Quebec Competencies Chart - The Price of Happiness
Author: This lesson has been adapted, with permission, from Living in a Material World: Lessons on Commercialism, Consumption, and Environment, © the Center for the Study of Commercialism, Washington, D.C.
Level: Secondary Cycle One and Two
Subject Area: English Language Arts, Drama, Physical Education and Health
Lesson Link: The Price of Happiness
Description: In this lesson students answer a brief questionnaire related to self-image, self-esteem, and advertising, and then work as groups to create and act in mock television commercials that parody advertising techniques.
Cross-curricular Competencies |
Broad Areas of Learning |
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This lesson satisfies the following English Language Arts Competencies from the Quebec Education Program:
COMPETENCY 1 uses language/talk to communicate and to learn
- Compares the affordances of written, media and multimodal languages in achieving a specific purpose
- Examines how poets and others have used the sound patterns and other auditory elements of spoken language to great effect:
- in media texts: slogans and jingles in commercials; repetition and sound patterns in music videos
COMPETENCY 2 Reads and listens to written, spoken and media texts
Constructing a Reading of a Text
- Focuses on a topic and/or issue that is of interest to her/him to construct an efferent reading, (e.g. makes sense of the text by coming to terms with the ways in which a topic has been developed by a writer/producer)
- Focuses on the relationship between self as reader and the text to construct an interpretive reading
- Activates relevant prior textual knowledge before, during and after reading text(s) to monitor the meaning(s) s/he is making, (e.g. uses what is known about a writer/producer and her/his style to make predictions, draws on knowledge of structures and features of a specific genre, applies knowledge of codes and conventions particular to specific texts)
- Activates relevant prior personal knowledge and experience to make sense of a text which is frequently expressed in text-to-self connections, text-to-world connections, text-to-text connections
- Asks questions of self, writers(s) and text(s) as s/he reads to clarify and focus reading
- Determines the most important ideas/messages/themes in a text
- Draws inferences from a text
- Retells or synthesizes what s/he has read, e.g. attends to the most important information and the quality of the synthesis itself to better understand the text
Reader, Text, Context
Draws inferences about the view of the world presented in a text
- Identifies dominant elements and interprets their use, e.g. point of view, specific literary conventions, structure and sequence of argument, patterns of cause and effect
- Identifies the characteristics of the writer/producer and evaluates how these influence meaning, i.e. how stance, socio-cultural context, values and/or beliefs shape the world of the text
- Explores how power relationships are constructed in the text
- Examines how language (word, sound and image) is shaped to present ideas and information
- Makes connections between the depiction of different groups in texts and the context or setting of a text
Justifies her/his interpretation(s) of texts on the basis of own fluency as a reader
- Evaluates the way specific codes and conventions of a spoken/written/media text are employed to have an impact upon the assumptions, actions, values and beliefs of readers:
- codes and conventions of a specific genre that are employed to have an impact on readers in general or on a target audience in particular
- mode(s) of representation (sound, word and image) that influence the message(s)/meaning(s) of a text and how these reveal the intention(s) of the writer/producer(s)
- linguistic and textual features that situate or position the reader, e.g. connotations and denotations, stereotypes and bias, aspects of characterization and setting that evoke a specific emotion or response, appeals to mainstream values and beliefs
- issues and topics that present alternative values, beliefs, lifestyles in order to evaluate meanings for self as part of a process of interpreting a text
- Interrelates characteristics of the writer/producer(s) of a text and self as a reader:
- identifies characteristics of the writer/producer(s) of a text and applies this knowledge to determine how the text is designed to appeal to self as a reader, e.g. writer’s style, producer’s values or intent
- evaluates a perspective or point of view and its impact on self as reader
- recognizes the use of rhetorical strategies, e.g. use of first person to convey attitudes and feelings about an issue/topic, appeals to common beliefs or values in a culture, appeals designed to evoke a certain age group
- analyzes the representation of different groups, including interest groups, in the press in relation to controlling ideas, opinions, main ideas
