"Worth 1,000 Words"
Use this lesson in conjunction with the Week in Rap to facilitate a discussion and short research assignment that focus on the role that visual elements, graphics and headlines play in communicating information and opinion in the news.
Objectives
Students will:
-Identify the media elements that comprise a news story;
-Analyze the purpose behind using certain visual and other graphical information to communicate an idea;
-Compare and contrast how different news outlets use and juxtapose image and story.
Standards
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.6.2
Interpret information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and explain how it contributes to a topic, text, or issue under study.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.8.2
Analyze the purpose of information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and evaluate the motives (e.g., social, commercial, political) behind its presentation.
Materials
The Week in Rap
Time Allotted
1 class period
Sequence
1. Show the class a Week In Rap video. You can use the most recent one, or if you are teaching or looking to focus on a particular subject or issue, you can use one from another week.
2. Find an image used either in the interactive lyrics throughout the song, or in the news source that is cited at the end of each tooltip, and have the class look at it with the following questions in mind:
-Why was this picture chosen for this story?
-Does this image tell you something that words can’t?
-What picture would you choose for the story? Why?
3. If you have student computers in your classroom, have your students get into small groups and either assign them or have them choose one of the stories to find images for online. They can open images up in different windows so that they can view multiple images at once, and then students can circulate to the different computers and offer their opinions about what the different images mean and what impact they have on the understanding of the story. (If you have just one computer, you can do this activity as a whole class.)
Sample
Both of these images above were used in the Week in Rap from July 11, 2014. Just looking at the images, what similarities and differences do you see between the two? Without watching the video (or knowing the context) what do you think is going on in these photos? If you were to widen out the lens, what do you think you’d see surrounding these images?
Wrap Up/Extensions
Two Lies and a Truth: Have students find a photo relating to the news (in class or for homework) along with three choices of the related news story. One of the choices should be the actual story it relates to and then they should fabricate two other options that seem like viable options but are actually untrue. They can put their pictures/story options on their desks and then circulate around the room and vote for which they think is the correct story for each.
Guided Reflection
-"I used to think ______ and now I think ______"
-"One things I learned is ________________ and one question I still have is _________"