Resources for Teachers - Television

Facing TV Violence: Consequences and Media Violence

In this lesson, students explore the absence, or unrealistic portrayal, of consequences to violence in the media.

Watching the Elections - Lesson

In this lesson students look at how elections are media events.

Teaching Media: Media Techniques

In this lesson, students learn how different media use different techniques to communicate meaning.

Watching the elections

Joe McGinniss’ book The Selling of the President had a shocking title for 1968, suggesting as it did that in the television age the presidency had become nothing more than another product to be packaged and sold. MediaSmarts’ resource, Watching the Elections (a lesson for Grades 8-12), shines a light on how the different aspects of an election – from the debates to political ads to the candidates themselves – are actually media products.

Camera Shots

In this lesson, students learn how film and related media use camera angles, distance and movement to tell a story. Students review various film techniques that are used to create visual meaning and then apply them by creating a six-shot storyboard that tells a complete story.