- Makes inter-textual connections between texts read in and out of class:
- compares and contrasts alternative and mainstream values, mores, lifestyles within a range of literary and popular narratives
- compares and contrasts the socio-cultural, literary or historical contexts and conventions in texts
COMPETENCY 3 Produces texts for personal and social purposes
Researching as a Writer/Producer
- Researches aspects of the media and publishing industries to best produce, market and distribute their products:
- investigates how texts are produced and under what conditions
- examines how a text is vetted, marketed and distributed by a producer to its target audience, e.g. how a book gets published, how a trend is created
Assuming Roles as a Writer/Producer
- Adopts a stance to a topic and audience appropriate to the genre
- Considers who s/he represents, e.g. the beliefs and values of a company and/or an organization
- Applies language conventions to establish relationships, e.g. using gestures to elicit sympathy; using statements, conditions and commands to imply control and power; tilting the camera up to show authority
- Experiments with register:o adjusts register to the formality/informality of the context, e.g. uses academic language in an essay, jargon or slang in an advertisemento establishes the tone, e.g. uses dispassionate tone of anchor on news report, intimate tone when writing in a journal
Characterizing an Audience
Investigates how different target audiences use and respond to particular texts:
- identifies factors that constitute a target audience and evaluates how media texts are shaped to suit them
Analyzes characteristics of audience for own productions:
- chooses an audience depending on context for production
- draws on previous experience with audience
- generalizes factors such as age, gender, cultural background, race, location, level of education
Public and Private Space
Conducts a genre analysis:
- compares and contrasts texts within a social function, i.e. Why do people produce them? Who has access to these texts? Do they serve the same purpose? How do they communicate the values of a community?
- evaluates the structures, features, codes and conventions used
- examines how language (sound, word and image) is shaped:
- to represent and/or exclude people, events, ideas and information
- to organize and develop ideas
- for special effect
Uses texts as models to guide production:
- refers to model text(s) throughout the production process
- creates criteria for guiding production
- identifies specific structures and features to reproduce own interests, purpose and audience
Applying Codes and Conventions
- Applies conventions of the genre:
- chooses textual structures and features
- chooses linguistic codes and conventions
- Explores the representation of gender, race, appearance, culture, social class
Production Process
Media Practices
- Manages production constraints, e.g. time line, deadline, group roles and responsibilities
- Respects genre constraints, e.g. format, layout, target audience’s expectations, industry standards such as time allotment
Planning and Drafting
- Brainstorms ideas, clarifies and extends thinking by talking with peers and teacher
- Makes preparations prior to production
Going Public
- Makes final adjustments before presentation
- Presents text to intended audience
For specific topics, relate broad area of Media Literacy to:
Drama
Creates a Dramatic Work
Applies ideas for the creation of a dramatic work
- Explores various ways of conveying creative ideas through dramatic action
- Chooses dramatic actions for their interest
- Plans a creative project
Presents his/her dramatic creation
- Remains attentive to classmates
- Adjusts his/her actions to those of classmates
- Respects conventions concerning unified performance
Physical Education and Health
The secondary cycle 2 Physical Education and Health curriculum states:
The messages conveyed by the media can have major repercussions on adolescent behaviour. Therefore, it is important to encourage students to exercise critical judgment. Consider, for example, the violent images involving professional players shown during televised hockey games, the prestige awarded to successful athletes who use substances that are legal but whose long-term health effects have not been evaluated, and the promotion of weight-loss diets or products that rapidly affect body weight. These issues raise questions about the place and influence of the different media in daily life, in society and in the way reality is represented. Questions of integrity, morality and ethics may be discussed in relation to different types of physical activity that students practice.
Competency Three: Adopts a healthy, active lifestyle
- Critically assess the myths perpetuated by their peers and the media regarding health