Resources for Teachers - Television

Just a joke? Helping youth respond to casual prejudice

One of the barriers to youth pushing back against prejudice is not wanting to over-react, particularly if they feel their peers were just ‘joking around.’ Humour, however, can often be a cover for intentional bullying and prejudice. In this lesson, students analyze media representations of relational aggression, such as sarcasm and put-down humour, then consider the ways in which digital communication may make it harder to recognize irony or satire and easier to hurt someone’s feelings without knowing it. Students then consider how humour may be used to excuse prejudice and discuss ways of responding to it.

Facing TV Violence: Rewriting the Script - Lesson

This lesson teaches children that television doesn't always offer the best solutions to conflict.

Camera Shots - Lesson

In this lesson, students examine the visual codes used on television and in movies through an exploration of various camera techniques. Students begin with a discussion about camera-subject distance, and review various film techniques that are used to create visual meaning.

Teaching Media: Learning With Media

In this lesson, students learn about media as a source of information, and how this information is presented from a particular point of view.

Violence in Sports

In this lesson, students explore the gratuitous use of violence in sports.