Strategies for Integrating Media Literacy

into the Social Studies Curriculum

“The nation depends on a well-informed and civic-minded citizenry to sustain its democratic traditions, especially now as it adjusts to its own heterogeneous society and its shifting roles in an increasingly interdependent and changing world.”

(National Council for the Social Studies)

In the 21^st century, educators of all disciplines have the challenge of teaching our students to be thoughtful, responsible and aware citizens in a culture full of contradictory messages. National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) states that the “primary purpose of the social studies is to help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisionsfor the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an independent world.”[1] As the capabilities of technology expand and the mass media become the dominant storytellers in American society, it becomes increasingly important for students to learn the skills to critically analyze the texts of popular culture. While television and media offer a way for us to learn about people and places around the world, they often frame their stories in ways that are seemingly absolute, although they only give us a limited perspective. For this reason, media literacy has become an essential component of the Social Studies discipline.

This guide will explain how media literacy can be integrated into lesson plans so that both the goals of the Social Studies and the Media Literacy curricula are met simultaneously. The lesson plans suggested do not depend on videos produced and distributed by the Media Education Foundation, but they do indicate places where M.E.F. videos can supplement your activities.

Strategies for Integrating Media Literacy into the Social Studies curriculum

The following strategies were developed based on national and state standards for Social Studies.

Analyze media to help students compare views, trace themes, and detect bias.
Examine media coverage of historical conflicts, both inter- and intra- national and compare to the information in historical texts.
Analyze popular culture to help students explore the multi-faceted nature of American Identity and the distinctive characteristics of American social and political culture.
Examine television, newspaper and magazine coverage of political issues to help students think critically about government and politics.
Analyze the media to help students explore the distinctions between personal and civic responsibilities and the tensions that may arise between them.
Analyze representation in the media to help students evaluate the impact on United States’ society of major social movements including, but not limited to, those involving women, racial minorities, young people, and the environment.
Analyze the media to help students understand the principles of democracy and evaluate the actual practice of these principles.

Strategy 1: Analyze media to help students compare views, trace themes, and detect bias

M.E.F. Videos which address this strategy:

· Constructing Public Opinion

· The Myth of the Liberal Media

· Fear & Favor in the Newsroom

· Project Censored: Is the Press Really Free?

· Tell the Truth & Run

· Framing an Execution

Learning Strand: Detecting Bias in the Media

How to Detect Bias in the News

http://www.media-awareness.ca/eng/med/class/teamedia/peace/bias7.htm

Television and the Presidency: How the News Affects Our Perceptions

http://www.hypertextbook.com/eworld/president.shtml

Detecting Bias in the News

http://faculty.washington.edu/~jalbano/bias.html

Recognising bias and distortion in television news programs

http://hsc.csu.edu.au/pta/scansw/bias.htm

The Media Bias Detector

(adapted from the book Unreliable Sources: A Guide to Detecting Bias in the News written by FAIR’s Martin Lee and Norman Solomon)

http://www.adamranson.freeserve.co.uk/fair%20media%20bias%20detector%20.PDF

(PDF Format)

FAIR’s Media Activism Kit

http://www.fair.org/activism/activismkit.html

Teaching Unit: Constructing Public Opinion study guide

http://www.mediaed.org/studyguides/

Citizens and the Media: Fact, Opinion, Bias

http://www.parl.gc.ca/information/about/education/teachers/strategies/1998/Plan33e.htm

News Coverage

http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/programs/thecronkitereport/

What Influences News Events?

http://archive.nandotimes.com/prof/edsvc/teach/niecurric/influences.html

Modifying Your Position

http://archive.nandotimes.com/prof/edsvc/teach/niecurric/mod.html

Comparing Newspaper and Television News Stories

http://archive.nandotimes.com/prof/edsvc/teach/niecurric/compare.html

Learning Strand: Comparing Views

Teaching Resource: New Perspectives on the Holocaust: A Guide for Teachers and Scholars

http://www.gse.harvard.edu/~hepg/HER-BookRev/Articles/2000/1-Spring/Millen1.html

Heeding Advice: Learning about Foreign Perspectives on Impending Warfare

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20010919wednesday.html

Bombs Away!: Exploring Perspectives on Whether Bombing Exercises Should Continue on Vieques

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20010730monday.html

Where Does History Stand on the Last Stand?: Re-Examining the Battle of Little Bighorn

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20010702monday.html

Death Be Not Proud: Considering Perspectives Regarding the Execution of Timothy McVeigh and the Lasting Impact of the Oklahoma City Bombing

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20010611monday.html

Of Human Bondage: Exploring Perspectives on Slavery During the Civil War Using Primary and Secondary Sources

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20000622thursday.html

Combing Through the News: Comparing Coverage of the Sean “Puffy” Combs Trial

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20010316friday.html

From Whose Perspective?: Critically Analyzing News Coverage of Palestinian-Israeli Violence

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20001013friday.html

Strategy 2: Examine media coverage of national and international historical events and compare information and perspectives.

