Language Arts

Grade 4: Media Literacy

Planning: Term #

Tracking: Ach. Level

Overall Expectations

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4

1.demonstrate an understanding of a variety of media texts;

 

 

 

 

2. identify some media forms and explain how the conventions and techniques associated with them are used to create meaning;

 

 

 

 

3. create a variety of media texts for different purposes and audiences, using appropriate forms, conventions, and techniques;

 

 

 

 

4. reflect on and identify their strengths as media interpreters and creators, areas for improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful in understanding and creating media texts.

 

 

 

 

Specific Expectations

 

 

 

 

1. Understanding Media Texts

 

 

 

 

Purpose and Audience: 1.1 identify the purpose and audience for a variety of media texts (e.g., this print advertisement is designed to interest children in taking karate lessons; this website is designed to provide information to fans about a favourite singer; this CD cover is designed to attract classical music fans/pop fans/rap fans). Teacher prompt: "Why do you think this text was created? What age, gender, cultural group is it aimed at? How do you know?"

 

 

 

 

Making Inferences/Interpreting Messages: 1.2 use overt and implied messages to draw inferences and construct meaning in media texts (e.g., overt message on packaging for a video game: In this adventure game, characters take big risks and perform amazing deeds; implied message: If you buy this game, you can share in the excitement and be more like the daring characters). Teacher prompts: "What messages on the packaging make you think you would like to play this game? What do the images on the package make you think about? Which do you think influence you more - the overt messages or the implied messages?" "On television, what characteristics are shared by positive role models?"

 

 

 

 

Responding to and Evaluating Texts: 1.3 express opinions about ideas, issues, and/or experiences presented in media texts, and give evidence from the texts to support their opinions (e.g.,"I think this documentary about lions is one-sided because it only shows them as predators"; defend an opinion about whether or not a sitcom or video game reflects reality). Teacher prompts: "Which elements of this sitcom (or video game) seemed realistic and believable to you? Why? Did anything seem exaggerated?" "Do the characters in the program accurately represent the diversity of society? Explain.

 

 

 

 

Audience Responses: 1.4 explain why different audiences might respond differently to specific media texts (e.g., examine children's books or video games that have been rated as suitable for different age groups and suggest reasons for the ratings). Teacher prompt: "Find the age rating for a DVD/video/game that you enjoy. Is it fair? Why/why not?"

 

 

 

 

Point of View: 1.5 identify whose point of view is presented or reflected in a media text, citing supporting evidence from the text, and suggest how the text might change if a different point of view were used (e.g., explain how the point of view reflected in an advertisement is conveyed and describe how the advertisement might change to reflect the point of view of a different audience; describe how a TV show might change if it were told from the point of view of a different character). Teacher prompts: "What kinds of images would you use in this advertisement for a children's breakfast cereal if you wanted parents to buy the cereal?" "From whose point of view is your favourite television show presented?"

 

 

 

 

Production Perspectives: 1.6 identify who produces various media texts and the reason for their production (e.g., the government produces public service announcements, and the media broadcast them at no charge, to protect citizens' safety and the public interest; arts groups produce posters to advertise upcoming events; publishers produce newspapers to provide information, influence people's thinking, and make money). Teacher prompt: "Where would we find a public service announcement?" "How do people access or acquire newspapers?"

 

 

 

 

2. Understanding Media Forms, Conventions, and Techniques

 

 

 

 

Form: 2.1 identify elements and characteristics of some media forms (e.g., a television game show: game host/hostess, contestants, prizes; a television nature program: outdoor setting, wildlife "actors", voice-over narration, background music; a billboard: frame, large surface area, colour, images, graphics, words, font, punctuation). Teacher prompts: "What would you expect to see in a game-show program? A nature program?" "What aspect of this billboard caught your immediate attention?"

 

 

 

 

Conventions and Techniques: 2.2 identify the conventions and techniques used in some familiar media forms and explain how they help convey meaning (e.g., movies and videos use camera close-ups to show details, medium and long shots to put people and objects in perspective, high and low camera angles to create illusions of size or artistic effects, environmental sounds for realistic effects, background music to suggest a mood). Teacher prompt: "What kind of music would you use in a commercial for bicycles? Why?”

 

 

 

 

3. Creating Media Texts

 

 

 

 

Purpose and Audience: 3.1 describe in detail the topic, purpose, and audience for media texts they plan to create (e.g., an album of camera shots to help classmates understand the uses of different camera angles and distances in photography and/or film)

 

 

 

 

Form: 3.2 identify an appropriate form to suit the specific purpose and audience for a media text they plan to create (e.g., a poster advertising a school science fair; a flyer to encourage students to participate in the fair). Teacher prompt: "Why is a poster better to advertise the fair and a flyer better to tell students how to participate?"

 

 

 

 

Conventions and Techniques: 3.3 identify conventions and techniques appropriate to the form chosen for a media text they plan to create (e.g., a board game related to a unit of study from a curriculum subject area could include a list of game rules; a board showing the game name, movement path, obstacles, and finish line; and visual details that will appeal to the intended audience). Teacher prompt: "What are the essential components of this form? Have you included them all?"

 

 

 

 

Producing Media Texts: 3.4 produce media texts for specific purposes and audiences, using a few simple media forms and appropriate conventions and techniques (e.g.,

• an album of camera shots showing the different angles and distances and commenting on their uses

• a poem, announcement, or flyer produced electronically by combining word-processed text with pictures and/or photographs

• a mock television commercial for a favourite cereal, toy, or book

• a newspaper article that includes a photograph and headline

• a board game related to a unit of study from a curriculum subject area such as science or health

• a picture book to accompany a unit of study for a younger grade

• a storyboard identifying the sound effects, images, and dialogue to be used in filming a scene from a novel)

 

 

 

 

4. Reflecting on Media Literacy

 

 

 

 

Metacognition:

4.1 identify, initially with support and direction, what strategies they found most helpful in making sense of and creating media texts, and explain how these and other strategies can help them improve as media viewers/listeners/producers. Teacher prompt: "What skills do you use, before, during, and after you work with or create a media text? Be sure to consider all the skills required for texts that have more than one form: for example, television uses sound, visual images, and sometimes print."

 

 

 

 

Interconnected Skills: 4.2 explain, initially with support and direction, how their skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing help them to make sense of and produce media texts. Teacher prompt: "Does reading and writing about a story after seeing the movie or DVD give you new ideas about what you saw?"

 

 

 

 

 Expectations: Copyright The Queen's Printer for Ontario, 2006.  Format: Copyright B.Phillips, 1998.