2.+Lesson+1

Julie Dickson Dr. Pace LAE 6861 7 June 2010

** Teaching Television Using ABC’s Comedy Series //Modern Family// ** **Lesson 1:** **Exploration of the Media’s Presentation of Information about Family Roles and Social Stereotypes in “Airport” (Season 1, Episode 22)** __Purpose:__

The information presented and the skills practiced in this lesson will enable students to analyze characterization in a television show as it relates both to the content and design of presentation. Students will assess the reliability of the information and subsequent stereotypes presented, and they will predict what types of learning might occur (with particular attention to behavior modeling) as a result of viewing this material. The critical thinking skills developed by these activities are part of the larger educational goal of making students active, critical, and reflective consumers of media culture.

__Student Background Knowledge:__

This lesson is posed in a hypothetical classroom where students have already worked with identifying narrative patterns in short stories and short films using Freytag’s Triangle, Todorov’s Theory of Equilibrium, and Barthes’ Five Codes of Meaning. They are comfortable with identifying elements that contribute to characterization (such as description/appearance, action, dialogue, internal monologue, relationships with other characters, etc.). Students have a basic vocabulary of the terms and metalanguage used to describe media design elements (such as various types of //shot, lighting, angle//, etc.), as well as an understanding of the media (and literary) concept of framing. They have just recently been introduced to some of the design elements particular to television (such as //open narrative//) and will view this episode of //Modern Family// as part of a larger unit on television media. Students are also familiar with the activity of making a “Body Biography” of a character, and are able to work productively in groups for substantial amounts of time. A sufficient level of maturity and respect among students allows for the discussion of potentially controversial themes.

