What if the literacy and social justice work educators are trying to do via literature is being foiled by its often tragic seriousness? What if the emotion work students are being asked to do when engaging with such literature is debilitating for some of them? One might argue that many students' reluctance to read and their lack of success at…

High school teacher J. Arias employs a research method from anthropology to motivate students to research and write. Learning to use the methods and perspectives of ethnography, students become critical viewers and thinkers, able to connect the themes of literary works to their lives and to critique the variety of texts that surround them. Arias…

Presents a process to prepare 10th-grade students to generate clear and thoughtful critiques of work in six nonprint media categories; movies, television shows, audio recordings, music videos, live performances, and computer programs. Provides detailed questions for student analysis of each. (SR)

A framework for media education that helps students enhance their understanding of the media and use their knowledge to influence individual and community action is proposed. It is experienced that the problem with educating children against, rather than about, the media is the assumption that students are passive audiences of the media, lacking…

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…

Offers an overview of resource information in media literacy, including listings of key organizations; texts and resources for teaching on media literacy; comprehensive texts; sources of thematic curriculum units; and works that explore media genres. (SR)

Describes three instructional stages of television research for the classroom: (1) establish students as experts; (2) provide a solid research procedure; and (3) require written reports and oral presentations of research findings to the class. (SR)

Describes how the author uses the character George from the television comedy "Seinfeld" to offer her students a challenging inquiry into cultural studies in relation to television character analysis. Describes how the author uses a particular episode to discuss the relation between George's workplace travails and broader issues of…

Argues that educators must acknowledge that television has the power to elicit student empathy and that students want to understand television's power to move them. Describes three kinds of television analysis: individual detailed logs of text; group dialogue about television programing; and researched essays documenting and interpreting details…

Starts with a macro or global analysis of television, leading into an examination of how media (television and commercials in particular) functions at a micro or personal level. Proposes ways these issues can be transformed into challenging and meaningful curricula that teach students to engage in critical evaluations of the content and broader…

Discusses a high school unit involving the cartoon characters "Beavis" and "Butt-head." Examines how social values and social conflicts affect and mirror language use. Describes Beavis and Butt-head projects, and objections to the unit. Argues that schools must embrace nonprint texts to help students become skilled, literate,…

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,…

Describes a course designed to challenge students to look at the way they are influenced by the mass media. Provides details of the procedures for forming the cooperative groups, the material used, the issues discussed, and the students' responses. (PRA)

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…