Historical and Modern Political

Media7th Grade United States and New

York State HistoryAlida Fabian

Lesson Basics

Target Audience: 7th grade United States and New York State History (easily adaptable to 11th grade U.S. History by increasing the depth of media study, maturity of content covered by the media, and focus on media subtleties)Lesson Length: 5 days, 40 minute periodsClass size: 15 – 30, inclusive setting

ObjectivesO Students will be able to identify

techniques used in media to convey meaning and persuade others.

O Students will be able to analyze how people in the past and present use the media to affect society’s political opinions.

O Students will be able to create their own media with the goal of persuading others to a certain political position.

NYS Social Studies Standard 1

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United States and New York.

O Key Idea 3: Study about the major social, political, economic, cultural, and religious developments in New York State and United States history involves learning about the important roles and contributions of individuals and groups.O Intermediate Performance Indicator: Students will describe

how ordinary people and famous historic figures in the local community, State, and the United States have advanced the fundamental democratic values, beliefs, and traditions expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the New York State and United States Constitutions, the Bill of Rights, and other important historic documents.

NYS Social Studies Standard 1

O Key Idea 4: The skills of historical analysis include the ability to: explain the significance of historical evidence; weigh the importance, reliability, and validity of evidence; understand the concept of multiple causation; understand the importance of changing and competing interpretations of different historical developments.O Intermediate Performance Indicators: Students will

• consider the sources of historic documents, narratives, or artifacts and evaluate their reliability

• understand how different experiences, beliefs, values, traditions, and motives cause individuals and groups to interpret historic events and issues from different perspectives• compare and contrast different interpretations of key events and issues in New York State and United States history and explain reasons for these different accounts

Background Information

Students will have already developed some skills needed for this project through the following activities:O Analyzing historical sources through DBQsO Using digital video to create short newscastsO Developing posters and print advertising

They will already have worked on developing some of the technological skills to use new media.

Lesson RationaleIn social studies, media literacy is both

important to the study of the past and the present. The analysis of primary sources is a major skill that students need to develop to be successful in social studies courses and the real world. Media education blended into social studies courses can help students develop a set of skills to understand and analyze various types of media. These skills will help make them more conscientious consumers and producers in a democratic and capitalist country.

Lesson Rationale, cont. This lesson, which can occur anytime after learning

about the Constitution and the establishment of the U.S. government, addresses the use of the media by special interest groups and the influential role the media can play in political decisions. Students will look at various forms of media from different time periods and use questions derived from Buckingham’s (2003) key concepts, NAMLE’s (2007) key questions, and Joll’s (2008) five core questions of media literacy to analyze media. Then, they will use these concepts to create their own form of media to promote a specific political position. The student created media will function as the assessment for this lesson and will require students to have a firm grasp of the effect of media and apply it to a real-world situation.

Lesson RationaleConnections to NAMLE

1. Media Literacy Education requires active inquiry and critical thinking about the messages we receive and create.2. Media Literacy Education expands the concept of literacy (i.e., reading and writing) to include all forms of media.4. Media Literacy Education develops informed, reflective and engaged participants essential for a democratic society.5. Media Literacy Education recognizes that media are a part of culture and function as agents of socialization.6. Media Literacy Education affirms that people use their individual skills, beliefs and experiences to construct their own meanings from media messages.

Lesson RationaleConnections to “12 Basic

Ways…” 1. Practice general observation, critical thinking, analysis,

perspective-taking, and communication skills. 3. Identify how students’ prior ideas about a topic have

been influenced by media messages.5. Identify sources for erroneous beliefs about a topic. 6. Develop an awareness of issues of credibility and

perspective.8. Analyze the effect that specific media have had on a particular issue or topic across different cultures and/or historically.10. Facilitate use of a range of media formats to express

students’ opinions and illustrated their understanding. 11. Use media as an assessment tool.

MaterialsTechnical MaterialsO TV or Projector with

internet accessO Flip Digital CamcordersO Student computer accessO Editing softwareO PrinterO Digital Camera

Student MaterialsO NotebooksO Pens/Pencils/MarkersO Glue/ScissorsO Paper/PosterboardOther MaterialsO Media Analysis handout O Examples of historical

political media (cartoons, advertisements, pamphlets, etc.)

