Media Literacy Curriculum

Adapted from the McREL Standards Database

What students should know about different media:

1. That media messages have economic, political, social, and aesthetic purposes (e.g., to make money, to gain power or authority over others, to present ideas about how people should think or behave, to experiment with different kinds of symbolic forms or ideas)

2. How different media (e.g., documentaries, current affairs programs, web pages) are structured to present a particular subject or point of view

3. The elements involved in the construction of media messages and products (e.g., the significance of all parts of a visual text, such as how a title might tie in with main characters or themes)

4. The production elements (i.e., rhetorical elements) that contribute to the effectiveness of a specific medium (e.g., the way black-and-white footage implies documented truth; the way set design suggests aspects of a character's socio-cultural context; effectiveness of packaging for similar products and their appeal to purchasers)

5. The influence of media ownership and control (e.g., concentration of power and influence with a few companies; diversification of media corporations into other industries; the commercial nature of media; influence of origins on a media message or product)

6. The influence of different factors in the construction of different media (e.g., media owners, sponsors of specific programs, codes governing advertising aimed at children, copyright laws) on media production, distribution, and advertising (e.g., whether a program is scheduled late at night or at peak times, whether a film is released in theaters or only on video)

7. The different aspects of advertising in media (e.g., advertising intertwined with media content, such as advertising copy presented in the form of news stories or the close association of feature articles with surrounding advertisements; the influence of advertising on virtually every aspect of the media, such as the structure of newspapers; advertisers as a pressure group; sponsorship as a form of advertising; ambiance in media that is sympathetic to advertising, such as lifestyles portrayed on television)

8. The extent to which audience influences media production (e.g., selection of audiences on the basis of their importance to advertisers or media institutions; production of programs with high audience ratings and low production costs, such as game shows; how media producers determine or predict the nature of audiences)

9. The relationship between media and the production and marketing of related products (e.g., how and why books are reissued in conjunction with film releases; how the target audience for a film determines the range of products marketed and this marketing in turn helps shape the film)

10. The influence of media on society as a whole (e.g., influence in shaping various governmental, social, and cultural norms; influence on the democratic process; influence on beliefs, lifestyles, and understanding of relationships and culture; how it shapes viewer's perceptions of reality; the various consequences in society of ideas and images in media)

11. The legal and ethical responsibilities involved in media use (e.g., censorship; copyright laws; FCC regulations; protection of the rights of authors and media owners; standards for quality programming; regulations for broadcast repeats; forms of media self-control; governmental, social, and cultural agencies that regulate media content and products)

12. The role of the media in addressing social and cultural issues (e.g., creating or promoting causes: U.N. military action, election of political parties; use of media to achieve governmental, societal, and cultural goals)

What students should be able to do to demonstrate that they can effectively interpret different media:

1. Use a range of strategies to interpret visual media (e.g., draw conclusions, make generalizations, synthesize materials viewed, refer to images or information in visual media to support point of view, deconstruct media to determine the underlying biases and decode the subtext)

2. Use a variety of criteria (e.g., clarity, accuracy, effectiveness, bias, relevance of facts) to evaluate informational media (e.g., web sites, documentaries, advertisements, news programs)

3. Identify the conventions of visual media genres (e.g., a talk show contains an opening monologue, humorous discussion between host and a sidekick, guest interview, interaction with the audience, and special performances; news programs present the events of the day as stories with setting, character, conflict, and resolution)

4. Analyze and explain how the rules and expectations governing media genres can be manipulated for particular effects or purposes (e.g., combining or altering conventions of different genres, such as presenting news as entertainment; blurring of genres, such as drama-documentaries)

5. Use strategies to analyze stereotypes in visual media (e.g., recognize stereotypes that serve the interests of some groups in society at the expense of others; identify techniques used in visual media that perpetuate stereotypes)

6. Interpret and make connections between context and values projected by visual media (e.g., the implication in television science programs that science is progressive and helps solve problems; influence of changing societal values on media products; political context, such as conflicts between loyalty and betrayal in High Noon, made in American during the McCarthy period; cultural values suggested by omissions from visual media, such as soap operas featuring only materially advantaged people)

7. Explain how images and sound convey messages in visual media (e.g., special effects, camera angles, symbols, color, line, texture, shape, headlines, photographs, reaction shots, sequencing of images, sound effects, music, dialogue, narrative, lighting)

8. Interpret and evaluate effects of style and language choice in visual media (e.g., use of long-shots to signify both real and metaphoric isolation; rapid editing in a television commercial; juxtaposition of text and color in a billboard; words in headlines intended to attract attention)

9. Interpret how literary forms can be represented in visual narratives (e.g., allegory, parable, analogy, satire, narrative style, characterization, irony)

10. Identify, analyze, and critique a variety of techniques used in advertising (e.g., portrayals of happy families and exotic places; celebrity endorsement; use of humor; emphasis on value and reliability; sex appeal; science and statistics; appeal to fears and insecurities)

11. Demonstrate an understanding of how editing shapes meaning in visual media (e.g., omission of alternative perspectives; filtered or implied viewpoints; emphasis of specific ideas, images, or information in order to serve particular interests; the careful construction of seemingly straightforward texts)

12. Interpret and explain the effects of visual media on audiences with different backgrounds (e.g., age, nationality, gender, class, belief system)