Quebec Competencies Chart - Earth Day: Maps as media
Author: Thierry Plante, Media Education Specialist, MediaSmarts
Level: Grades 4 to 6
Lesson Length: 45 to 90 minutes
Lesson Link: http://mediasmarts.ca/lessonplan/earth-day-maps-media-lesson
Description: In this lesson, students are introduced to Earth Day and the theme of “Green Cities”. After listening to a short presentation on the concept of a “green city” and elements that constitute a green city (e.g. renewable energy sources such as solar panels, more energy-efficient buildings, recycling programs, cleaner air and water) students participate in an activity where they count the number of parks on a map of their city or neighbourhood. Maps are then analyzed as a medium as students discuss how they are created, things they can and can’t show, and their effectiveness at communicating environmental information.
Cross-curricular Competencies
Broad Areas of Learning
- To use information
- To exercise critical judgement
- To use creativity
- To use information and communication technologies (ICT)
- To cooperate with others
- To communicate appropriately
- Media Literacy
- Environmental Awareness and Consumer Rights and Responsibilities
- Citizenship and Community Life
This lesson satisfies the following Competencies from the Quebec Education Program:
Geography, History and Citizenship Education
To understand the organization of a society in its territory
- Establishment of the geographic and historical contexts of the society
- Making of connections between characteristics of the society and the organization of its territory
- Making of connections between assets and limitations of the territory and the organization of the society
- Definition of the influence of people or events on the organization of the society and its territory
To interpret change in a society and its territory
- Recognition of changes in the geographic and historical contexts of the society
- Description of changes in social and territorial organization
- Establishment of causes and effects of changes
- Definition of the influence of certain people and their interests on some changes
- Definition of the effects of certain events on some changes
- Identification of the way in which these changes are evident today
- Use of pertinent arguments to justify his/her interpretation of change
- Use of various supporting materials
To be open to the diversity of societies and their territories
- Indication of similarities and differences in the geographic and historical contexts of societies and their territories
- Description of similarities and differences in the organization of societies and territories
- Establishment of causes and effects of differences
- Establishment of strengths and weaknesses in social and territorial organization
- Use of pertinent arguments in defence of his/her view of the diversity of societies and their territories
- Use of various supporting materials
English Language Arts
Uses language/talk to communicate and learn
Establishes a repertoire of resources for communicating and learning in specific contexts
- Investigates the affordances of spoken language as a mode of communication
- Examines some of the aesthetic qualities of spoken language
- Develops rhetorical strategies to achieve specific purposes
- Examines the affordances of genres
- Extends the range of strategies for collecting the data needed for use in specific genres
Participates in the social practices of the classroom and community in specific contexts
- Investigates the uses of spoken language in the school and community
- Plans and carries out independent units of study
- Conducts exploratory ethnographic research
- Organizes and maintains an integrated profile of work over the cycle
- Engages in a process of self-evaluation and reflection
- Confers with the teacher in regular and ongoing evaluation conferences
Interacts with peers and teacher in specific contexts
- Collaborates with peers to construct knowledge about how things are done
- Participates in collaborative action research groups using an inquiry process
- Applies procedural and meaningmaking strategies to achieve a purpose
- Contributes to team efforts as an interactive and critical listener
Reads and listens to written, spoken and media texts
Integrates reading profile, stance and strategies to make sense of a text in a specific context
- Reads for pleasure and to learn
- Draws on prior experience and the features of a genre to make sense of a text
- Adjusts reading strategies and stance to the context
- Develops research and organizational strategies for working with information
Talks about own response to a text within a classroom community
- Deepens own meaning(s) of a text in discussions with other readers
- Situates meanings within own experiences and the world of the text, in order to transform initial readings into more conscious interpretations
- Considers possible reasons for own responses and the responses of others to clarify and reshape the relationship between self as reader and the text
- Shares Integrated Profile in teacher-student conferences
Interprets the relationship(s) between reader, text and context in light of own response(s)
- Explains the impact of a text on self as reader by returning to its social functions, as well as the way meanings and messages are constructed
- Draws on own reading profile, including knowledge of textual structures and features, to locate textual details that support own interpretations
- Constructs interpretations that embody both own world and the world of the text
Produces texts for personal and social purposes
Extends repertoire of resources for producing texts
- Immerses self in texts to learn how they are constructed
- Investigates the codes and conventions of various genres
- Creates criteria for what makes text(s) effective
- Examines the affordances of different modes and genres to make production decisions
- Uses models of different texts to apply chosen features in own work
- Applies codes and conventions of written and media language
- Compares own style in relation to other writers/producers
- Develops standards for using language responsibly to represent people, events and ideas
Constructs a relationship between writer/producer, text and context
- Understands that all texts are constructed in specific contexts for specific audiences and purposes
- Researches as a writer/producer to become more informed, to create authentic contexts and to characterize an audience
- Assumes various roles in own productions
- Analyzes the elements of the context and shapes the text accordingly
- Examines the differences between producing texts for public and private spaces.
Adapts a process to produce texts in specific contexts
- Participates both individually and collaboratively in different recursive phases of the production process
- Confers regularly with peers and teacher throughout the production process
- Uses feedback strategies to improve own productions and support peers
- Reflects on own development as a writer/producer over time
- Monitors own learning
- Cultivates a variety of media and writerly practices
- Explores a variety of avenues for wider publication
Visual Arts
Creates media images
Uses ideas to create a media production
- Is open to a stimulus for creation
- Is receptive to ideas, images, emotions, sensations and impressions evoked by the stimulus
- Takes into account the characteristics of the target audience
- Keeps a record of his/her ideas
- Explores various ways of conveying ideas through images and adapting them to the target audience
- Chooses ideas and plans a media creation project
Shares his/her experience of media creation
- Considers his/her creative intention and progress
- Identifies the important elements of his/her experience and its characteristics
- Makes comparisons with his/her previous learning
- Identifies what he/she has learned and the methods used
Uses transforming gestures and elements of media language
- Experiments with methods of materializing his/her ideas
- Makes use of his/her memory of transforming gestures and knowledge of media language
- Chooses the most meaningful gestures and elements for his/her creative intention
- Develops methods of using these gestures and elements in order to adapt them to the target audience
Structures his/her media production
- Applies the results of his/her experiments
- Shapes the material and language elements and organizes them on the basis of the message to be conveyed
- Validates the media impact of the visual message on a control group
- Reviews his/her choices of material and language
- Makes adjustments
- Refines certain elements, if necessary
Recognizes work accomplished
- Makes a decision based on the evaluation
- Carries out the plan
- Applies own strategy to improve or maintain two lifestyle habits
- Uses the resources required to carry out the plan
- Perseveres in carrying out the plan
- Using appropriate tools, compiles facts about changes to own lifestyle habits