3.+Lesson+2

__**Teaching Television Lesson #2: Painstakingly Handcrafted by Dylan Samore, Artisan Roaster of Academia and Purveyor of Fine Lesson Plans**__

 Here at Nirvana High School, we have successfully had many “deep” discussions that many would have rendered taboo and untouchable in an academic setting. In fact, certain communities would not be able to engage in such discussions in a setting such as a town hall meeting as our fine students have. They have navigated risque waters with finesse. I continue to be impressed with our student body's ability to look beyond matters that at first glance, would cause many an immature mind to laugh. Sexual orientation, race relations, and socioeconomic statuses have been discussed with a view that I would say is largely democratic and mature. Thus, with sufficient comfort that these students can handle issues that may ruffle feathers in other communities, I feel confident that we can dig deeper into the issues that have been touched upon in lesson one and in doing so, build upon them in a way that continues to engage students in literacy events that promote media literacy.  The key focus of this lesson is Carlos Cortes' theory that media is responsible for the dissemination of values. It is a known fact to many theorists that many programs on television serve to reinforce or challenge the values that are considered accepted norms of our present day. Accordingly, this lesson will be rooted in the writings of Cortes on values that are shaped and spread by media. This lesson should commence promptly at the conclusion of the first lesson in this unit, prepared by our group. In his dissemination of actions the media takes, Cortes states that primarily, media teaches family values. It is said that tragedy travels better than comedy. Many comic qualities of American culture are rooted in the cultural knowledge and background that we all share. Therefore, it is important to note that Modern Family as a show attempts to not only define the ups and downs of a contemporary American family, it attempts to define it. This lesson will commence with overt instruction. The overt instruction will be concerned with a discussion that touches upon Cortes' points in how media disseminates values from his article “How the Media Teach.” At the top of page 62 of this article, Cortes proceeds to define exactly how the media does this. These points will be the basis of a lecture in which students will be reminded of previous links and required to take note of new learnings. Students will learn that the media teaches about: family values (without regard to which set of values this is), values about sexual behavior, values about smoking, values about abortion, and values about marriage.  In his work, Cortes does an excellent job of pointing out the fact that people feel empowered or enabled from this viewpoint to view society differently: he compares // Batman // to a course in aristocratic vigilante justice, // The Beverly Hillbillies //  to uneducated people making a good life for themselves, and // Ozzie and Harriet // as everyday people dealing with ethical problems. This lecture will include information about the Hays code, as it was extremely influential on the movies that American (and therefore worldwide) audiences saw. I want students to understand precisely how much of a role media has in disseminating the values of audiences.  Therefore, Overt Instruction will feature a lecture led by me touching upon these points. I will have a powerpoint (or equivalent) slide show to accompany my points as well as clips from movies and shows of the time (especially with a focus on the Hays code era) to help the students root their media literacy in. For students to truly appreciate the far-reaching limitation of the Hays code, I want them to see that even comic icons, such as Betty Boop, were drastically changed went this went in to place, certainly implying that the new, more conservative image was superior.

**Figure 1.**  Here, we may see that the garter belt and low-cut skirt of a flapper has been abandoned in favor of a dress reaching the knees that has been completed with leg length stockings. Betty Boop was affected greatly by the Hays code.  Images such as the one in Figure 1 will be quite abundant throughout this entire lecture. Occasionally, I will pause simply to solicit student opinion. I will ask questions such as “Do you think the change that is shown here is better? Why?” These questions will allow students a chance to examine their preconceived values as we continue to dig deeper into this unit on television. This sort of question also gives merit to the students' home lives as they are able to submit reactions based upon their own experience with pop media. Additionally, there are various other important facets of the Hays code that must not be overlooked: I will touch briefly upon the way that interracial relationships were handled: with most of them resulting in death or some sort of punishment. The importance and strictness of this code will be heavily stressed. I will not tell the students if I agree with the code or not, that is for them to decide. However, they must be aware of the heavy-handed implications of it and how it affected the media encountered by national audiences. Students will also be asked to put forth opinions on facets in the media that they feel resemble a modern day version of the Hays code. This should roughly take thirty minutes of time. I will allow for up to ten minutes of additional commentary or questions, depending on how engaged the students are. This additional time may account for extra clarification if re-teaching is necessary. Students will need to be prepared for the next part of the lesson, the situated practice portion.  Next, the Hawaiian vacation episode of // Modern Family //  will be played. This episode will follow chronologically in the open narrative (which will be a term that students will be <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none;">very <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"> familiar with at this point). The students should be quite familiar with the stereotypical cast at this juncture, thanks to it being covered quite extensively in the first lesson of this unit. So, I will tell students that they need to be mindful of what they have learned already about stereotypes as they consider what sort of values are being disseminated by this episode of <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;">// Modern Family. // <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">It is of extreme importance to note that before we have covered the material of lesson 1, the students and I have come up with a working set of norms that society adheres to. The students were responsible for taking notes and keeping the list that we came up with as a collective. This will help them in the situated practice. This situated practice will simply feature the students viewing the aforementioned Hawaiian episode of <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;">// Modern Family // <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">. The students will be given a handout that resembles a table that they may fill out. The table will look much like this:

