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chart developed by Nancy Faraday, Melanie White, and Bob Godwin, February 2006

9D English Ministry Expectations: Media Strand	Media Key Concepts 1 & 4 see J. Pungente, S.J., "Key Concepts" at Media Awareness Network
Overall Expectations By the end of this course, students will: use knowledge of the elements, intended audiences, and production practices of a variety of media forms to analyse specific media works; use knowledge of a variety of media forms, purposes, and audiences to create media works and describe their intended effect.
Specific Expectations Analysing Media and Media Works By the end of this course, students will: demonstrate critical thinking skills by identifying the differences between explicit and implicit messages in media works (e.g., make an oral presentation to the class about the differences between family life as depicted in a television series and as experienced in real life; identify and evaluate the variations in treatment and emphasis of different covers that have been designed for the same book); identify how elements of media forms are used in a variety of media works and explain the effects of different treatments (e.g., use of camera angles, sound effects, and dialogue in films; use of headlines, photographs, and captions in newspaper and magazine layouts); compare and explain their own and their peers' reactions to a variety of media works; identify factors that influence media production and distribution and explain the effect of these factors on specific media works (e.g., read government regulations and industry codes governing advertising aimed at children; consult copyright laws).	Concept #1: All media are constructions. The media do not present simple reflections of external reality. Rather, they present carefully crafted constructions that reflect many decisions and result from many determining factors. Media Literacy works towards deconstructing these constructions, taking them apart to show how they are made. Title Sequence: In literary texts, we expect to find the author's name and the publishing company on the spine and inside title page. We also expect to find the content divided into chapters, and we expect to build meaning as we work through the text. In the movies, directors are expected to establish setting, mood, main characters, or main issues during an opening sequence of approximately five minutes while the names of the production company, director, and main actors are superimposed over the images on the screen. Teach : basic camera angles/ distance/ movement. See Technical and Symbolic Codes  and a film maker resource by Michael Wohl, an award-winning filmmaker, instructor at UCLA, and one of the original designers of Final Cut Pro. Application: When using a movie to complement the study of a literary text, devote a substantial portion of a class to the title sequence. Note how the film grammar of sound and visuals establishes meaning. (for an example, see Miss Congeniality TitleSequence (pdf)
Creating Media Works By the end of this course, students will: adapt a work of literature to another media form and determine what aspects have been strengthened and/or weakened by the adaptation (e.g., recast a short story, novel, or poem as a storyboard, book jacket, or song, using available resources); create media works for different purposes and explain how each has been designed to achieve its particular purpose (e.g., plan and write a sample web page on how to use a provincial park campsite responsibly and another on the pleasures of camping); create media works appropriate to different audiences and explain why a particular design should appeal to a particular audience (e.g., design advertisements to sell similar products to children and to adults; design two different book covers for the same novel, one for the teen market and one for the adult market).	Concept #4: Media have commercial implications. Media Literacy aims to encourage an awareness of how the media are influenced by commercial considerations, and how these affect content, technique and distribution. Most media production is a business, and must therefore make a profit. Questions of ownership and control are central: a relatively small number of individuals control what we watch, read and hear in the media. Even TV news is constructed like a "story" with a narrative and the story needs to grab viewers attention In grade nine students have to do a Newpaper Article to get ready for the OSSLT. Taking apart the newspaper to discuss the percent of advertising, as well as ownership of newspapers in Canada, etc. ties in nicely.

