Having been involved in media and media literacy education for over thirty years I was approaching the point where it seemed all that could be done in this field had been done in the seventies and eighties and was just being rehashed again. Then along came literature circles in the nineties and I began to explore the possibility of applying this technique to the study of media.
The philosophy behind this teaching technique grew out of the collaborative learning mode. It also brought to the fore values of democracy, shared responsibility, and looking at an issue critically from multiple perspectives. If implemented properly, literature circles “invites students to set their own goals, pursue their own questions, conduct their own inquiries” (Daniels, 1994). The rationale seemed to reinforce the same educational values being advocated in the media literacy movement.
In the summer of 2002, I taught a media literacy class that had as its primary objective creating grade appropriate lessons and curricula in media literacy. In the course I asked teachers to consider the possibility of using the methodology developed in literature circles and applying it to media literacy lesson plans. I provided the students with sample worksheets that could be used in student groups to analyze a film, TV production, or commercial advertisement. I gave the following definition of media literature circles, which borrows heavily from the language used to define literature circles.

Media Literacy circles are temporary discussion groups of three to five
students. They examine a media production collectively after which
each member of the group has a specific responsibility in a follow-up
discussion. These responsibilities are initially defined beforehand
by the teacher and provided to each student in the form of role sheets.
The circles meet for a defined period of time and each member of the group
is expected to complete their assigned task on the role sheet. The groups
may have more than one meeting to research or investigate their task
after which they plan a way to share the highlights of their work with
all class members. Students are encouraged to reflect on the assignments
and make suggestions for new role sheets and new activities.

The starting point for creation of the role sheets to be used in the media literacy circles was found in the work of a colleague, Dr. Arthur Silverblatt, who created an outline of “keys for interpreting media messages”(Silverblatt, 1995). They seemed like excellent topical guidelines that would help students critically examine critically the purpose, point of view, and production techniques used in media productions. Media literacy role sheets, or discussion sheets, were created for the following six topics;

1. Production Planning – understanding how many different people influence the
content and values found in the final production.
2. Historical Context – examines the social, moral, political and economic events
occurring at the time the production was created.
3. Production Values – includes editing, color, lighting, camera angle, costumes, and
music or sound effects.
4. Ideology – refers to the values and beliefs of the culture that created the production.

5. Plot Analysis – a series of actions planned to build on one another, with an
introduction, body, and conclusion.
6. Genre – works that are related because of similar production values and the intended
effect they will have on the audience.

Each student group would be assigned one of the six role sheets that provided “keys to understanding” the particular production being studied. The discussions were to be completed within a specified time period, and the groups were responsible for reporting their thoughts about the media production being studied to the entire class. In addition to the role sheets, an activity sheet was provided should a teacher want to assign additional topics or activities.

Sample Activity Sheet (one of six)

PLOT ANALYSIS

Name_________________ Film/Video Title________________

Group________________ Assignment Due:________________

Plot is a series of actions planned by the artist to build upon one another, with an introduction, body, and conclusion. The foundation of the plot is conflict. Characters are initially confronted with a dilemma, which is normally resolved by the end of the story. Some productions contain secondary stories, called subplots.

? What does the title signify?

? What are the significant events – in chronological order – in the story?

? Give a thumbnail sketch of the major characters and their motivation in the story.

? Have the major characters changed as a result of the events in the story?

? Does the conclusion of the production follow logically from the established premise, characters and what we know about the beliefs of the people involved?

My Assignment:

______________________________________________________

Students in the class who opted to try the media literacy circles approach in their classroom quickly began to modify these suggested role sheets for their own grade level. Elementary teachers believed the questions were appropriate for high school or middle school, but they would have to be redesigned for the elementary grades. The discussion role sheets were soon taking on the same topics, but in a question format that seemed more appropriate for younger audiences.

• Who made the production? (animated story, commercial)
• Who are the main characters?
• How is the story told? (sequence of events)
• Is it an old or new production?
• Who would like this story?
• What other productions or stories are like this one?
• How would the story be changed if the main character were a boy instead of a girl, or a girl instead of a boy?
• Could the story (production) have ended differently?
• If the conflict in the story was resolved by fighting, could there be other ways of solving the problem?

