This outcome chart contains media-related learning outcomes from the Ontario, Grade 4 English Language Arts curriculum, with links to supporting resources on the MediaSmarts site.
Understanding Media Texts
By the end of Grade 4, students will:
- identify the purpose and audience for a variety of media texts
- use overt and implied messages to draw inferences and construct meaning in media texts
- express opinions about ideas, issues, and/or experiences presented in media texts, and give evidence from the texts to support their opinions
- explain why different audiences might respond differently to specific media texts
- identify whose point of view is presented or reflected in a media text, citing supporting evidence from the text, and suggest how the text might change if a different point of view were used
- identify who produces various media texts and the reason for their production
MediaSmarts Resources
Advertising
- Eating Under the Rainbow
- Junk Food Jungle
- Looking at Food Advertising
- Packaging Tricks
- The Anatomy of Cool
Alcohol
Body Image
Gender Portrayal
Internet
- Stay on the Path Lesson One: Searching for Treasure
- Stay on the Path Lesson Two: All That Glitters is Not Gold
- Stay on the Path Lesson Three: Treasure Maps
- Stay on the Path Lesson Four: Scavenger Hunt
Sports
Stereotyping
Television
- Comparing Real Families to TV Families
- Facing TV Violence: Consequences and Media
- Facing TV Violence: Counting & Discussing Violence on the Screen
- Film Production: Who Does What?
- Introducing TV Families
- Learning With Television
- Television as a Story Teller
- Television Techniques
- The Constructed World of TV Families
- Thinking About Television and Movies
- TV Stereotypes
- Violence Facing TV Violence: Rewriting the Script
Educational Games
Teacher/Parent Guides
- Talking to Kids about Advertising
- Talking to Kids about Racial Stereotypes
- Talking to Kids about Gender Stereotypes
- Talking to Kids about News
- Talking to Kids about Media Violence
Understanding Media Forms, Conventions, and Techniques
By the end of Grade 4, students will:
- identify elements and characteristics of some media forms
- identify the conventions and techniques used in some familiar media forms and explain how they help convey meaning
MediaSmarts Resources
- Advertising All Around Us
- Avatars and Body Image
- Break the Fake: What’s Real Online?
- Can You Spot the Ad?
- Co-Co’s Adversmarts
- Comparing Real Families to TV Families
- Cyber Choices (licensed resource)
- Earth Day: Maps as Media
- Facing Media Violence: Rewriting the Story
- Girls and Boys on Television
- Healthy Food Web
- Introducing TV Families
- Introduction to Ethics: Avatars and Identity
- Junk Food Jungle
- Kids, Alcohol and Advertising - Lesson 4: Interpreting Media Messages
- Kids, Alcohol and Advertising 1: Messages About Drinking
- Kids, Alcohol and Advertising 2: Young Drinkers
- Looking at Food Advertising
- Looking at Newspapers: Introduction - Lesson
- Media Kids
- Media literacy key concepts Introduction: What is media anyway?
- Media literacy key concepts Lesson 2: Media are constructions
- Media literacy key concepts lesson 6: Each medium is a unique aesthetic form
- Once Upon a Time - Lesson
- Packaging Tricks - Lesson
- Prejudice and Body Image
- Representing Ourselves Online
- Rules of the Game
- The Constructed World of Media Families
- The Hero Project: Authenticating Online Information
- Thinking About Television and Movies - Lesson
- TV Stereotypes
- Understanding the Internet Lesson 1: Using the Internet
- Understanding the Internet Lesson 2: Pathways and Addresses
- Villains, Heroes and Heroines
- Violence in Sports
- What do Halloween costumes say? - Lesson
Creating Media Texts
By the end of Grade 4, students will:
- describe in detail the topic, purpose, and audience for media texts they plan to create
- identify an appropriate form to suit the purpose and audience for a media text they plan to create
- identify conventions and techniques appropriate to the form chosen for a media text they plan to create
- produce media texts for specific purposes and audiences, using a few simple media forms and appropriate conventions and techniques
MediaSmarts Resources
- Adversmarts: Understanding Food Advertising Online
- Advertising All Around Us
- Avatars and Body Image
- Behaving Ethically Online: Ethics and Empathy
- Break the Fake: What’s Real Online?
- Can You Spot the Ad?
- Co-Co’s Adversmarts
- Comparing Real Families to TV Families
- Cyber Choices (licensed resource)
- Earth Day: Maps as Media
- Facing Media Violence: Rewriting the Story
- Girls and Boys on Television
- Healthy Food Web
- Introducing TV Families
- Introduction to Ethics: Avatars and Identity
- Kids, Alcohol and Advertising - Lesson 4: Interpreting Media Messages
- Kids, Alcohol and Advertising 1: Messages About Drinking
- Kids, Alcohol and Advertising 2: Young Drinkers
- Kids, Alcohol and Advertising 3: Understanding Brands
- Looking at Food Advertising
- Looking at Newspapers: Introduction - Lesson
- Media Kids
- Media literacy key concepts lesson 6: Each medium is a unique aesthetic form
- Packaging Tricks - Lesson
- Pay For Play
- Prejudice and Body Image
- Representing Ourselves Online
- Rules of the Game
- So Many Choices!
- Teaching TV: Film Production: Who Does What?
- The Constructed World of Media Families
- The Hero Project: Authenticating Online Information
- Thinking About Television and Movies - Lesson
- TV Stereotypes
- Understanding the Internet Lesson 2: Pathways and Addresses
- Understanding the Internet Lesson 3: Build Understanding
- Understanding the Internet Lesson 4: Communication and Social Media
- Villains, Heroes and Heroines
- Violence in Sports
Reflecting on Media Literacy Skills and Strategies
By the end of Grade 4, students will:
- identify, initially with support and direction, what strategies they found most helpful in making sense of and creating media texts, and explain how these and other strategies can help them improve as media viewers/ listeners/produce
- explain, initially with support and direction, how their skills in listening, speaking, reading, and writing help them to make sense of and produce media texts
MediaSmarts Resources
- Adversmarts: Introduction to Food Advertising Online
- Avatars and Body Image
- Break the Fake: What’s in the Frame?
- Break the Fake: What’s Real Online?
- Can You Spot the Ad?
- Co-Co’s Adversmarts
- Cyber Choices (licensed resource)
- Facing Media Violence: Consequences and Media Violence
- Facing Media Violence: Rewriting the Story
- Finding Balance in Our Digital Lives
- Girls and Boys on Television
- Healthy Food Web
- Internet Time Capsule
- Introducing TV Families
- Kids, Alcohol and Advertising 3: Understanding Brands
- Looking at Food Advertising
- Media literacy key concepts Introduction: What is media anyway?
- Media literacy key concepts Lesson 2: Media are constructions
- Media literacy key concepts lesson 6: Each medium is a unique aesthetic form
- Once Upon a Time - Lesson
- Packaging Tricks - Lesson
- Representing Ourselves Online
- Rules of the Game
- So Many Choices!
- Teaching TV: Film Production: Who Does What?
- Thinking About Television and Movies - Lesson
- TV Stereotypes
- Understanding the Internet Lesson 4: Communication and Social Media
- Villains, Heroes and Heroines
- What do Halloween costumes say? - Lesson