Selling Tobacco Lesson Plan
Level: Grades 7 to 10
Author: This lesson has been adapted from Smoke-Free for Life, a smoking prevention curriculum supplement from the Nova Scotia Department of Health, Drug Dependency and Tobacco Control Unit.
This lesson is part of USE, UNDERSTAND & ENGAGE: A Digital Media Literacy Framework for Canadian Schools.
Overview
In this lesson, students investigate how tobacco companies frame their products in different ways for different audiences.
Learning Outcomes
Big ideas/key concepts: Students will understand…
- Media are constructions: Media works frame issues through what they include, exclude, emphasize and minimize.
- Media have commercial considerations: The tobacco industry’s profit motive directly influences how they frame their products.
- Media have social and political implications: The way an issue is framed (e.g., "personal freedom" vs. "collective health") can determine laws and social norms.
- Audiences negotiate meaning: Audiences can use critical tools to "read against" the intended industry frame
Common misconceptions to correct: Most people use smokeless tobacco products to quit smoking
Essential knowledge: Students will learn…
Reading media: framing techniques, specifically analyzing what is included in the frame, what is significantly omitted, and what is emphasized to direct attention
Community engagement: how framing an issue or topic affects how we approach it as a society
Consumer awareness: how framing a product affects how we view it
Media health: different ways that tobacco companies frame their products for different audiences
Key vocabulary: Framing, red teaming
Core competencies: Students will be able to…
Understand: analyze tobacco industry messaging and identify the implications of its framing
Engage: discuss the most appropriate ways to frame addictive products in their communities
This lesson and all associated documents (handouts, overheads, backgrounders) is available in an easy-print, pdf kit version.