The above questions led the elementary teachers to create new discussion role sheets and a revised set of individual assignments. The class then created a resource guide containing books, supplemental readings, video and audio recordings, and web site addresses for further investigation.
Then came the reality of classroom implementation. Feedback after the first media literacy assignments were put into practice during the 2002 – 2003 school year seemed to indicate initial successes and some real miscalculations about the time and effort required to teach in this manner. Teachers who had previous experience with teaching literature circles were the most positive in their assessment and excited about future possibilities. Those who had not been exposed or trained in the literature circles methodology were the most disillusioned and felt the technique was not realistic because of the planning and classroom time required to develop and implement the lessons.
In the summer of 2003, I asked three teachers – one elementary, one middle school, and one secondary – that had tried media literacy circles in their classrooms to share experiences with a new group of students. Suggestions from these “veterans” and a set of guidelines for teaching media, and the media literacy circles concept, included

Start with the goal that it is extremely important for the students to analyze the methods used to communicate information and the points of view and values embedded in these messages. Most students rely on photographs, newspaper articles, and information obtained on the Internet as the basis for much of their classroom work, and they assume it is infallible.

Teachers must become more aware and media literate if they are to guide the development of media literacy in their students. Teachers said their colleagues were basically clueless about what programs their students watched, much less what video games they played, or music groups they idolized. This lack of knowledge was even more noticeable if teachers were asked about the viewing and listening habits of minorities.

If you are a pre school or elementary teacher don’t be afraid to start early with media literacy education. Young children are heavily influenced by repeated exposure to commercials and media messages from their favorite programs. Very young children are vulnerable because it is often difficult for them to separate the behavior of characters they see on television from real-life behavior and real-life consequences.

Get feedback and support from other teachers who are trying to implement media literacy studies and ignore the criticism you may encounter. One teacher said her best friend, a high school teacher, told her, “this (studying media) is a waste of time, what students really need is to learn what they need to pass the MAP tests.”

Update and change the role sheets regularly, and change the questions according to the type of media being studied. Role sheets designed to analyze a movie or television production will be less effective if used to analyze a music video, television commercial, news broadcast, or Internet site.

Whenever possible, encourage students to participate in the creation of a media production. This could be a short video, screenplay, storyboard, dialogue for a play, creation of sound effects, or making props and scenery. Involvement in a hands-on production can reinforce many of the concepts in the literacy “keys” outlined in the role sheets.

The importance of media literacy as a subject for serious study hits home when I discuss the primary elections with my students. Most have not bothered to investigate the candidates in any detail and find out what they believe about the critical issues facing our country. Yet the majority of these students are going to vote in the primaries and in the national election. Like most adults in our society their knowledge and understanding of the candidates comes from the popular media and paid political advertisements.
The Jeffersonian ideal of an informed electorate would seem to necessitate media literacy and media education. The media messages being created today are influencing elections, national policy, and personal beliefs. As Bob McCannon, head of the New Mexico Media Literacy project stated when discussing commercials, “on television, every seven minutes, you get a group of messages that are, quite simply, the most powerful communication that we can create as a species” (McCannon, 2003).
Media messages are powerful influences in music, the Internet, video games, and magazines. Media literacy circles may have an advantage in creating a more critical and aware generation of media consumers. First, there is the collaborative and democratic nature of the technique itself. Second, the technique provides the opportunity for multiple perspectives to be shared and critical analysis to occur. Children entering school today are going to be the most media saturated generation yet. Anything we can do to teach them good information and entertainment from bad should be, as the commercial says, “job one.”

References

Daniels, Harvey, (1994) Literature Circles: Voice and Choice in the Student-Centered Classroom. Stenhouse Publishers, Maine, 10
McCannon, Robert (2003) In Rich Shea’s Brave New World, Teacher Magazine, January 2003, 31
Silverblatt, Arthur, (1995) Media Literacy: Keys to Interpreting Media Messages. Prager Publishers, Connecticut. 128-131