M.E.F. Videos:

· Beyond the Frame: Alternative Views on the Sept. 11^th Atrocities

· Myth of the Liberal Media

· Fear and Favor in the Newsroom

· Project Censored

· Tell the Truth and Run

· Framing an Execution

· Case for a Reasonable Doubt

Topic: The Battle of Little Bighorn

Where Does History Stand on the Last Stand?: Re-Examining the Battle of Little Bighorn

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20010702monday.html

Topic: Colonialism in Africa in the 19^th and 20^th Centuries

History literature and the mass media

http://www.assignmentmedialit.com/home/High/high.html

Topic: Slavery

Of Human Bondage: Exploring Perspectives On Slavery During the Civil War Using Primary and Secondary Sources

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20000622thursday.html

Topic: World War II

Wartime Poster Activity

http://school.discovery.com/lessonplans/activities/wartimeposters

Images during Wartime

http://edsitement.neh.fed.us/lessonplans/images_at_war.html

Movie Magic and the Media Portrayal of Pearl Harbor

http://www.learn.co.uk/glearning/secondary/topical/ks4/pearl/default.htm

Perspectives of the Holocaust

http://pubweb.acns.nwu.edu/~abutz/di/intro.html

The Japanese American Experience: U.S. Anti-Asian Sentiment During WWII

http://209.133.122.124/curriculum/internmentA.html

Topic: The Gulf War

The Gulf War: A Lesson in Media Literacy

http://www.newsworld.cbc.ca/flashback/1991/gulfclass.html

Topic: Kosovo

Understanding the Kosovo Crisis: A Lesson in Media Literacy

http://www.lhric.org/war/lesson.html

Topic: September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon

Deconstructing Images From the Media Analyzing Sound and News Footage

http://www.mit.edu/cms/reconstructions/education/audiofoot.html

Analyzing How History is Framed and Exploring Implications for How We Understand Events

http://www.mit.edu/cms/reconstructions/education/timeline.html

Tolerance in Times of Trial

http://www.pbs.org/americaresponds/tolerance.html

Teachable Moment: Terrorism: 2001 09 11

http://www.media-awareness.ca/eng/med/class/teamed3/terrorism.htm

Heeding Advice: Learning about Foreign Perspectives on Impending Warfare

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20010919wednesday.html

The Power of Words: Exploring Responses to the Terrorist Attacks of Sept. 11, 2001

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20010917monday.html

Strategy 3: Analyze popular culture to help students define American National Character (the distinctive characteristics of American society and political culture) and explore its implications

M.E.F. Videos:

· Killing Us Softly III

· Behind the Screens

· Advertising and the End of the World

· The Crisis of the Cultural Environment: Media &

· Democracy in the 21^st Century

· Project Censored: Is the Press Really Free?

· KPFA On the Air

· Guerrilla TV: The Next Generation

· Democracy in a Different Voice

Strategy 4: Examine television, newspaper and magazine coverage of political matters to help students think critically about politicians and political issues

M.E.F Videos which address this strategy:

· Constructing Public Opinion

· Project Censored: Is the Press Really Free?

· Tell the Truth and Run

Learning Strand: Campaign Advertising

The Living Room Candidate: A History of Presidential Campaign Commercials, 1952-2000

http://www.ammi.org/livingroomcandidate/

Dissect a Political Campaign Advertisement

http://www.pbs.org/pov/ad/index.html

Language of Campaign Advertising

http://www.c-span.org/classroom/lessonplans/campaign/cap2000ad.asp

Political Advertising Lesson Plan

http://www.socialstudies.com/c/@1QorqW51KrTR./Pages/PolAdv.html

Learning Strand: The Language of Politics

Television and the Presidency: How the News Affects Our Perceptions

http://www.hypertextbook.com/eworld/president.shtml

The Language of Politics

http://assignmentmedialit.com/home/High/high.html

Lesson Plan: “Toon Talk” – Analyzing Political Cartoons

http://www.oneworld.net/anydoc2.cgi?u=http://www.justthink.org/lessons/lessons.html|root=528

Hail to the Chief: Exploring Front Page Coverage of Presidential Election Outcomes In the 20^th C.

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20001214thursday.html

Strategy 5: Analyze the media to help students explore the distinctions between personal and civic responsibilities and the tensions that may arise between them

M.E.F. Videos:

· Killing Us Softly III

· Advertising and the End of the World

· Tough Guise

· Game Over

· Speak Up

· Money for Nothing

Powerful Consumers: Exploring Boycotts, Past and Present

http://www.nytimes.com/learning/teachers/lessons/20000327monday.html

Strategy 6: Analyze representation in the media to help students evaluate the impact on United States’ society of major social movements including, but not limited to, those involving women, racial minorities, young people, and the environment