O Reflection Guide Worksheet

Lesson Outline

Day 1: The effect of historical political mediaDay 2: The effect of modern political media Day 3: Producing politicized media Day 4: Producing politicized mediaDay 5: Present and reflect on political media production

Lesson Narrative: Day 1

Discussion (10 minutes)O Review democracy in the U.S. How does it

work? What are our responsibilities as citizens?O Why do others care about what we think? O What are some ways people or political groups

try to influence others’ opinions? (Media: articles, advertizing, political cartoons, posters, etc.)

Lesson Narrative: Day 1Introduction to Media Analysis (10

minutes)O Handout Media Analysis sheet (see next slide).O Introduce the 4 Key Concepts of Media

1. Authorship/Production 2. Messages/Meanings/Language3. Audience4. Representation/Realities

O Show 0:00 – 3:30 of “Generation M-Media Literacy, Education & Choice” youtube video

Media Analysis Handout

Lesson Narrative: Day 1Guided Practice: Historical Media Analysis (20

minutes)O Show students historical political cartoons, campaign

advertisements, and short articlesO Model media analysis for students using the questions

from the Media Analysis handout. O Guide students to ask and answer the appropriate

questions from the Media Analysis handoutO Provide rationale and support where neededO Ask students to compare historical media to today’s

media. Homework: Bring in a digital or print example of media from the present that tries to politically influence the audience. Will use these in tomorrow’s activity.

Lesson Narrative: Day 2Review of Day 1 (5 minutes)

O How and why do people try to influence political opinions?

O What questions should we ask to better understand the media we encounter?

Analysis of Modern Media (10 minutes)O Ask for 3 volunteers to share the modern political media

they collected for homework (if no one volunteers, have some examples ready)

O Guide students to use the Media Analysis handout from Day 1 to ask and answer questions about the media samples

O Discuss: What are the differences and similarities between modern and historical political media?

Lesson Narrative: Day 2Independent Practice (18 minutes)

O Students in groups of 2 – 4O Students will use the Media Analysis handout to analyze 2 historical

political media (provided by the teacher) and the modern political media (provided by the students from their homework assignment).

O Teacher will rotate throughout the room providing assistance as necessary.

Closing Discussion (7 minutes)O What patterns did you notice when analyzing media from the past

and the present?O Were there certain themes that the media circled around? (Write

answers on the board: campaigns, civil rights, immigration, laws, etc.)

Homework: Brainstorm at least 5 topics for creating your own political media. You can produce any of the following: political cartoon, poster, print advertisement, TV commercial, news report or any other form approved by me.

Lesson Narrative: Day 3Introduction to Assessment (15 minutes)

O Pass out the instructions and rubric for Producing Political Media (see next slide for rubric)

O Explain that students will be making their own media to persuade others in their class to a certain side of a political issue or to support a political candidate. They need to choose which form of media they will use (30 second advertisement, 1 minute newscast, political cartoon, article, or print advertisement), what audience they are targeting, and the representation that they want to portray. Students may work alone or in groups of up to 4 people, and should use the ideas they brainstormed for homework to start. They will have the rest of the period and all of the next period to work on producing their media.

O Field any questions students have. O Give students 5 minutes to choose groups and start workingProducing Political Media work time (25 minutes)O Teacher will rotate around the room and make sure that students

have a topic and are working on putting it all together.

Producing Political Media Rubric

Lesson Narrative: Day 4

Producing Political Media work time (40 minutes)O Students will work on producing their

chosen media with political message.

O Teacher will rotate around the room providing assistance as necessary.

Lesson Narrative: Day 5

Presentations (40 minutes)O Students will present their media to the class

Reflection (after the presentations, if time allows, or for homework)O Students will complete the reflection guide

reflecting on the production process, the decisions they made, how the audience received their product, and what they learned from the process. (see following slide for Reflection Guide)

Producing Political Media Reflection Guide

Lesson Extension

The teacher should pay special attention to students’ understandings of how to analyze and create media. If it appears that students need remediation in any of these areas or more time is needed to create the media, the teacher can plan to add an extra day to the lesson.

ReferencesBuckingham, D. (2003). Media education: Literacy, learning

and contemporary education. Cambridge: Polity Press. ChallengingMedia. (2008). Generation M: Media Literacy,

Education, and Choice [video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzeVjAM-drg&feature=channel

National Association for Media Literacy Education. (2007, November). Core principles of media literacy education in the United States. Retrieved from http://namle.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/NAMLE-CPMLE-w-questions2.pdf.

Scheibe, C. & Rogow, F. (2008). 12 basic ways to integrate media literacy and critical thinking into any curriculum (3rd ed.). Ithaca: Project Look Sharp and Ithaca College.