__Lesson Plan Outline:__

The tasks may overlap, and students should feel free to record any information they feel is relevant. The students will sit in their groups and watch the episode for a second time. The second viewing serves many purposes. Because the students already know what happens, they will be able to pay closer attention to the different elements of the material. Also, because of the information given during the overt instruction, students now have a focus and purpose for viewing the material, and so they will be able to view it more critically. The “Extended Body Biographies” will be on the same piece of paper for all characters in a particular family. When these are completed, each group will present its poster for the class. The purpose of this activity is for students to practice identifying the information presented (as described in overt instruction) and to synthesize how specific groupings of information are used to create characters and ideas about identity and behavior.
 * __Pre-teaching:__ At the beginning of class, students will be asked to briefly brainstorm individually in their journals on the idea of a “modern family.” This can involve thought on anything from what society thinks a family should be to what the word “modern” even means to how a student feels about his or her own family. Students will be able to share their thoughts but will not be required to.
 * __First Viewing:__ Students will now watch the episode for the first time. They will take notes on anything that they feel is relevant to their general understanding of the episode (including narrative patterns, characters, design elements, etc.). There is no specific list of items to look for because I want to see which elements the students find most impressionistic, and because I also want them to make a holistic assessment of their viewing experience before we analyze the show more closely. Additionally, I will use their initial observations to formatively assess how well they are able to identify narrative patterns and design elements, as these are skills that should be fairly well-developed from previous lessons in different contexts. I would like to see if they are able to transfer these skills to the television medium.
 * __Class Discussion of First Viewing:__ After the first viewing, students will be able to briefly share their reactions to the episode and what they found interesting. The class will then verbally collaborate in a plot review and discussion of general character relationships. I will write this information on the board to be used as a reference later in the lesson (story arc, names of characters, grouping of characters by family). This discussion will be very brief and should only be allotted five to ten minutes of class time. I include this in the overall lesson because students always want to share their reactions after watching something, and this time would serve as a short release period for that impulse as well as a way to center the class by establishing a common foundation of knowledge for the episode. This time period might also be used to clear up any confusion about overall narrative patterns, should this concept still be an issue for students.
 * __Overt Instruction:__ Students will take notes on a short Power Point presentation about the following points from Cortes, “How the Media Teach.” The purpose of this instruction is to introduce new terms for discussion of media teaching, as well as to outline specific guiding elements that students will focus on in order to enable them to critically analyze the material. The points to be covered are outlined below.
 * The media present information.
 * Information is presented in a variety of packaged forms (Here verbally review different forms of media and their design elements. Ask students what types of information are typically presented in each form.)
 * Mediated information may be accurate or inaccurate. (Ask students to think about the ways that we know whether information is accurate or not. There is no simple answer to this question, so do not spend discussion time on it at the moment.)
 * Consumers draw conclusions from fictional and non-fictional media alike, whether it is reliable or not. (Give some examples such as the “How could Cleopatra be black?” comment from Cortes.)
 * Media presents some information more frequently than others.
 * Repetition of information contributes to a consumer’s “pool of knowledge.” (Explain “pool of knowledge” and how different media reinforce each other through repetition of various topics/ideas. Give examples or ask students to provide them.)
 * Ask students to brainstorm verbally as a class about what kinds of learning we experience through media and particularly television. This topic should be somewhat familiar to students, who should not at this point in the course feel like the media are neutral transmitters of unadulterated information. This discussion should also be very brief (no more than five minutes), and the time can also be used to review what has just been taught:
 * Elements of presentation:
 * Information/content
 * Packaged forms
 * Accuracy/inaccuracy
 * Frequency
 * References and contributions to “pool of knowledge”
 * Provokes various kinds of learning
 * __Situated Practice/Second Viewing:__ Students will be divided (randomly) into three groups where each group will be responsible for tracking one of the families from the episode. The groups will analyze the material pertaining to their designated family only so that they are able to focus more closely, and so ultimately the entire class will collaborate on a very in-depth analysis of the entire episode. Within each group, the close-viewing responsibilities will be divided as follows. One person in each group will record:
 * the events for each character’s “personal” narrative pattern/conflict
 * character profiles (appearance, mannerisms, behaviors)
 * relationships between characters
 * formal elements (How is this information packaged?)
 * cultural references/pools of knowledge as they relate to each character
 * __Situated Practice continued/Group Synthesis:__ After the class has completed the second viewing, the groups will be given a large piece of butcher paper and colorful markers. They will collaborate to make an “Extended Body Biography” of each character, in which they will include:
 * a visual representation of the character that symbolically depicts his or her observed and inferred characteristics, qualities, personality, behaviors, and relationships with other characters
 * a Freytag’s triangle (or other plot diagram) of the character’s personal plot/conflict
 * a list of cultural references/pools of knowledge associated with the character
 * a list of formal elements associated with the representation of the character
 * __Critical Framing:__ As the groups are presenting, the teacher will ask all students to participate in a discussion of whether or not the information presented (in the episode, not the posters!) is reliable, and why or why not. Attention will be given to the specific themes addressed and to the frequency of certain repeated elements. The most emphasis, however, will be placed on the idea of stereotypes. Students will discuss each character in terms of the stereotype he or she represents (or does not represent) as this relates to the concept of media reliability. The class will verbally collaborate to make a list of behaviors that these stereotypes model for viewers. The class may discuss which behaviors they believe are accurate, inaccurate, positive, negative, etc. The purpose of this discussion is for students to take a broader view of the characters as symbols for society’s messages about different groups of people, as well as to assess what types of messages are portrayed and if these messages are realistic/accurate. Finally, students will individually write a reaction paper in which they describe what types of learning they feel are likely to occur as a result of viewing this material. Their assertions must be supported by examples from the episode and the means of analysis discussed in class. The purpose of this paper is for students to practice thinking about and becoming aware of how they themselves are taught by the media, and how they can make choices about the validity of the information they assimilate. I specifically want them to do this in writing in order to reinforce what they have learned and to practice intentionally ordering lines of rational thought. The paper also allows me to assess the students’ critical awareness in order to inform my future lesson planning.

__Assessment:__ During the situated practice section of the lesson, students will be formatively assessed in their developing understanding of the concepts and their ability to demonstrate the skills needed for analysis of the material. While students are making the Body Biographies, I will walk around and assist groups and individuals as needed. Students that are participating and making the effort to fulfill their responsibilities to their group will receive participation credit for the day. The paper will be more formally assessed, though it will not account for a large portion of the students’ grade, as it is an in-class reaction paper. I will grade for strength of argument and support rather than for a particular opinion, and I will not count off for convention errors, though I will mark persistent language use issues for students to reference in future writing. The students will keep this paper in a writing portfolio should they chose to expand upon it for a later writing project.

__Sunshine__ __State__ __Standards:__

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. LA.910.6.2.3: The student will write an informational report that integrates information and makes distinctions between the relative value and significance of specific data, facts, and ideas. LA.910.4.3.1: The student will write essays that state a position or claim, present detailed evidence, examples, and reasoning to support effective arguments and emotional appeals, and acknowledge and refute opposing arguments. LA.910.2.2.3: The student will organize information to show understanding or relationships among facts, ideas, and events (e.g., representing key points within text through charting, mapping, paraphrasing, summarizing, comparing, contrasting, or outlining). LA.910.1.6.1: The student will use new vocabulary that is introduced and taught directly.