PSA Project Sheet
Project Overview:
Every week, an average American teenager spends 31 hours watching TV, 17 hours listening to music, 3 hours watching movies, 4 hours reading magazines, and 10 hours online. That’s 10 hours and 45 minutes of media consumption a day! This means we’re bombarded with media messages all day every day. You might be thinking, “What’s wrong with that?” The problem is, frequently media messages represent individuals and groups in ways that reinforce stereotypes in our culture about race, gender, ethnicity, and other important topics. These media messages shape our understandings of ourselves, others and the world, whether we realize it or not. So we will be analyzing media messages and techniques in order to become critical media consumers and effective media producers.
During this project, our Humanities class will critique current and historical media messages and produce our own full color magazine PSAs (Public Service Announcements). You will begin by choosing a topic, current event or social issue that interests you and finding media messages that represent it. Then you’ll critically analyze the media messages to help other consumers understand the purposes and biases. Next, you’ll take pictures and use Photoshop to to create your PSA. You generate original content (headline and narrative) and imagery (photographs, illustrations). Finally, you write an artist statement that juxtaposes your PSA and the stereotypical media image.
Essential Questions
How do media messages shape our understandings of ourselves, others and the world?
How can we create media messages that promote equity and social justice?
Learning Objectives
Students will understand key concepts in media literacy like…
When reading media messages, we should always ask:
Every week, an average American teenager spends 31 hours watching TV, 17 hours listening to music, 3 hours watching movies, 4 hours reading magazines, and 10 hours online. That’s 10 hours and 45 minutes of media consumption a day! This means we’re bombarded with media messages all day every day. You might be thinking, “What’s wrong with that?” The problem is, frequently media messages represent individuals and groups in ways that reinforce stereotypes in our culture about race, gender, ethnicity, and other important topics. These media messages shape our understandings of ourselves, others and the world, whether we realize it or not. So we will be analyzing media messages and techniques in order to become critical media consumers and effective media producers.
During this project, our Humanities class will critique current and historical media messages and produce our own full color magazine PSAs (Public Service Announcements). You will begin by choosing a topic, current event or social issue that interests you and finding media messages that represent it. Then you’ll critically analyze the media messages to help other consumers understand the purposes and biases. Next, you’ll take pictures and use Photoshop to to create your PSA. You generate original content (headline and narrative) and imagery (photographs, illustrations). Finally, you write an artist statement that juxtaposes your PSA and the stereotypical media image.
Essential Questions
How do media messages shape our understandings of ourselves, others and the world?
How can we create media messages that promote equity and social justice?
Learning Objectives
Students will understand key concepts in media literacy like…
- Messages are constructed.
- Messages are representations of the world (and they represent the world differently).
- Messages have economic and social purposes.
- Individuals create meaning in media messages through interpretation.
When reading media messages, we should always ask:
- What is the message?
- Who created this message?
- Who is the target audience?
- What techniques are being used to get and keep my attention?
- How might different people interpret this message?
- What lifestyles, values, and points of view are in this message? What was left out and why?
- Why is this message being sent?
- Where did you find it?
DeliverablesEmail Partner Organization
1st Draft Media Analysis 2nd Draft Media Analysis 1st Draft PSA Print Ad 2nd Draft PSA Print Ad 1st Draft Artist Statement 3rd Draft PSA Print Ad 3rd Draft Media Analysis 2nd Draft Artist Statement |
Due DatesTuesday, May 15
Thursday, May 17 Tuesday, May 22 Friday, May 25 Thursday, May 31 Thursday, May 31 Tuesday, June 5 Tuesday, June 5 Tuesday, June 5 |
