Grade+4

=__Term 1 Focus: Video Game Packaging/ Box Art __= //Ask students to bring in the package from their favourite video games (but not the game itself). Label the video game packages with masking tape. //

Consider viewing this YouTube video of a [|Timeline of Video Game Packages] so that students can see the box art and style of video game packaging from the 1980s and 90s.

Teacher prompts to guide discussion:
Why do you think this video game package was created? What age group is this game aimed at? Is it aimed at boys or girls? (identify purpose and audience, 1.1)

What messages on the packaging of this game make you think you would like to play it? What do the images on the packaging make you think about? Which do you think influence you more- the overt or implied messages? (use overt and implied messages, 1.2) Overt: In this adventure game the characters take big risk and face amazing challenges Implied: If you play this game you can share the excitement and be more like the daring characters

Which elements of the video game advertising seem realistic or believable to you? Why? Does anything seem exaggerated? Does this video game reflect reality? (express opinions, 1.3)

Find the age rating for the video game that you enjoy. Is it a fair rating? Why? Why not? (explain different audience responses, 1.4)

When playing a video game you take on the point of view of the character. What does the packaging of your favourite video game tell you about that character. Does it make you want to be more like the character? (identify point of view, 1.5)

Who designs video game packaging? Would you buy a video game just because you like the package? (identify producers, 1.6)

Compare packaging from a video game and that of a movie in a similar genre (try to find a video game based on a movie- Harry Potter, for example). How are the packages similar/different? Consider the name, logo, rating, description, screen captures, etc... (identify elements, 2.1)

Often the box art on video game packages looks more like a movie poster than the video game. How could this technique help to sell more video games? (identify techniques, 2.2)

Creating a media text (3.4):
Students will design and create a unique video game package. You may choose to relate this activity to a unit of study (Medieval Times) or a topic like healthy eating or the environment. As they design their packaging, students will be prompted to consider the following:

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Describe the topic, purpose and audience for your video game. (3.1) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">How will you design your box art to capture the attention of your intended audience? (3.2) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Have you included all the elements of a video game package in your design? Is your design unique? (3.3)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Extension Activities:
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Discuss violence in video games. Consider some of the ideas and discussion questions from this lesson plan from the Media Awareness Network (designed for older students): [|Video Games] You may choose to moderate a discussion about violence in video games on a class blog. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Design a board game based on your favourite video game.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Teacher prompts for metacognition:
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">How did your understanding of advertising techniques help you to make sense of video game packaging and create your own? (4.1) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">How did your language skills (in reading, writing, listening and speaking) help you to make sense of video game packaging and create your own? (4.2)

=__<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Term 2 Focus: TV Families __= <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">//Begin with the [|TV vs. Life Quiz] (a PBS Kids Don't Buy It online activity in which students take a quiz to find out how well television represents real life.)//

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">//If possible, record an episodes or episodes of a family TV show such as Life With Derek or Wizards of Waverly Place to show to class.//

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Teacher prompts to guide discussion:
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Based on the lesson [|The Constructed World of TV Families] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">After brainstorming popular TV shows about families as a class: Why are there so many TV shows about families? Who likes to watch these TV shows? (identify purpose and audience, 1.1)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Using an [|Observational Chart], students will watch a family TV show of their choice over the course of a week and record the problems the family members face in each show.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Is your family like any of the families you watch on TV? Do your parents act like TV parents? Do you act like a TV kid? Are TV families positive role models for real families? (use overt and implied messages, 1.2)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">What kinds of problems are solved on TV? What kinds of problems do real families face? Do we learn how to solve problems from watching TV? (express opinions, 1.3)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Do adults and children solve problems in the same way: on TV? In the real world? ( explain different audience responses, 1.4)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">From whose point of view is your favourite family TV show presented? How would this TV show change if it were written by a parent? a child? (identify point of view, 1.5)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Watch the credits of a family TV show together: What different jobs are involved in making a TV show? How much would it cost to produce? How could we find out? (Try [|How Much Do Television Shows Cost to Produce] as a starting point) (identify producers, 1.6) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Ask students to watch their favourite family TV show and record the products being advertised during the commercial breaks. Consider who creates the TV show (producers), who buys it (network conglomerates) and why (to sell advertising spots during the program time slots). (identify reasons for production, 1.6) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Discuss the elements of a TV sitcom. What elements do most family TV shows have in common? (set, cast, laugh track, plot problem and complications, happy ending, commercial breaks) (identify elements, 2.1)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">How can we tell we are watching a TV show rather than a documentary about a real family? (Focus on conventions such a canned laughter, music, applause, lighting, camera shots, commercials, etc...) (identify conventions, 2.2)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Creating a media text (3.4):
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[|Introducing TV Families] encourages children to explore the differences between their real families and TV families by imagining how their own families might be portrayed on a TV show. The lesson begins with a class discussion about different types of families. Students then assume the role of producers, and create a show for their own families to star in. To emphasize the constructed nature of television programs, students are encouraged to create a fantasy setting and story for the show. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">As students create their own TV show, they are prompted to consider the following:

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">In specific detail: What is the topic of your TV show? Who do you think will watch it? What challenges might you face to make your show interesting to viewers? (3.1) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">How can you use the form of a family TV show to share a message about real families? (3.2) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Consider the conventions of TV show. Will you use canned laughter or applause to signal a funny moment? How will your plot progress using only one or two sets? (3.3)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Extension Activities:
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Play an excerpt from a family show to the point where the problem is posed. Stop the video and ask the students to improvise ways in which the problem may be solved: a) as it may appear on the TV show; b) as it would happen in real life; c) as it might happen if children wrote the script. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">From [|Comparing Real Families to TV Families]: Working in pairs, have students role play interviews. Partner 'A' is an alien from a different planet, whose only knowledge of children comes from watching TV. Partner 'B' is a real child who tries to explain what children are really like. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Extend students' learning about other [|TV Stereotypes] using this Media Awareness Lesson. Begin with an introduction to stereotypes using fairy tales with the lesson [|Once Upon a Time] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Consider marking [|TV Turnoff Week] with your class. Complete the online activity [|Are You Plugged In?] from PBS Kids Don't Buy It and hand out copies of the [|TV Diary] to students.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Teacher prompts for metacognition:
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">How did your understanding of the conventions of TV shows help you to make sense of the shows you watch and create your own? (4.1) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">How did your language skills (in reading, writing, listening and speaking) help you to make sense of the shows you watch and create your own? (4.2)