Quebec Competencies Chart - Eating Under the Rainbow

Author: MediaSmarts
Level: Elementary Cycles One and Two
Subject Area: English Language Arts, Personal Development
Lesson Link: Eating Under the Rainbow

Description: Studies have found that fast-food ads dominate children's programming. In order to give children a perspective on the lure of snack-food advertisements, this lesson will stress how  it's important that they understand where snacks can fit into a healthy diet. Once they have an understanding of where snack food fits into their lives, they can begin to deconstruct the ads themselves.

This lesson satisfies the following English Language Arts Competencies from the Quebec Education Program:

Competency 1: To Read and Listen to Literary, Popular and Information-Based Texts

Essential Knowledges:

• Uses prior knowledge and personal experience of the content of a text
• Use of pictures and other graphic representations to interpret texts
• Questions and talk with others to clarify and enrich interpretations
• Makes predictions, confirmations and inferences, when prompted by the teacher
• Develops a personal response process in the context of a community of readers through:
  • Discussion of responses with others individually, on small groups and in the whole class
  • Comparing own responses with those of others at a beginner's level
• Moves beyond the initial response through:
  • Responses to texts in a variety of ways that include talking, writing, the Arts, Media
  • Early attempts to explain own views of a text 

Competency 3: To Represent Her/His Literacy in Different Media

Essential Knowledges:

• Uses the familiar images, signs, symbols and logos in his/her environment:
• Makes meaning of a media text by:
  • brainstorming
  • drawing on prior knowledge
  • sharing responses with peers
  • making connections to own experiences
• Understands that texts are social and cultural products through:
  • Own response and responses of others:
    • Compares own response with those of peers in order to support and enrich own understanding
    • Uses photographs:
      • For storytelling, with guidance

Production Process

• Pre-Production:
  • Selection from the following text types (NOTE: The texts listed below are the same as those that are referred to throughout the Production Process):
    • Posters and signs, charts, graphs and time lines, comic strips, computer-assisted graphic reproductions, models from instruction booklets, surveys of viewing habits, magazine for peers
    • Exploratory planning in a risk-taking environment that promotes trial and error and includes:
      • Discussion about purpose, audience and context, in collaboration with teacher and peers
• Production:
  • Production of the texts listed above in groups with peers that:
    • Incorporate images, symbols, signs, logos and/or words to communicate meaning or message
    • Incorporate appropriate communication strategies and resources given the text type and the context
    • Function as information-based text type:
      • Follows an appropriate, prescribed procedure to locate, organize and present information, with guidance, on a familiar topic
• Post Production:
  • In collaboration with group members:
    • Self-evaluation of text produced  

Competency 4: To Use Language to Communicate and Learn

Essential Knowledges:

• Shares information with peers and teacher
• Talks about responses and point of view with peers and teacher
• Asks and answers questions from peers and teacher
• Talks through new ideas and information
  • Participating in collaborative reading, writing, viewing, visually representing, listening and talking activities:
    • Brainstorming