Curriculum

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When NYCoRE first released Unnatural Disaster, days after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, we asked educators how they would help their students to make sense of the storm’s aftermath. The feedback was powerful. While we received reports of the guide’s usefulness and words of encouragement from across the continent, we disproportionately observed silent classrooms. Three months later, stories of displaced families, re-building efforts and a congressional investigation trickle into mainstream news reports.

This two-hour interactive Media Literacy Workshop offers participants a chance to think critically about the media we consume everyday. Through a series of large and small group discussions, interactive activities, video clips and photographs, participants will explore the following issues: media advertising; ownership and content; media consolidation; identity and representation; and the central role media plays in democratic societies. Participants will also learn about public-access television and the growing youth media field.

This 7-session sequence of lesson plans and curriculum culminates in the production and public screening of two Public Service Announcements. In planning, shooting and editing two PSAs, students will develop skills and habits for successful collaboration (Communication, negotiation, listening, compromise), media literacy (media as a tool for inquiry & expression) and video production (Camera, Sound & Editing). They will learn to develop a clear message or viewpoint to verbally and visually persuade an audience.