http://content.scholastic.com/browse/lessonplan.jsp?id=424What's wrong with their "compromise?" It STILL REQUIRES THE STUDENT TO SIT THROUGH SIX HOURS OF HORSESHIT.
One Event: Different Perspectives
From Unit Plan: Media Literacy Discussion Guide
Different presentations of the same event may present various points of view.
Objectives:
Students will learn how to compare separate presentations/interpretations by the media of the same event and point out the similarities and differences among them. Students will have to sit through six ass-numbing hours of propaganda to complete this lesson
Students will develop an understanding of how coverage of an event by the media can vary depending on the type of media and its source.Students will likely just pick the most obvious scene, say fuck it and go play XBox if they're smart.
Students will understand that different presentations may present various points of view.
Students will understand that in presentations/interpretations by the media choices are made in the filming, directing, casting, etc. that influence the way the events are portrayed. This includes choices of how elements and content are selected or omitted. Students will have to rely on their teacher to separate wheat from chaff, because most of those kids are NOT gonna read the whole 9-11 report.
Students will apply what they've learned above to participate in a classroom discussion or debate on how scenes from The Path to 9/11 were depicted and how they and other sources affected their understanding of the event. They will have had to waste SIX LONG HOURS of their young lives over TWO EVENINGS in order to participate in a discussion about a propagandistic piece of crap.
Materials:
Internet access
Directions:
Have your students select a scene from The Path to 9/11 miniseries, such as the depiction of the USS Cole bombing in Yemen. Instruct your students to write a brief summary of the event as shown in the miniseries. In order to DO this, they have to WATCH the crap.
Then have students visit http://www.9-11commission.gov/report/index.htm to download a free copy of the 9/11 Commission Report. Students should search the report for information pertaining to the same event they selected in step 1.
Once the students have found the information in the 9/11 Commission Report, have them compare the depiction of the event in the miniseries to its representation in the report.
Have students consult a second print news source for another example of how the event is portrayed in print media versus the miniseries and report. I'm shocked they didn't suggest NEWSMAX as a resource !!
Have students summarize their comparisons in a short essay. Remind them to include specific examples from the miniseries (That way, you KNOW they've been FORCED to WATCH IT) and the report as they write their essays.
Have students consider these questions: Are there matters of dispute in the docudrama? Does the scene you researched portray events that conflict with the 9/11 Commission Report or additional news source? Does it portray events that reflect the information in the 9/11 Commission Report? Or are those mean Democrats a bunch of WHINERS who can't handle a little artistic license?
Ask for volunteers to share what they have discovered about the similarities and differences between how the event was depicted. Lead a class discussion or debate about whether or not The Path to 9/11 is an accurate representation of the events described in the 9/11 Commission Report and additional news source. Again, this discussion requires youngsters to waste six precious hours for a little back-and-forth in the classroom.
As part of this debate, have your students consider if they feel that event depicted in the scene they have chosen was a contributing factor for the terrorist attacks and why. Possible discussion or debate starters include: Contrast these feelings and insights with other sources. Has the publicity surrounding the docudrama affected your perspective of the events depicted in the scene you have chosen. Here's their EMAIL address: custserv@scholastic.com <custserv@scholastic.com>
Point this out to your local school board. If your rugrats have not come home with this assignment, that's all well and good--but this tells us all way more than we wanted to know about Scholastic's "Have Your Cake and Eat It" attitude. They shouldn't be getting away with this sort of parsing, bobbing and weaving.
I say give it to them--and buy your Harry Potter books from the UK from now on. Alternatively, the kids could gather up all of the SCHOLASTIC learning materials in their classrooms, go out to the playground, and recreate a scene from that famous book, later a film:
FAHRENHEIT 451.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060390/There's a "teachable moment" for the fuckers!!!!!!!