ALEX Learning Activity

  

Cracking the Secret Code in Media Arts

A Learning Activity is a strategy a teacher chooses to actively engage students in learning a concept or skill using a digital tool/resource.

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  This learning activity provided by:  
Author: Cherise Albright
System:Huntsville City
School:Huntsville City Board Of Education
  General Activity Information  
Activity ID: 1729
Title:
Cracking the Secret Code in Media Arts
Digital Tool/Resource:
Example: Commercial for 2017 Porche 911
Web Address – URL:
Overview:

Analyzing a commercial for a high-interest product, students will identify the elements and principles of design used to convey the message and ideal of a company through a digital collaborative space. Students will generate many, varied, and unusual ways to communicate their own message, matching the company's ideals, through a different use of elements and principles of design.

This is the third activity in a series of four to meet Media Arts Standard 5.1:

Using Productive Thinking in Media Arts
Identifying and Choosing a Message in Media Arts
Cracking the Code in Media Arts
Storyboarding in Media Arts

This activity was created as a result of the Arts COS Resource Development Summit.

  Associated Standards and Objectives  
Content Standard(s):
Arts Education
ARTS (2017)
Grade: 5
Media Arts
1) Present original ideas and innovations for media arts products, utilizing personal experiences and/or the work of others.

Unpacked Content
Artistic Process: Creating
Anchor Standards:
Anchor Standard 1: Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
Process Components: Conceive
Essential Questions:
EU: Media arts ideas, works, and processes are shaped by the imagination, creative processes, and by experiences, both within and outside of the arts.
EQ: How do media artists generate ideas? How can ideas for media arts productions be formed and developed to be effective and original?
Concepts & Vocabulary:
Original
  • Synthesize
  • Innovation
Proposal
  • Concept
  • Action Plan
  • Materials List
  • Roles/ Team Needed
Design
Purpose
  • Persuade
  • Discredit
Meaning
  • Subtext
  • Connotation vs. Denotation
Principles
  • Emphasis
  • Exaggeration
Skill Examples:
  • Brainstorm with a group and list many, varied, and unusual ideas for a class media arts project. Use a storyboard to capture and organize ideas to advertise a product in a new way with a new message.
  • In a group and after brainstorming choose one idea and create a plan and/or model for a media arts production that meets the group's artistic goals based on the elements of design. Challenge the model by getting feedback from classmates and revise the storyboard to better communicate to the audience.
  • After researching choose many and varied images for a media arts production that convey a chosen purpose. Images and sounds will use emphasis and exaggeration.
  • Refine a media arts project from feedback to get a specific audience reaction, communicating through metaphor and symbolism.
Digital Literacy and Computer Science
DLIT (2018)
Grade: 5
R6) Produce, review, and revise authentic artifacts that include multimedia using appropriate digital tools.

Unpacked Content
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students will:
  • produce authentic artifacts using digital tools.
  • review and revise authentic artifacts using digital tools.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • multimedia
  • artifacts
  • Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • how to use a variety of digital tools in which they can create or revise authentic artifacts to share their knowledge.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • design and create authentic artifacts using approved digital tools that meet COPPA standards.
  • review an authentic artifact to revise with new or additional information.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • everyone can be an author, producer, director, etc.
  • using digital tools.
Digital Literacy and Computer Science
DLIT (2018)
Grade: 5
16) Use advanced features of digital tools and media-rich resources to communicate key ideas and details in a way that informs, persuades, and/or entertains.

Unpacked Content
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students will:
  • use advanced features of digital tools and media
  • rich resources .
  • communicate key ideas and details in a way that informs, persuades, and/or entertains.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • key ideas
  • informs
  • persuades
  • entertains
  • media-rich
  • communicate
  • digital tools
  • collaborate
  • online environment
  • tutorial
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • how to use advanced features of digital tools to inform, persuade, and/or entertain.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • design communications using advanced features of various digital tools to informs, persuades, and/or entertains.
  • locate and follow directions or tutorials for working with digital tools.
  • use media-rich features such as audio and/or video.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • many digital tools are available to communicate key ideas and details.
  • directions or tutorials can be located online to assist with creation.
  • there are multiple ways to communicate the same information.
Digital Literacy and Computer Science
DLIT (2018)
Grade: 5
17) Publish organized information in different ways to make it more useful or relevant.

Examples: Infographic, student created website.

Unpacked Content
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students will:
  • publish organized information in different ways to make it more useful or relevant.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • infographic
  • student created website
  • organized information
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • information can be created and published in different ways to make it more useful, easier to understand, or relevant.
  • multiple ways to create and publish information.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • organize and publish information in different ways such as infographics, student
  • created websites, digital books, audio, video, etc.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • information can be organized and published in different ways using images, text, inforgraphs, websites, digital books, etc.
Digital Literacy and Computer Science
DLIT (2018)
Grade: 5
20) Collaborate locally and globally using online digital tools under teacher supervision.