10D English Ministry Expectations: Media Strand	Media Key Concepts 5 & 6 see J. Pungente, S.J., "Key Concepts" at Media Awareness Network
Overall Expectations By the end of this course, students will: analyse a range of media forms to identify their elements, audiences, and production practices, and draw conclusions about how these factors shape media works; use knowledge of a range of media forms, purposes, and audiences to create media works, and use established criteria to assess the effectiveness of the works.
Specific Expectations Analysing Media and Media Works By the end of this course, students will: demonstrate critical thinking skills by identifying the differences between explicit and implicit messages in media works (e.g., write a report comparing unique features of several newspapers to assess their appeal to readers; explain the satire in a parody of a media work); identify key elements and techniques used to create media works in a variety of forms (e.g., illustrations and captions in political cartoons; narrative and characterization in a film or television drama; the choice of symbols and colours used to convey health and safety warnings on the packaging of a range of products) and analyse how these elements and techniques contribute to the theme or message; analyse the elements of a variety of media works, in order to identify and describe the intended audience(s) for the works (e.g., analyse advertising in a range of newspapers and magazines to identify the target audiences); analyse the relationship between media works and the production and marketing of related products (e.g., explain in a written or oral report how the target audience for a film determines the range of products marketed with it, and how this marketing, in turn, helps shape the film).	Concept#5: Media contain ideological and value messages All media products are advertising, in some sense, in that they proclaim values and ways of life. Explicitly or implicitly, the mainstream media convey ideological messages about such issues as the nature of the good life, the virtue of consumerism, the role of women, the acceptance of authority, and unquestioning patriotism. review visual codes: camera technique etc, extend understanding to include symbolic elements Technical and Symbolic Codes (pdf document) application: scrapbook of observations from home media experiences (ex. Weekend Media Observation (pdf document) )
Creating Media Works adapt an idea, theme, or issue from a work of literature for presentation in two related media forms, and assess the presentations to determine what aspects of the original have been strengthened and/or weakened by the adaptations (e.g., write a script adapting a short story or scene from a novel for radio and television; create a personal anthology of poetry in print and as a web page with links to related sites); create media works for different purposes and explain how the design decisions for each were shaped by the purpose (e.g., create a public-service video to inform people about a health hazard; construct a collage of print advertisements to illustrate the mediaÕs concept of a teenager); design media works appropriate to different audiences and explain why certain elements will appeal to a particular audience (e.g., design a magazine for a specific audience, and explain how it differs from typical magazines).	Concept #6: Media have social and political implications The media have great influence on politics and on forming social change. Television can greatly influence the election of a national leader on the basis of image. The media involve us in concerns such as civil rights issues, famines in Africa, and the AIDS epidemic. They give us an intimate sense of national issues and global concerns, so that we become citizens of Marshall McLuhan's "Global Village." Media influence through propaganda can be introduced as audience persuasion with concrete codes and techniques: one-sided by definition, film making and editorial tools employed in the service of the maker's purpose, scripted "reality," an air of scientific and factual authority, use of statistics and euphemism... The notion that propaganda is necessarily evil can be addressed: there are two forms of propaganda: agitation propaganda and integration propaganda. The students may propose a propaganda project supporting or calling attention to a school issue by scripting a short video (the basic tools of film/video language have been introduced in grade 9) or a poster campaign employing the tools discussed in the unit. The similarity between the tools of propaganda and those of advertising can be explored at this point. Links can be made to any number of works studied in class, particularly Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty Four

11U English Ministry Expectations: Media Strand	Media Key Concepts 2 & 3 see J. Pungente, S.J., "Key Concepts" at Media Awareness Network
Overall Expectations demonstrate an understanding of a variety of media texts, audiences, and industry practices by analysing representations, forms, and techniques in media works; demonstrate an understanding of the relationships among form, purpose, audience, and production techniques by designing or creating media works, independently and collaboratively, based on ideas, themes, and issues examined in this course.
Specific Expectations Analysing Media and Media Works demonstrate critical thinking skills by identifying bias and by analysing explicit and implicit messages in media works (e.g., explain the effect of images used in a film; identify the perspective of a newspaper or magazine); explain how the form, technique, style, and language of a variety of media forms create meaning (e.g., compare the coverage of a current event by newspapers, analyse the relationship between media works and their audiences (e.g., prepare for a panel discussion on how advertising campaigns target different audiences; identify the demographic profile of the target audience for a television show or radio station and assess how the content and advertising match the audience); explain the relationship among media works, media industry practices including marketing and distribution methods, and media industry codes and government regulations (e.g., explain the use of media to launch a new product line).	Concept #2: The media construct reality The media are responsible for the majority of the observations and experiences from which we build up our personal understandings of the world and how it works. Much of our view of reality is based on media messages that have been pre-constructed and have attitudes, interpretations and conclusions already built in. The media, to a great extent, give us our sense of reality. Studies of Representation:Using selected course texts, begin to ask questions such as: In this text, what is the norm for female behaviour, appearance, role? How is the norm established and distinguished form deviant, abnormal, or inadequate? ...the norm for male ... ... the norm for child .... the norm for adult ... the norm for seniors/ elderly In this text what race/ gender/ social class is presented as dominant/ powerful? Is the dominance justified or questioned? How?
Creating Media Works design or create media works based on ideas, themes, and issues examined in this course (e.g., create media works based on a theme from literature, using available resources; write dialogue for a commercial to promote sales of a novel; create a promotional campaign to sell the same idea or service to two or more different audiences); use knowledge of the relationships among form, purpose, audience, and production options to explain choices made in the design or production of media works (e.g., present media works to peers and explain solutions to problems encountered during the production process).	Concept #3. Audiences negotiate meaning in the media The media provide us with much of the material upon which we build our picture of reality, and we all "negotiate" meaning according to individual factors: personal needs and anxieties, the pleasures or troubles of the day, racial and sexual attitudes, family and cultural background, and so forth. Reader Response Logs: beginning with responses to course literature, develop response logs whose central purpose is to examine sources of personal response. initially, the student should identify individual factors (personal needs and anxieties, the pleasures or troubles of the day). The bulk of the response should be devoted to elaborating on the influence of personal factors, rather than on describing the response itself. (see Reader Response Rubric and Reader Response Template Once personal factors have been developed, the focus should switch socio-cultural factors (racial and sexual attitudes, family and cultural background). While it is difficult to convince 16-year olds that their values and beliefs are anything other than individual , it is crucial that they begin to be shown how their values are shaped through experiences related to gender, age, socio-economic status, and culture. Expectations for response logs should begin to reflect the factors identified in the activities for Key Concept #2

