Media Literacy Week 2020: Analyze
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What is Analysis?
As listed on NAMLE's Media Literacy Week 2020 Website:
In media literacy, ANALYZING media content is the process of asking questions about a piece of media in order to identify authorship, credibility, purpose, technique, context, and economics.
Key Questions to Ask
- Who made this?
- When was it made?
- Who paid for this?
- What does this tell me about [insert topic]?
- What are the sources of information?
- What is left out that might be important to know?
- What techniques are used and why?
- How do the techniques communicate the message?
Quoted from:
Media Literacy Week 2020 Access Page. Media Literacy Week, National Association for Media Literacy in Education (NAMLE), medialiteracyweek.us/about/theme/analyze. Accessed 7 Oct. 2020.
Resources & Additional Reading
- Constructivist Media DecodingTeaching method by Project Look Sharp out of Ithaca College.
Lesson Plans
- Analyzing Media MessagesThis lesson plan from Scholastic.com asks students to analyze the media messages they receive about drugs and alcohol.
- Analyzing Persuasive Techniques in Historical Media Messages: Child LaborThis lesson from the Teaching with the Library of Congress Blog helps students understand the role of the media in swaying public opinion.
- Analyzing Primary Source MediaThis Interactive Lesson from Boston TV News helps students analyze messages carried through television footage.
- Decoding Media BiasIn one or two class periods, students will learn how to decode media bias. Lesson plan is from PBS NewsHour Extra.
- Evidence: Do the Facts Hold Up?From NewseumEd, students dig into an article to determine whether they can trust the information presented.
- Source: Can I Trust the Creator?From NewseumED, students dig into an article to determine whether they can trust the story be investigating the producer and sources within.
- Weed Out PropagandaFrom NewseumEd, this lesson centers around a bold digital poster that outlines a simple acronym - S.E.E.D. - to help students learn to spot propaganda by recognizing four of its key techniques.
- First Contact: Who's Telling the Story?From Project Look Sharp, this critical thinking activity allows students to analyze two paintings about first contact between Native Americans and Spanish conquistadors for messages about historical context and point of view.
Free Tools
- NewsFeed Defenders Game
This game from iCivics.org teaches students to evaluate the information they receive through news media messages and social media feeds.
Lesson Plans: Lateral Reading
- Teaching Lateral Reading
Click here to access S.H.E.G.'s sequence of lessons that teach students how to read laterally. The best way to learn about a website is by lateral reading - leaving a site, to see what other digital sources ay about a topic.