REVISED MEDIA LITERACY SCOPE & SEQUENCE (8/14/03)

INTRODUCTION

In the ideal situation, where media literacy was being taught at all grade levels, it would become important to demarcate topics and levels of difficulty that might be considered appropriate at various grade levels. The following document is a first attempt at this exercise. The writers, Dan Blake, Steve Naylor and Dave Ellsion, were guided in their deliberations by the three ellemnts of the Media Triagle (“Scottish Model”): Text, Production and Audience.

GRADE 8

• What is the story in or embedded in this media ad (e.g. is there a beginning/middle/end)?
• What techniques are used to tell this story?
• How was the ad made (i.e. production techniques)?
• Do you notice similarities between this ad and other ads for equivalent products (e.g. shampoo, beer, car)?
• How does this ad appeal to me? What things about it do I like or dislike?
• Who is the intended audience? Classify into specific age and gender categories.
• Is this type of ad one you recognize (celebrity endorsement, “plain folks,” expert, peer group)?
• What are the people in the ads like (characteristics, personality traits)?
• Are they realistic?
• Are there people like them in your life?
• Are they stereotypes? If so, classify/identify some main stereotypes.

GRADE 9/10

In an ad that uses characters:

• are they balanced personalities? well-developed? believable?
• why are the characters like that?
• for what reasons would unrealistic characters be present?
• why are stereotypes present?

• What rules and laws affect this ad (e.g. Canadian Advertising Standards, Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom, CRTC)? Have any been broken?
• What rights and responsibilities do we have as consumers of this ad?
• Public vs. private space considerations (not sure what we meant here)
• How and why does this ad appeal to its audience?
• What role do demographics take in media ad?
• Explain why the ad is directed to a particular target audience?
• What assumptions about the target audience are included in the ad?

GRADE 11/12

• How do the characters in the ad relate to each other in terms of power, age, race, gender, and class?
• What are the values and ideology of the characters? To what extent do I share these beliefs?
• Where does this ad come from? Who created it? Who owns it?
• How is this ad distributed or sold to the public? Who profits?
• How would I change the ad to make it more:

socially or environmentally responsible?

honest?

inclusive?

safer?

• How do codes and conventions change over time (e.g. fast food menus)?
• What unstated messages are codes and conventions sending?
• How do media codes and conventions compare with reality?
• How have codes and conventions changed? (explain whether positive or negative)
• Explore how a company or owner’s values or beliefs appear through the ad? Does this improve or decrease its effectiveness?
• When does private ownership end and public domain begin?
• How has the creation of different forms of media changed the nature of ownership? the beliefs around ownership?