12U English Ministry Expectations: Media Strand	Media Key Concept 7 see J. Pungente, S.J., "Key Concepts" at Media Awareness Network
Overall Expectations By the end of this course, students will: demonstrate an understanding of a variety of media, media theories, and media industry practices by analysing representations, forms, and techniques in media works and assessing their implications for individuals and society demonstrate an understanding of the relationships among form, content, purpose, audience, and production techniques by designing or creating media works, independently and collaboratively, based on ideas, themes, and issues examined in this course, and assessing their effectiveness.
Specific Expectations Analysing Media and Media Works use critical thinking skills to identify bias and to analyse the differences between explicit and implicit messages in media works (e.g., analyse and assess the representation of Canadian culture in a wide range of films and television programs; analyse and assess the newspaper, television, radio, and Internet coverage of a conflict or uprising); explain how representation, form, style, and techniques in media works convey messages with social, ideological, and political implications (e.g., compare advertisements promoting healthy living as presented in different media forms; compare the coverage of a business or political news story in a range of newspapers, news magazines, radio and television newscasts, and on the Internet); explain the relationship between media works and their audiences (e.g., research how an advertiser adapts a campaign for different regional, cultural, or socio- economic groups; write a report on the ways in which various citizen groups use the media for specific purposes); apply key concepts of media theory to analyse specific media works (e.g., examine the coverage of an issue or event by a variety of media to assess Marshall McLuhanÕs statement ÒThe medium is the messageÓ); identify and explain the conditions that affect media industry practices governing the production, financing, and distribution of media works (e.g., gather data for an argumentative essay by investigating the ownership and control of media businesses and the implications for public access, range of expression, and audience choice).	Concept #7:Form and content are closely related in the media As Marshall McLuhan noted, each medium has its own grammar and codifies reality in its own particular way. Different media will report the same event, but create different impressions and messages. This concept is deceptive and is the one that I find, most students fail to truly comprehend, or more importantly, they fail to comprehend the implications of this concept. This is the concept that most clearly follows with McLuhan's "The medium is the message," ;which is a mind bender for most of us. the representation of violence/death can be addressed here for example - compare the treatment of death on TV vs death on the radio. analyse editing decisions in various media to highlight the control that the form of media has over the content (what goes in to the message, depends on the shape of the container) Form and Content handout (pdf document)
Creating Media Works design or create media works based on ideas, themes, and issues examined in this course (e.g., create a short videotaped editorial on a current issue or topic, using available resources; create a multimedia presentation for peers for an independent study project); demonstrate an understanding of the relationships among form, content, purpose, audience, and production options in their creations; assess the effectiveness of the works; and evaluate the choices made during the production process (e.g., maintain a learning log to record stages in the design and production process)

document revised 19 Feb 2006
Lessons created by Nancy Faraday and posted on this site are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.