Quebec Competencies Chart - Popular Music and Music Videos
Author: Robert Peregoodoff
Level: Secondary Cycle Two
Subject Area: English Language Arts
Lesson Link: Popular Music and Music Videos
Description: Popular Music and Music Videos is part of a three-lesson unit designed to introduce students to the concept of popular culture and the role that it plays in their lives. In this lesson, students examine the importance of videos to the music industry and the role that music plays in popular culture. In pairs, students interview each other about their musical preferences. This information is then tallied as a class. Activities for this lesson include: viewing and listening to videos, with and without sound, in order to analyze aesthetic visual elements; exploring the history of the music video; and independent projects on music videos for selected musical genres.
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
- features and conventions of favourite genres and how these are used to special effect, e.g. in a mystery or a romance novel, in a magazine article
- Interrelates characteristics of the writer/producer(s) of a text and self as a reader:
- evaluates a perspective or point of view and its impact on self as reader
- 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
- Develops topics that are personally and socially relevant:
- draws on repertoire of texts to make inter-textual connections, e.g. a comic book featuring sports icons or own friends
- looks at multiple perspectives on the topic, e.g. pros and cons of an argument, how different people perceive the issue
- considers open-ended question(s) to facilitate topic development
- broadens and/or narrows the scope of the topic
- makes abstractions, e.g. from a more literal interpretation to a more figurative one; or from a more egocentric view to one that can be generalized
- 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
- examines how fans are cultivated and how they organize and communicate among themselves
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
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
Applying Codes and Conventions
- Explores the representation of gender, race, appearance, culture, social class
Planning and Drafting
- Brainstorms ideas, clarifies and extends thinking by talking with peers and teacher
- Uses strategies to work out ideas, plan and draft, e.g. concept map, free writing, storyboard
- Develops expertise in manipulating resources
- Makes preparations prior to production
- Uses different available ICT in order to draft own texts, e.g. shoots video footage, takes photographs
- Evaluates material gathered and decides on its use, e.g. reviews video footage for best shots
Going Public
- Chooses most suitable ICT to present production, e.g. PPT® presentation, CD-ROM, etc.
- Makes final adjustments before presentation
- Presents text to intended audience