Curated OER
Popular Music and Music Videos
This resource is part of a three-activity unit that introduces your class to the concept of popular culture and the role that it plays in their lives. Here, learners examine the importance of the music industry and music videos in pop...
Prestwick House
"Because I could not stop for Death" -- Visualizing Meaning and Tone
Emily Dickinson's "Because I could not stop for Death" provides high schoolers with an opportunity to practice their critical thinking skills. They examine the images, diction, rhythm, and rhyme scheme the poet uses and consider how...
Curated OER
Media Literacy Discussion Guide
High schoolers examine and analyze visual media and its messages critically. They determine whether specific media messages inform, entertain, or persuade and what factors influence the media. Using primary sources, they participate in...
Curated OER
Media Awareness: Key Concepts in Advertising
Students examine the basic concepts of advertising. In this media awareness instructional activity, students discuss target audience, art, and purpose in advertising to determine what makes an advertisement effective or ineffective. ...
Curated OER
Heroic Images: Visualization and Media Messages
Young scholars examine media messages. In this media awareness lesson, students analyze online messages about heroism as they complete a jigsaw reading activity.
Curated OER
Papyrus to PDA
What a great project. Graphic arts high schoolers consider the social, political, and economic impact made by a chosen invention. They build an argument to substantiate their reasons for choosing said invention. They create an oral...
Curated OER
Now That's Beautiful!
Your class experiences dozens of messages about beauty every day by reading magazines, watching movies, and listening to the radio. Have them analyze society's view of beauty in groups after discussing several resources, including Dove's...
Curated OER
Photodocumentation: Promoting Environmental Education Through the Development of Visual Literacy Skills
Young scholars construct a photo document on their selected topic and use at least twelve photographs in their photo document. One must be of the authors. Additionally, they must write five interactive questions which help viewers...
Curated OER
Expressive Self Portrait - Mixed Media
Students create self-portraits using prior artistic knowledge and personal experiences. Emphasis is placed on the works of Albrecht Durer, Vincent Van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Romare Bearden, and Chuck Close for inspiration.
Media Education Lab
Propaganda in Context
"Board Game Helps Fight Real World Ebola," a video produced by Voice of America, provides the text for a guided instructional activity that asks viewers to analyze the propaganda techniques used in the video. Groups then select a example...
Media Smarts
Sex in Advertising
Converse with your class about the use of sex in advertising. Analyze the biological, emotional, and spiritual connections associated with sex, and how the media uses these affiliations to sell products. Take a closer look at...
Curated OER
Information Overload: Looking at News
How do events reported in mainstream newspapers, on television news, blog posts, and social network sites differ? Ask your class to investigate the way the same news item is presented in the many information sources available. Groups...
Curated OER
What Shapes Can You See?
Students investigate shapes in art. In this visual arts lesson, students examine the ancient Panamanian "Plaque" and identify the geometric shapes in the art piece. Students combine basic shapes to make an artistic picture of their own.
Teaching for Change
Selma in Pictures: Socratic Seminar
Photographs from the freedom movement in Selma, Alabama serve as the basis of two Socratic Seminars. Class members prepare for the seminars by closely observing the images, form a hypothesis, and use evidence from photo to support a...
Brooklyn Museum
Seductive Subversion: Women Pop Artists, 1958–1968
What role did women play in pop art during the 1950s and 1960s? The class researches the role of women in mid-century America and how those roles were portrayed through the pop art of the time. They use an excellent set of guiding...
Dick Blick Art Materials
Torn Metal Collage
The work of Austrian artist Gustav Klimt is used to inspire kids to create their own mixed media works. Although designed for the special education classroom, the activity is sure to inspire all kids.
Curated OER
Maus I and II: Pictionary
Why is visual literacy so important in understanding Maus? Introduce your class to basic elements of graphic novels with a game of pictionary. A list of 13 words are included, but you could potentially add some World War II-related terms...
Curated OER
Mixed-Media Self-Portrait with Symbols
Students watch segments of a video to explore portraits. They create a self portrait using mixed-media.
Curated OER
Reaction Time 2: Zap!
Students explore critical thinking by conducting a reaction time experiment. In this human brain lesson, students utilize a timed Internet worksheet activity to research how fast their brain works when answering questions. Students share...
Curated OER
Horse of a Different Color: An Introduction to Color in the Visual Arts
Students examine how artists use color to create a sense of depth in a two-dimensional space. They view and analyze prints, complete worksheets, and write a paragraph on how color is used to draw the viewer's eye to a central figure.
Curated OER
What Does Not Belong?
In these critical thinking worksheets, students study the 4 pictures in each set and circle or cross out the picture that does not belong. Students complete 10 activities.
Curated OER
Body and Media #1
Students examine how films and media affect their body image. They identify their own definition of body image and research the topic. They discover the importance of using both fact and opinion sources.
Curated OER
Gender and Media #3
Learners identify media messages about gender and body image. They discuss how they can change these messages. They create their own media message about gender and body image.
Curated OER
Body and Media #2
Students discover how media influences body image. They identify how the media creates an ideal beauty. They answer questions after watching "Dying to be Thin".