Resources for Teachers - Television

Villains, Heroes and Heroines - Lesson

This lesson introduces students to some of the myth-building techniques of television by comparing super heroes and super villains from television to heroes and villains in the real world and by conveying how violence and action are used to give power to characters.

Guiding the eye in visual media

Visual media, encompassing art, photography and film, communicate meaning to an audience by strategically employing "rules of notice" – deliberate techniques used by creators to guide a viewer's attention and influence their interpretation of an image or narrative.

TV Dads: Immature and Irresponsible? - Lesson

In this lesson, students explore the nature of stereotypes by looking at the negative image of the TV dad as presented in situation comedies (sitcoms) and advertisements.

Images of Learning: Elementary - Lesson

This lesson helps students become more aware of the stereotypes associated with portrayals of students and teachers on TV. (It is also a good follow-up to the elementary lesson TV Stereotypes.)

Talking to kids about gender stereotypes

Images of men and women in the media are often based on stereotypical roles of males and females in our society. Because stereotyping can affect how children feel about themselves and how they relate to others, it's important that they learn to recognize and understand gender stereotypes in different media.