Curated OER
Get Real!
Learners reach a consensus as to what makes a good reality-based TV show. They create their own scenarios for a new such show, and critique it, based on the criteria the class establishes.
Curated OER
Reality Media?
Yeah, but is it real? Clips from the famous documentary film series 56 UP launches an examination of the differences between reality television and documentaries. After considering the characteristics of each format, class members...
Curated OER
Art Reflecting Life
Have your young television viewers discuss popular shows among their peers. After choosing one show to analyze, middle and high schoolers read about the 2007-2008 network television lineup with the New York Times article "Gauging Viewer...
Curated OER
What Make Good Reality Television?
Students brainstorm what they believe makes a good reality TV show. Students compile a set of attributes that they feel distinguishes the best of the reality TV shows from the others. Using the attributes that the class agrees determine...
Curated OER
Miscast and Seldom Seen
Consider how well students' favorite TV shows, movies and video games reflect the diversity of society. The instructional activity introduces your class to several media literacy concepts, such as how media conveys values and messages,...
Media Awareness Network
Images of Learning: Elementary
Tired of 20-somethings portraying high school students? Tired of athletes and principals always being the villains? Class members examine the student and teacher stereotypes presented TV shows and films that are et in schools.
Curated OER
Watch and Learn
Learners explore a particular problem with the development of new television shows and create original reality-based educational programming.
Curated OER
Reality Check
Students evaluate different types of reality television programming in "focus groups" and then submit their opinions on this type of programming to a television network.
Curated OER
Crime Drama Teaching Units
Investigate the nature of crime dramas on television. What exactly are they trying to portray? Questions and a comparison chart support learners as they watch shows from Canada, Great Britain, and the United States. An oral presentation...
Curated OER
Shellfish Shenanigans
Twelfth graders create simulations of a reality-based TV show that investigates the near death of a contestant from a seafood meal. They examine the physical symptoms of anaphylactic shock, and create protein fingerprints.
Curated OER
Fittest of the Survivors
students consider the reality television show 'Survivor' as a means to contemplate what it means to be a survivor. They create fictional characters and explore how different personal qualities would help and hinder their success on...
Curated OER
Survival of the Fittest Microbes
Students explore the harsh conditions of Spain's Rio Tinto River and research the microbes that nonetheless manage to thrive there. They synthesize their knowledge by creating a reality television show set in the Rio Tinto with microbes...
Curated OER
Reality Film
Students propose and create documentary films depicting a slice of "ordinary" life that reveals something unique or surprising about its subject. They, in groups, make films and present them to the school.
Curated OER
The Electric Hearth
Young scholars examine popular media. In this media awareness lesson, students keep logs of their interactions with media and then write an essay regarding the data.
Curated OER
Tru Confessions
Learners view the movie "Tru Confessions" about the life of teenagers. They participate in activities in which they analyze themselves. They record their thoughts and feelings to be analyzed at a later date.
Curated OER
Fair Judgment
Students consider the demands of the judicial process and work in small groups to write editorials in response to the one that is read in class. For homework, they grade a television judge and write reflective essays.
Curated OER
I Will Survive!
Students define and explore the term "survivor" through the study of real-life stories of survival. They interview a person whom he/she considers to be a survivor, and share their interviews with the class.
Curated OER
Tax Jeopardy
Create a glossary of tax-related vocabulary and clip New York Times articles that present tax procedure in action, in preparation for participating in a tax quiz bowl. Young economists explore allegations that "Survivor" Richard Hatch...
Curated OER
Opinion Surveys
Students examine the factors that affect the accuracy of opinion surveys. They calculate probability and chance using data they have collected. They practice reading tables and graphs as well.
Curated OER
Etiquette Lessons for Students
Young scholars explore the meaning of good manners and proper etiquette. In this behavior lesson, students read an article that explains manners in the social setting and workplace, then complete several activities that reinforce the...
Curated OER
The Best Birthday Present Ever
Students view a PBS "In the Mix" video about smoking and identify cigarette ingredients, the physical effects of smoking and techniques used in tobacco advertising. They compose a letter persuading someone to quit smoking.
Curated OER
A Media Literacy Unit on "Turn Beauty Inside Out"
Students become aware of the importance of distinguishing between inner and outer beauty. They explore how the media's opinion of beauty is biased and should be evaluated rather than just accepted. Each student also assesses how the...