Courses: Media Literacy, Collective Memory, Political History. Objectives: The aim of this unit is for students to understand the role of feature films in the construction of historical memory. The proposed teaching unit deals with the analysis of biases and the construction of narrative in war films. The class was divided into groups, and…

Talking about race does not have to be incredibly awkward. In this book, Gooding offers twelve clear, cogent, and concise racial rubrics to help users of mainstream media more readily discern patterns hidden in plain sight. The text primarily leverages popular movies as the medium of analysis--since they are unparalleled in their cultural…

"What is a fandom, and why do fandoms matter for school?" Fandoms are passionate communities dedicated to appreciating and engaging with texts of interest (movies, TV shows, books, bands, brands, sports teams, etc.) via personally and communally meaningful literacy practices. It is increasingly obvious that scripted literacy curricula…

The semester-long activity described herein uses an integrated instructional approach to media studies to introduce students to the research method of qualitative content analysis and help them become more critically vigilant media consumers. The goal is to increase students' media literacy by guiding them in the design of an exploratory…

This section of English 177: Literature and Popular Culture, The Graphic Novel was designed to teach students to "make compelling arguments about and in various media" and to produce a "professional-like final product that represents their work to the world at large." While twice weekly lectures by Professor Robin Valenza…

Movies are mostly viewed for entertainment. Mixing entertainment and physics gets students excited as we look at a famous movie scene from a different point of view. The following is a link to a fragment from the 2010 motion picture "Inception": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3tBBhYJeAw. The following problem, based on images in facing…

In this article Matthew Jellick describes an introductory lesson he has used on the first day of class with students around the globe. The activity touches on each of the skill sets associated with English language acquisition, with special attention paid to cultural issues that can be applied on a country-by-country basis. No matter what country…

The concept of gender stereotypes permeates the lives of youth in the United States. This article provides background information and rationale for incorporating gender stereotype analysis into family and consumer sciences (FCS) coursework. The critical analysis of gender stereotypes includes numerous activities and assessments that encourage…

As an advanced rhetoric and composition doctoral student, I taught Engl 3135: Visual Rhetoric, a three-credit upper-level course offered by the Department of English at Georgia State University. Mary E. Hocks originally designed this course in 2000 to, in her words, "introduce visual information design theories and practices for writers [and]…

Today's students tweet, text, and navigate apps up to 12 hours each day, but they may not know how to effectively analyze a TV show or website. Award-winning author Renee Hobbs demonstrates how to incorporate media literacy into the secondary classroom, providing the tools teachers need to: (1) Effectively foster students' critical thinking,…

Supported by critical theoretical frameworks, this book is a purposeful engagement with bodies of knowledge rooted in popular culture, yet routinely excluded from "common sense" visions of curriculum. Aimed at teachers as well as teacher-educators, the book examines areas such as Disney, African American stand-up comedy, intersections of…

Teachers the world over are discovering the importance and benefits of incorporating popular culture into the music classroom. The cultural prevalence and the students' familiarity with recorded music, videos, games, and other increasingly accessible multimedia materials help enliven course content and foster interactive learning and…

Students' backpacks bulge not just with oversize textbooks, but with paperbacks, graphic novels, street lit, and electronics such as iPods and handheld video games. This book is about unpacking those texts to explore previously unexamined assumptions regarding their usefulness to classroom learning. With a strong theoretical grounding and many…

This book shows teachers how to bring students' Do-It-Yourself media practices into the classroom (Grades 6-12). In one accessible resource, the authors explain DIY media, identify their appealing features for content area instruction, and describe the literacy skills and strategies they promote. Chapters address: Adolescents' DIY Media as New…

This activity is designed to help build a bridge between the practical and the theoretical and lay the groundwork for students to assess and evaluate both communication theory and popular press titles. This activity is very effective in demonstrating that communication theory can be practical and applicable to real-life advice about work, home,…