and engaging body of materials.
2. People Like Us: Social Class in America. A PBS film produced by
Louis Alvarez and Andrew Kolker with an interactive website produced by the
Center for the New American Dream. See: http://www.pbs.org/peoplelikeus/
From the
website background: A two-hour TV special
examining American life through the prism of our country's unique class
structure. It was conceived and created by Louis Alvarez and Andrew Kolker, the
Peabody-Award-winning creators of such films as Vote for MeÑ Politics in America and American Tongues, who tell this important story with their patented
mix of humor and seriousness, style, and accessibility. People Like Us shows how social class plays a role in the lives of
all Americans, whether they live in Park Avenue penthouses, Appalachian trailer
parks, bayou houseboats or suburban-gated communities. The documentary travels
across the country presenting stories that will resonate with viewers
regardless of where they see themselves on the social spectrum Ñ stories of family traditions, class
mobility, and different lifestyle choices. An exciting cast of characters and commentators help make
the connections between daily life and the larger issues of class in America.
3. Also see: The
Merchants of Cool ---PBS
documentary that examines how marketers target teenagers---can be watched
online. See: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/cool/
And The
Persuaders (PBS documentary that
examines how advertising and marketing are changing our lives. Can be watched
online and includes teaching guides. See: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/persuaders/view/
Mission Statement: The
Media Education Foundation produces and distributes documentary films and other
educational resources to inspire critical reflection on the social, political
and cultural impact of American mass media.
Features wide array of handouts, fact sheets,
documentaries and study guides on media issues linked to politics, gender and
diversity, health, race and representation, and commercialism. Titles include
Rich Media, Poor Democracy, Captive Audience: Advertising Invades the
Classroom, Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood, and Killing Us
Softly: Advertisings Image of Women.
3. PBS: Teachers---Media
Literacy. See: http://www.pbs.org/teachers/media_lit/index.html
Mission Statement: How
do you help your students succeed in a media-filled world? Do they know how
media is created? Can they analyze the messages that inform, entertain, and
sell to us everyday? Have they created their own media messages?
Resources include Media Quiz, PBS Resources, Activity Ideas by subject area, and links to a wide range of related sites and studies including areas such as commercialism in the schools, gender and sex, news reporting, internet safety to video games, to how to evaluate websites.
4. The Media
Awareness Network. See: http://www.media-awareness.ca/
This Canadian
non-profit website supported by the Canadian government is one of the worldÕs
largest resources for media literacy/education and is available in English or
French.
Mission Statement:
MNetÕs work is based on the belief that to be functionally literate in the
world today Ð to be able to "read" the messages that inform,
entertain and sell to us daily Ð young people need critical thinking skills.
Resources include reference
materials, studies, and lesson plans. Site is searchable. For instance a search
using the word ÒpovertyÓ yielded 27 matches including a lesson plan titled:
The Resource
Racket: A Global Perspective on Resources and Consumption - Lesson
Students in grades 8 to 12 examine the material lives of families around the world, study inequities in the use of natural resources, and consider the environmental impacts of different consumption patterns.
5. Oregon State Education Standards related to
Media Literacy. See: http://www.frankwbaker.com/oregon.htm
6. WEB English
Teacher Media Literacy and Information Literacy. Excellent links to media literacy resources. See: http://www.webenglishteacher.com/media.html
7. National
Council for the Social Studies. Search
by Òmedia literacy.Ó See: http://www.socialstudies.org/
ÒMedia Representations of the Working ClassÓ resource from The Media Awareness Network. See: http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/stereotyping/whiteness_and_privilege/whiteness_working_class.cfm
ÒA Different World: Children's
Perceptions of Race and Class in the Media.Ó From Children Now. See: http://publications.childrennow.org/publications/media/differentworld_1999b.cfm
Children Now: Research/Publications on Media and Children. See: http://publications.childrennow.org/
ÒPublic ImagesÓ lesson plan from The Media Awareness Network, grades
9-12. See: http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/educational/lessons/secondary/music/public_images.cfm
ÒCritical Media
Literacy: TV ProgramsÓ lesson unit from ReadWriteThink, grades 6-8. See: http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=96
ÒThe Influence of the
Mass MediaÓ lesson plan units from The New York Times Learning Network for grades 6-12. See: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/massmed.html
ÒMedia in the Image
CultureÓ one-quarter class set of lesson plans from Sheboygan Falls High
School, Wisconsin, grade 11. See: http://mshogue.com/media_lit/main.htm
Listen Up! Youth media in practice resources. See: http://www.listenup.org/
KQED Youth Media Corps. Resources for youth media production and
distribution. See: http://www.kqed.org/topics/education/medialiteracy/youthmedia/index.jsp
Reel Action. Teen media and opportunities. See: http://www.proscenia.net/reelaction/
Just Think. Youth media production resources. See: http://www.justthink.org/
Free Zone: Arts
Activism and Youth Media Links.
See: http://www.gsanetwork.org/freezone/links.html
Selected Readings
and Resources:
Consumed: How
Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults and Swallow Citizens Whole. By Benjamin Barber, New York: W.W. Norton, 2007.
Born to Buy: The
Commercialized Child and the New Consumer Culture. By Juliet B. Schor, New York: Scribner, 2004.
The Problem of
the Media: U.S. Communication Politics in the 21st Century. By Robert McChesney, New York: Monthly Review Press,
2004.
Getting a Grip:
Clarity, Creativity and Courage in a World Gone Mad. By Francis Moore Lappe, Cambridge, MA: Small Planet
Media, 2007.
Wealth and
Democracy. By Kevin Phillips, New
York: Broadway Books, 2002.
The Conscience
of a Liberal. By Paul Krugman,
New York: W.W. Norton, 2007.
Teaching to
Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. By bell hooks, New York: Routledge, 1994.
Pedagogy of the
Oppressed. By Paulo Freire, New
York: Continuum Books, 2000 (originally published in 1970).
Schooling and
the Struggle for Public Life: DemocracyÕs Promise and EducationÕs Challenge. By Henry Giroux. Boulder, Colorado: Paradigm
Publishers, 2005.
Collateral
Damage: Corporatizing Public Schools and the Threat to Democracy. By Kenneth Saltman, New York: Rowman, 2000.
Rethinking
Schools Online. See: http://www.rethinkingschools.org/
Democracy
and Education Journal Online. See: http://www.lclark.edu/org/journal/
Radical
Teacher. See:
http://www.radicalteacher.org/
Rage and Hope:
Critical Pedagogy Homepage. See: http://www.perfectfit.org/CT/giroux2.html
Resource guide prepared by Dr. Carl R. Bybee,
Director, Oregon Media Literacy Project and Associate Professor of
Communication Studies in the School of Journalism and Communication at the
University of Oregon. (541-346-4175) (bybee@uoregon.edu)
July 18, 2008.