Unpacked Content
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students will:
  • collaborate locally and globally using online digital tools with teacher supervision.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • collaborate
  • locally
  • globally
  • teacher supervision
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • communication and collaboration can occur locally in your city or state and globally across the US and different countries.
  • various methods for communication and collaboration.
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • collaborate with others locally and globally using digital tools with teacher supervision.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • you are not restricted by your location, language, time zone, etc.
  • to collaboration with others using digital tools.
English Language Arts
ELA2021 (2021)
Grade: 5
26. Analyze how two or more texts address similar topics in diverse media and formats, including graphics, live and/or recorded performances, and written works.

a. Explain how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the overall meaning and tone of a text.

b. Compare and contrast the approaches to theme in several stories within a genre.

c. Locate information quickly within a text and apply information from multiple sources to analysis of the topics.

d. Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text.

e. Compare the approaches of several authors of articles about the same or similar topics.
Unpacked Content
Teacher Vocabulary:
26.
  • Analyze
  • Topics
  • Diverse media and formats
  • Graphics
  • Live and/or recorded performances
  • Written works
26a.
  • Visual elements
  • Multimedia elements
  • Overall meaning
  • Tone
26b.
  • Compare
  • Contrast
  • Theme
  • Genre
26c.
  • Locate
  • Analysis
  • Topic
26d.
  • Explain
  • Reasons
  • Evidence
  • Points
26e.
  • Compare
  • Approaches
  • Articles
  • Topics
Knowledge:
26. Students know:
  • Strategies to analyze text and diverse media formats.
  • Similar topics can be presented in different formats.
26a.
  • A creator chooses to include visual or multimedia elements in text to convey a particular tone and meaning.
  • Tone is the attitude of a writer toward a subject or an audience.
26b.
  • Compare means to tell how something is similar and contrast is to tell how something is different.
  • Theme is the main, recurring idea in a text.
  • Stories within a genre will have similar in forms, styles, or subject matter.
26c.
  • Strategies to locate information quickly in a text, such as utilizing text features.
  • Techniques to synthesize information from multiple sources.
26d.
  • Authors often include logical reasons and evidence to support their points.
26e.
  • Compare is to tell how something is similar.
  • Authors that write about similar topics will often have similar approaches to explaining the content.
Skills:
26. Students are able to:
  • Analyze and explain how two or more texts explain similar topics in diverse media and formats.
26a.
  • Identify visual and multimedia elements in text.
  • Describe the overall meaning and tone of text.
  • Explain how the visual and multimedia elements impact the overall meaning and tone of the text.
26b.
  • Identify and describe the theme of a story.
  • Identify similarities between themes of texts in the same genre.
  • Identify differences between themes of texts in the same genre.
26c.
  • Quickly find information within a text.
  • Analyze text topics by applying information from multiple sources.
26d.
  • Identify key points in a text.
  • Identify reasons and evidence that support the author's points.
  • Explain how the author uses reasons and evidence to support their key points.
26e.
  • Identify similarities of writing approaches in articles with the same or similar topics.
Understanding:
26. Students understand that:
  • Similar concepts can be explained in different ways depending on the format of the text and the viewpoint of the author.
26a.
  • Visual and multimedia elements are added to text to enhance or clarify the overall meaning and create a tone.
26b.
  • Identifying, describing, and analyzing themes of stories within the same genre improves their comprehension of the text and their knowledge of text genres.
26c.
  • Quickly finding information in a text is an important skill they will use in various situations.
  • To deeply analyze a topic, they must combine information from multiple sources.
26d.
  • Authors use logical reasoning and factual evidence to support their points.
26e.
  • Authors who choose to write about the same topics will often have similar approaches.
Learning Objectives:

Learning Targets:

I can identify the elements and principles of design at use in a commercial.

I can analyze how the elements and principles of design communicate a message in a commercial.

I can generate many, varied, and unusual ways to reimagine the use of the elements and principles of design to communicate my own message for a product that fits with the company's ideals. 

 

 

  Strategies, Preparations and Variations  
Phase:
During/Explore/Explain
Activity:

Students will view the Porsche commercial for a high-interest product.
Students will use their anchor place mats for the elements and principles of design to identify these elements and principles being used in the commercial on a padlet wall.(Padlet.com is an online bulletin board where students may log-in and post their ideas for the whole class to see. All students may answer at once, and the teacher can organize the ideas into groups.)

Students will participate in a teacher-led discussion in order for students to debrief and organize their collective observations on the padlet wall. Examples of probing questions:

  • What catches your attention in this commercial? What is the camera doing that causes you to notice that part of the commercial?
  • How do you feel at different parts of the commercial? What elements of the film affect your emotions?
  • What kind of decisions did the director have to make about shooting this commercial? What decisions did the editors make?
  • What elements of design do you see in the commercial? Are there ways to use other elements to communicate the same idea and feeling?

Students will work in partners to reimagine the use of the elements and principles of design to communicate their own message for the commercial, staying in line with the ideals of the company.
Each set of partners will join with another set. In groups of four, the students will share their ideas and refine based on the work of others.
Students will write a GIST of 25 words or less for their new plan for the commercial.

Assessment Strategies:

Formative Assessment: Teacher observation during student discussion and partner work and partner/partner team work on padlets.

Summative Assessment: GIST Check List


Advanced Preparation:

Students should have completed the following lessons:
Using Productive Thinking in Media Arts
Identifying and Choosing a Message in Media Arts

Student copies of Elements and Principles of Design place mats

Commercial of high-interest product saved in a format that can be shared with the class, i.e., mp4, online video etc.

Set up Padlet account at https://padlet.com/ and create the "wall" for this lesson.

Variation Tips (optional):

Students may choose their own commercials, identify the elements and principles of design, and share with the class.

Students may deconstruct the commercial in a whole group with teacher's probing questions.

Students may use a checklist of the elements and principles of design instead of writing a GIST.

If students cannot work from a laptop or computer or a personal device to share responses on padlet, they can write and share their answers.

Notes or Recommendations (optional):

This activity is one part in a series to address Media Arts Standard CR.5.1:

Using Productive Thinking in Media Arts
Identifying and Choosing a Message in Media Arts
Cracking the Code in Media Arts
Storyboarding in Media Arts

  Keywords and Search Tags  
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