Ch. 1 Reading the Media in High School
The first chapter in Hobbs's book tells the reader what they should expect to see in the following chapters. Hobbs begins by discussing a lesson she observed where students were thinking critically about the TV shows they watch, and whether the shows they watch are realistic. Hobbs uses this lessons as a jumping point for her introduction into how she plans to discuss media literacy.
"The use of digital media and popular culture texts not only stimulates young people's engagement, motivation, and interest in learning, but enables them to build a richer understanding of how texts of all kinds work within a culture" (Hobbs 7). I think this particular quotation is a great way to influence administrators to allow you to use different media sources in the classroom. It is more important that we prepare our students to be critical thinkers for their future, than that they understand the canonical texts of the past. I hope to be able to teach media literacy in my own classroom. I think students would rather dive into, and think critically, about current news than they would want to dive into a 400 page novel.
Hobbs also makes a point in the first chapter to explain that, "understanding is a matter of being able to carry out a variety of performances." In other words, students need to be able to look at all different kinds of information sources and think critically about all of them. Students need to learn strategies in the ELA classroom that they can then apply to all the media sources that they are assessing at all times.
My favorite part of the chapter is where Hobbs explains the curriculum at the high school she uses in her research. This is where a teacher can get some great ideas for unit planning. The main topics in the curriculum are: journalism and information; advertising, propaganda, and persuasion; representation of race, gender, and social class; and story telling. The last topic is where students make the connections between the media and the novels/stories they read. On page 14, Hobbs shows an advertisement a teacher used for his English 11 class. The advertisement gives great incite into how this teacher plans to teach a great course in media literacy.
posted by Lauren at 8:33 PM
3 Comments:
Hi Lauren,
This is a great analysis of the first chapter that you read. I like how you quoted Hobbs, mentioned your own ideas and feelings, and that you went into details about the reading. It seems as though you critcially read this chapter. Great post!
I agree, Hobbs's book is great for ideas for teachers trying to figure out how to creatively integrate technology into teaching. I keep writing "use this" or "great project" in the margins. The first chapter is crucial to understanding Hobbs's research because it gives the background and actual setup for the media literacy classes.
Lauren, you do a nice job summing up what's important in this chapter. I like your quoting the line about students being competent in a variety of performance arenas. I'm happy to see you thinking about the importance of expanding the definition of "text."
We missed you last night. You would have found the administrator's comments, esp. about technology, very interesting.
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