MEDIA LITERACY:
LESSON: Making A Media Literacy Video
Overview
According to a 2010 report of the
Kaiser Family Foundation, 8-18 year-olds currently devote an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes (7:38) to using entertainment media across a typical day (more than 53 hours a week). The report further informs us that because they spend so much of that time ‘media multitasking’ (using more than one medium at a time), they actually manage to pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes (10:45) worth of media content into those 7½ hours.
If there was ever a time when media literacy education was more needed for today’s youth, that time is NOW! Yet how many students have ever been encouraged to critically examine the media they are consuming and regularly producing for consumption by friends, acquaintances and, in many cases, total strangers?
This lesson provides students the opportunity to produce a video to share with other teens concerning the topic of media literacy.
Level:
Middle / High School
Objectives:
- Demonstrate awareness of the topic of media literacy and its implications for teen consumers
- Express via video at least one major reason why media literacy is important for teens.
Time:
1 class session for brainstorming (Note: this process alone is valuable)
2+ sessions to create video
Preparation and Materials:
Procedures
Introduce media literacy and discuss the
Core Principles of Media Literacy provided by the National Association of Media Literacy Education.
Tell the class that teens are taking their own actions to teach their peers and younger teens about media literacy. Show them sample Memefilms featuring teens: or
Alcohol Target Marketing Exposed or
Haiku Media Literacy or
Memefilms & Ticonderoga 5 min. Film
Tell the teens it’s their turn to make a video telling people why media literacy is important.
Activity
Part One: Brainstorming The Video
Discuss with the class some of the ideas contained in the core principles that could serve as the subject of a video as for example the idea of target audiences.
Have the class break into groups with the assignment to brainstorm a video of 2-5 minutes. Give each group time to brainstorm their video. Make sure that each group has copies of the handouts:
Things to Consider When Making Video and
Ideas for Making Video
Have students present their group’s ideas to the class.
Part Two: Producing Video
Students may spend varying amounts of time actually producing their videos. The instructional materials about how to go about producing a video will be new information to many of them so this is material that should be presented before they start their production efforts.
Review the
General Instructional Checklist for Creating Video with the class.
Discuss student plans for production with each of the teams (e.g. what equipment are they using for their filming; what role does each team member have in the production, etc.)
Offer guidance and supervision as needed.
Part Three: Sharing the Videos
Be sure to leave time for students to share their videos with the group.
Assessment
See
Guide to Assessing Video