Put Your Best Face Forward Lesson Plan

Body Image
Digital Citizenship
Digital Health
Internet & Mobile
Social Networking

Level: Grades 7 to 9

About the Author: Matthew Johnson, Director of Education, MediaSmarts and Stacey Dinya

Duration: 1½-2 hours

media representation

This lesson is part of USE, UNDERSTAND & ENGAGE: A Digital Media Literacy Framework for Canadian Schools.

Overview

In this lesson, students start by discussing the phenomenon of “selfies” and serve as experts in advising the teacher on the standards by which the “best” selfies are judged. They then discuss a number of statements taken from interviews with youth that highlight issues of self-representation, body image and gender standards, and learn about “photoshopping” images. Finally, students apply what they have learned by modifying an image that is at least 50 years old to meet “selfie” standards.

Learning Outcomes

Big Ideas/Key Concepts

Students will understand that:

  • Media have social and political implications: Images that we see in media, including social media, influence how we see ourselves
  • Digital media experiences are shaped by the tools we use: Tools such as social networks and photomanipulation apps nudge us to present an idealized image of our lives and ourselves 

Key questions:

  • How are “good” or “bad” photos rewarded or punished?
  • How does that affect how we behave online and offline?
  • Why might people feel pressured to curate and modify their photos?
  • How does that affect how we see ourselves?

Essential Knowledge:

Students will know:

  • Making and Remixing: Ways in which images on social media are curated and modified
  • Media Representation: Social norms (including gender norms) that affect body image and use of photomanipulation tools
  • Consumer Awareness: Industry practices that affect body image and use of photomanipulation tool

Performance Tasks:

Students will be able to:

  • Access: Find appropriate and rights-respecting images for remixing
  • Use: Create images that identify social norms around social media photos
  • Understand: Analyze social norms of “good” and “bad” photos
  • Engage: Evaluate the impact of social media and photomanipulation on social norms about gender and body image

Home and School Connection

Click here to download the Before and After slideshow.

This lesson and all associated documents (handouts, overheads, backgrounders) are available in an easy-print, pdf kit version.

Lesson Kit: 

Put Your Best Face Forward
 

Put Your Best Face Forward - Plug and play video lesson

This video version of the above lesson plan is designed so that teachers can present the lesson on a screen or digital whiteboard with minimal preparation. The video lesson is presented by one of MediaSmarts' media education specialists and includes opportunities for discussion, classroom activities and assessment. You will find the handouts and/or assignment sheets for the lesson in the link below the video.

 

Handouts:
Put your best face forward

Lesson Kit