Bias, Understanding Texts, and Widening Perspectives

 In Blog, Diana Maliszewski, Elementary, Lessons and Ideas, Secondary

The following thread from @Jess5th on Twitter (otherwise known as Jessica Lifshitz, an American elementary school teacher) is a great example of rich discussion, excellent scaffolding, and critical thinking. Although Jess did not necessarily create this as a “media lesson”, it incorporates several key concepts for media literacy.

  • All media are constructions
  • The media construct reality
  • Audiences negotiate meaning in the media
  • Media contain ideological and value messages
  • Media have social and political implications

Although Jess uses American examples, the lessons are easily transferrable to a Canadian context.

The Association for Media Literacy would like to thank Jess for allowing us to share her text. We’ve deliberately maintained her message as a series of tweets because of two other key media concepts.

  • Form and content are closely related in the media
  • Each medium has a unique aesthetic form

If you want to read more from Jess, her blog is https://crawlingoutoftheclassroom.wordpress.com/

(These ideas can be adapted to both secondary and elementary classrooms – ed.)

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