Lesson’s target
population:
In my 11th grade United
States History classroom, I serve students with a wide range of learning
preferences and needs. In our heterogeneous classroom, students learn best with
choice, both in the texts they read and in the products they create. This unit
allows students to choose news articles they feel comfortable analyzing.
Students will also choose the form of the product they create for their final
assessment.
Lesson Rationale:
This lesson
addresses how media (and historical sources) employ statistics and/or narrative
storytelling to achieve the author’s purpose and construct a particular
perspective. In the 11th grade U.S. history curriculum, students
encounter many sources and can struggle with analyzing the reliability of a
source. This lesson would be on Day 1 of a 3-day unit on media literacy. Day 2 focuses on the “frame” that news outlets use when telling a story. On Day 3,
students create their own guide for their peers on how to “deconstruct” the
media. In this unit, students will employ skills that will strengthen their
“reading” of the media and all historical sources we encounter throughout the
year.
Lesson Action
Students
will create a guide for their peers on how to “read” and “deconstruct” the
media. See “Assessment” description below for more details. This action will be
an invaluable resource for students throughout the year when we read multiple
sources to understand the many perspectives that shape our understanding of
American history.
Assessment
The final assessment for this 3-day
unit is a guide that students will create for their peers on how to best “read”
the media. In their guides, students must advise their classmates on how to
consider the “frame” of a media story, as well as the questions we should ask
of how statistics and narratives are presented in media. Students may choose
the form for their guide from a list of options, including a one-page cartoon,
a spoken word poem, a “recipe”-style set of instructions, or a short PSA video.
Not only will this assessment
provide evidence of how students have understood the previous day’s lessons, it
will also serve as a useful tool for all the sources we analyze throughout our
year.
Lesson Title:
Moving from Consumers to Critics (Day 1 of Critical Media Literacy Unit)
Grade Level: 11
Subject/Topic Area:
U.S. History
Designed by: Julia
Konrad
Time Frame: 1
class period of a 3-day unit
Learning Objective:
·
Whenever the news media presents information, it
constructs a story told from its own perspective. To be critical consumers of
media, we must deconstruct this perspective, examining the news for its use of
statistics and narrative.
Common Core Standards:
·
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.1
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
·
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.3
Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain.
Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain.
·
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.6
Evaluate authors' differing points of view on the same historical event or issue by assessing the authors' claims, reasoning, and evidence.
Evaluate authors' differing points of view on the same historical event or issue by assessing the authors' claims, reasoning, and evidence.
Materials:
·
Composition notebooks
·
Table sets of printed articles and a Chromebook
at each table with Google Classroom and attached links set up.
Handouts:
Handouts:
o Day 1 Handouts and 3 articles about Shantel Davis (optional to use other news coverage of other people)
Big Understanding for
the Year:
·
We examine history through multiple
perspectives, and consider why some perspectives have been privileged or
excluded in the past.
Essential Question for
Unit:
·
How does the media decide who is a “worthy
victim”?
·
How do news media outlets use statistics and
narrative to construct their perspective of new information?
Do Now:
·
As a table, students fill out a 2-column T-Chart
on two front-page headlines following the grand jury’s decision of Eric
Garner’s death.
·
One student records, while others suggest
responses:
o
Observations (What do you notice? What do you
see?)
o
Inferences (What do you think these two images
mean?)
·
Whole class debrief:
o
What is similar about these two newspapers’
response? What is different?
o
Why would these two newspapers tell different
stories about the same decision?
Mini-Lesson (explicit
instruction):
·
Whole class reading of “Deconstruct the News”
handout introduction.
·
Quick review of vocab.
·
Whole class views Democracy Now clip, “HandcuffedWhile Dying.” Teacher models reading the very last paragraph (Charlene Carruthers' quote) of the transcript
(provided to students), identifying “facts,” “statistics,” and “narratives.”
Independent Practice:
·
Teacher previews 3 articles on Shantel Davis and
mentions varying levels of complexity. Students choose which they want to read
in class. Students of the same media outlet group together to identify
facts/statistics/narratives. Students then return to “home” tables to share out
their analysis of their news article.
·
Step 1: Analyze the news article
o
Students choose 1 of 4 articles at their table. Using
the yellow highlighter, they highlight the statistics
in their chosen article. Using the orange highlighter, they highlight the narratives in their chosen article.
o
Each student table will have a different set of
articles. Each set will center on one victim of police killing – Michael Brown,
Delrawn Small, Shantel Davis, Kimani Gray, and Eric Garner.
§
Shantel Davis:
· DNA Info
·
Step 2: Evaluate the news article
o
Students record 1 of the statistics on their
handout and consider:
§
What was the source for that fact? Do you trust
it? Why or why not?
o
Students record 1 of the narratives on their
handout and consider:
§
Does that story remind you of any stereotypes
about that person or group? Does that story make the person or group seem more
likable or less? Explain.
··
Step 3: Critique the news article
o
Students rank the reliability and credibility of
their chosen article, then present their critique to their tables.
o
As a table group, they prepare the closing
activity (see below).
Closing:
·
In table groups, students imagine the following
scenario:
o
A friend approaches you and says she saw someone
post on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram that someone in her neighborhood has been
shot by the police. She tells you she “wants to learn what really happened.”
What advice would you give her? Write down 1-2 pieces of advice to share out to
the whole class. This advice will be the brainstorm for their Media Literacy
Guide.
Homework/Extension
·
Read the other 2 news articles and create a
front-page for Shantel Davis’ story from the perspective of…
o
A key stakeholder (cop, student, family members)
o
Or from the perspective of a publisher (of your
own invention or one of the sources you read)
Plan for action
engagement:
·
On Day 3 of this unit, students will create
their own guide for reading the media based on the previous two lessons. In
their guides, students must advise their classmates on how to consider the
“frame” of a media story, as well as the questions we should ask of how
statistics and narratives are presented in media coverage (addressed on Day 2
of the unit). Students may use any of the following forms:
o
A cartoon
o
A spoken word poem
o
A “recipe”-style set of instructions
o
A PSA on Animoto
[Other potential articles for media analysis]
§ Michael Brown:
§ Kimani Gray
· http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/witness-claims-16-year-old-killed-cops-hands-article-1.1286981
§ Eric Garner
§ Delrawn Small
