High school social studies teachers are always struggling to "cover the content" while addressing an ever-expanding set of additional demands. The Common Core expects literacy instruction to be incorporated into social studies. NCSS's new C3 Framework emphasizes teaching students to ask questions, evaluate sources, and communicate…

Social studies teachers are tasked with aiding their students' abilities to engage in public debate and make politically sound decisions. One way the authors have found to help facilitate this is to draw connections between content knowledge and current political conversations through the use of clips from "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." While…

Uses the following National Council of Teachers of English Guidelines to show that media literacy works in the classroom and to show it works when incorporated into the conventional English classroom: (1) students need to construct meaning through different media; (2) students need to analyze their transactions with media texts; and (3) students…

This paper presents a 2-week unit on stereotype and bias in the media (using wolves as an example) to develop children's critical viewing of television and to develop their thinking skills. The paper begins with a description of the daily grammar, weekly spelling, and science activities, and then presents a description of class activities for each…

Argues that middle-school social-studies educators should teach students skills to deal with the tremendous power of television in their lives. Discusses television viewing, television as a "good-bad" information source, and its connection to the middle-school curriculum. Discusses 11 media literacy activities that can be integrated into…

"Crosses on the Lawn," the television program featured in this videotape and teaching guide, covers the causes and effects of the issues raised by racial hatred, and it reveals attempts to heal the wounds of bigotry. The fictional town of Springdale, home of the two main characters, Chaz and Chris, one white and one black, becomes a…

Argues that educators should train themselves and students to understand and cope with television's power. Describes an inventory of viewing and reading habits, then discusses how three principles of teaching television are expressed in class activities. Outlines a unit that takes students from television as "just entertainment" to active,…

Discusses media literacy in Australia, where it is an integral component of school literacies from K-12. Discusses the teaching of analytic skills to develop strategies for thinking about the meanings media transmit and the meanings viewers construct for themselves. Describes classroom activities involving the studies of texts, audiences, media…

Argues that teaching video production techniques in high-school English classes achieves the goals of language arts proficiency, media literacy, and student self-realization. Discusses preproduction; information search; script and storyboard; writing activities; oral communication activities; teamwork; aesthetic judgment; media literacy; affective…

In this chapter, the author presents arguments to support a school curriculum that might forge a life of justice as well as develop a rational, analytical, and critical understanding of media texts that students use in classrooms and in out-of-school contexts. First, he begins by laying out the rationale for why media literacy matters in schools.…