|| ||  || ||  ||  || ||  ||  || ||  ||  ||
 * __**Character and Role in Show/Family**__ || __**Action**__ || __**What Norm of Society Did This Enforce Or Break?**__ ||

<span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"> Students will have a chance to engage in a literacy event and not merely be spectators to the media that is presented to them. This specific episode of <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif;">// Modern Family // <span style="font-family: Helvetica,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"> is rich with plot developments that could be applied to Todorov's Theory, Barthes' Codes, and Freytag's <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"> Triangle (by this juncture all three will have been covered in our study between plot similarities in media and literature). The viewing of this episode should take roughly twenty-one minutes, as this is the running time of a <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;">// Modern Family // <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"> episode with light commercials (as seen online on Hulu.com). The students will be responsible for filling out a worksheet as the episode transpires. This activity should be a successful one; it shall allow students a chance to make their own meaning from the text (in this case it is a TV show) while simultaneously prompting them to root their media literacy in the actual medium itself. This follows with all of our teaching from this Proteach program and the teachings of Louise Rosenblatt. This activity will also be beneficial because it relates to the overt instruction and prior discussion of social norms. It also is wonderful because it utilizes students' prior knowledge. Whenever we can relate school to the real, everyday life of students, Judith Langer believes that we are far more likely to succeed as educators. <span style="display: block; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-align: left;"> Following the conclusion of the episode, the students will have additional time (if necessary) to complete their worksheet. This should take approximately a few minutes more. However, if more time is needed, I am prepared to offer the students additional time. The students will then be paired in groups of four or five to compare their charts and their reasons for selecting the scenes and actions that they have. The students will also be prompted to verbally compare which stereotypes are the most challenged or reinforced by this show and the particular piece of narrative of this episode, linking this lesson with the last one. This activity should take the last amount of time and begin the next class period. I imagine that it would take roughly ten to fifteen minutes for a good discussion to occur. Again, more time may be afforded if needed in the next class period. <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"> Lastly, there will be a chance to critically frame this episode. This chance will come in the form of a one page short essay in which the students will need to compare these values that are enforced (i.e. the character of Jay is able to have a younger wife due to the fact that he is a man) or broken (i.e. the show features a successful and happy gay couple) in the show. Their understanding and critical framing may be drawn from the sheets that they have filled out, their own lives, their notes, and from the viewing of the episode that we have watched in class. Students will be able to compare the values that are (or are not) advocated in <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;">// Modern Family // <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">and explain how they relate to their own values and the values of society at large. This lesson will link with the next one perfectly. It makes complete sense to analyze how media (specifically <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">//Modern Family)// disseminates values <span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"> before analyzing family roles in the next lesson. Instruction will commence for lesson #3 as outlined by Ms. Kelly Sereikas.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Verdana; font-size: 10px; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">[|__LA.910.6.2.2: The student will organize, synthesize, analyze, and evaluate the validity and reliability of information from multiple sources (including primary and secondary sources) to draw conclusions using a variety of techniques, and correctly use standardized citations;__]
 * Standards:

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Verdana; font-size: 10px;"> [|LA.910.6.3.1: The student will distinguish between propaganda and ethical reasoning strategies in print and nonprint media;]

__[|LA.910.4.1.1: The student will write in a variety of expressive and reflective forms that use a range of appropriate strategies and specific narrative techniques, employ literary devices, and sensory description; and]__

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