Quebec Competencies Chart - Beyond Media Messages
Author: Maureen Baron
Level: Secondary Cycle One and Two
Subject Area: English Language Arts
Lesson Link: Beyond Media Messages
Description: In this three-day unit, students assess media coverage of natural disasters and their aftermath. Students explore how sensationalism plays a role in determining what is newsworthy, and how that can distort our perception of issues in developing nations.
Cross-curricular Competencies |
Broad Areas of Learning |
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This lesson satisfies the following competencies from the Quebec Education Program:
History and Citizenship Education
Within the secondary Social Science curriculum, this lesson fits well under Competency Three: Constructs his/her consciousness. Under this competency, students are given the opportunity to explore a social phenomenon of the present that is global in nature (such as portrayal of global development issues). Under this competency, students apply their knowledge to different contexts by:
- using concepts related to the object of consciousness of citizenship
- using methodological skills
- establishing a link between past and present
- considering the factors that govern social participation by:
- indicating opportunities for social participation or factors that limit such participation
- identifying principles and values that foster social participation
- mentioning various public institutions [such as media] and their roles
- describing the role that individuals can play in these institutions
- considering the pluralistic nature of a society by:
- indicating some of the factors that contribute to people’s identities of
- Making connections between human action and social change
- Recognizing the types of actions possible
Ethics and Religious Culture
Reflects on ethical questions
Analyzes a situation from an ethical point of view
- Describes a situation and puts it into context
- Formulates a related ethical question
- Compares points of view
- Explains tensions or conflicting values
- Compares the situation with similar situations
- Compares his/her analysis of the situation with that of his/her classmates
Examines a variety of cultural, moral, religious, scientific or social references
- Finds the main references present in different points of view
- Looks for the role and the meaning of these references
- Considers other references
- Compares the meaning of the main references in different contexts
Evaluates options or possible actions
- Suggests options or possible actions
- Studies the effects of these options or actions on oneself, others or the situation
- Chooses options or actions that foster community life
- Reflects on the factors that influenced these choices
Language Arts
Within the Language Arts Program, various exercises, activities and classroom discussion in this lesson supports specific outcomes relating to media across all language arts competencies.
Competency One: Uses language/talk to communicate and learn
- Listens actively and critically to interactions of others and supports their contributions
- Compares own responses with others to check their validity:
- Generalizes from prior knowledge to new concept(s)
- Uses feedback to encourage and extend discussion
- Revises communication strategies when necessary
- Develops positive and supportive attitudes towards peers
Competency Two: Represents his/her literacy in various media
- Negotiates text type to be produced
- Manipulates visual elements to build skills for later production activities
- Immerses self in the text type to be produced in order to deconstruct some of its textual features, codes and conventions
- Analyzes samples of text type
- Carries out a content analysis or inquiry into some aspect of media text
Competency Three: Reads and listens to written, spoken and media texts
- Constructs meaning(s)/message(s) by reinvesting her/his knowledge of the text as social construct, i.e. language-in-use:
- Draws on cues in familiar structures, features, codes and conventions to make sense of texts
- Identifies connotation and denotation of words, images and their referents
- Makes connections between conventions of a familiar text type/genre and own response(s)/interpretation(s)
Competency Four: Writes a variety of genres for personal and social purposes
Explores the grammars of text:
- Follows an inquiry process, working in collaboration with peers and teacher, to explore how a text is constructed and/or some of its social purposes
- Draws on prior literacy experiences with familiar texts to deconstruct them
- Discusses the purpose of familiar texts within a genre
- Identifies some structures and features of a genre
- Identifies some codes and conventions of a genre