Television News - Lesson Lesson Plan
Level(s): Grades 7 - 10
Author: This unit was adapted from lessons created by Rosalind Ross, David Halliday and John Crocker of the Durham Board of Education in The AML Anthology (1990), produced by the Association for Media Literacy.
Overview
This lesson is part of a unit that explores news journalism across the media. In this lesson, students explore the impact of news reporting on a visual medium such as television. Students begin with an analysis of their television viewing habits and an introduction to the terms and vocabulary associated with television and radio. In small groups, they will analyze, contrast and compare news broadcasts from different types of televised news sources.Optional activities include deconstructing a news broadcast in class, comparing the strengths and weaknesses of both television and radio as sources of news, and completing a short essay about television news reporting and youth.
Outcomes
Students will demonstrate:
- an understanding of the terminology associated with radio and television
- an appreciation of the strengths and the weaknesses of a variety of mediums as sources of information
- an appreciation of the role that target audience plays in the creation and content of a news broadcast on television
- an awareness of the way in which news is "packaged" for a particular target audience
- an awareness of their television viewing habits and attitudes
- an understanding of how different mediums approach news reporting
This lesson and all associated documents (handouts, overheads, backgrounders) are available in an easy-print, pdf kit version.