Teaching Literacy Skills through Assignment Creation

The best way to demonstrate that you understand something is to explain it to someone else.  Allow students the opportunity to demonstrate that they understand a concept by flipping expectations and allow them to create assignments rather than complete them.   Introduction This lesson focuses on having students READ A SHORT STORY and then break into small groups (I … Continue reading Teaching Literacy Skills through Assignment Creation

Gender Lesson: Reshaping Gender Normative Roles

Students need to be empowered to become agents of change in the world.  Digital communication and social media are powerful tools that our students are already familiar with; showing them how to utilize these tools to enact real change allows them to reshape the media landscape that surrounds them. Having already looked at targetted writing … Continue reading Gender Lesson: Reshaping Gender Normative Roles

Gender Lesson: Using the Media Triangle to Annotate Advertisements

It's important that students know how to identify and name problematic messaging in the media they consume.  From Facebook to Twitter to Television and Websites, our students view hundreds of advertisements a day.  Having already seen how problematic messaging exists in the media we consume, in our past lesson, this lesson will arm our students … Continue reading Gender Lesson: Using the Media Triangle to Annotate Advertisements

Gender Lesson: The Past is Present – Part 2

Advertisements often have problematic gender messaging; however, advertisements can also be used to combat negative messaging, drawing attention to problematic norms. Building on the negative messaging from The Past is Present - Part 1 students should have a strong notion of the problematic messages that are inherenant in media pieces, and gendered advertisements.  This lesson will … Continue reading Gender Lesson: The Past is Present – Part 2

Gender Lesson: The Past is Present – Part 1

Ads from past generations had problematic messaging.  This has not changed.  The negative gender normative messages will be addressed in this lesson. Having already familiarized students with the concepts raised from The Gender Box, and enhanced through the study of the short story X: A Fabulous Child's Story it's time to take those concepts and use them … Continue reading Gender Lesson: The Past is Present – Part 1