Routledge Close Reading the Media: Literacy Lessons and Activities for Every Month of the School Year

Teach middle school students to become savvy consumers of the TV, print, and online media bombarding them every day. In this timely book copublished by Routledge and MiddleWeb, media literacy expert Frank W. Baker offers thematic lessons for every month of the school year, so you can engage students in learning by having them analyze the real world around them. Students will learn to think critically about photos, advertisements, and other media and consider the intended purposes and messages. Topics include: Helping students detect fake news; Unraveling the messages in TV advertising; Looking at truth vs propaganda in political ads and debates; Revealing how big media influences the news we read; Understanding how pictures changed America during the Civil Rights Movement; Exploring the language of film and the symbols of costume design; Thinking about how media appeals to our emotions; Examining branding, product placement, and the role of celebrity; Reading and interpreting iconic news images; And much, much more! In addition, the book’s lesson plans contain connections to key standards and step-by-step activities you can use immediately. With this practical book, you’ll have all the tools and ideas you need to help today’s students successfully navigate their media-filled world.   Review "Students will learn to think critically about photos, advertisements, and other media and consider the intended purposes and messages. … The ‘Close Reading the Media’ featured lesson plans contain connections to key standards and step-by-step activities classroom teachers can use immediately…With this practical instructional guide, teachers will have all the tools and ideas they need to help today’s students successfully navigate their media-filled world."--Midwest Book Review, September 2018 "What student would not want to explore and deconstruct media messages from the latest TV season, Super Bowl ads, popular film, toy commercials, award shows, popular songs, news photographs, and MAD magazine cover parodies? Frank Baker makes essential media literacy concepts accessible, presents ideas to inspire creativity and offers practical strategies to hook young learners in critical thought. Interdisciplinary and jam-packed with resources, important question checklists and engaging, relevant, standards-aligned ideas for active learning, Close Reading the Media is a timely go-to volume for classroom teachers as well as teacher librarians." --Joyce Valenza, PhD, Assistant Teaching Professor, Rutgers University, SC&I "Fans of the amazing Frank Baker will be thrilled with this collection of Frank’s "greatest hits"! The lessons that Frank provides are so valuable and so needed by today’s teachers who are trying to help their students navigate our current roller-coaster media world. This book is arriving just in time―thank you, Frank!" --William Kist, PhD, Professor, Kent State University "A longtime proponent of media literacy, Baker combines timely lessons and pop culture resources. The material is divided by month, drawing students' attention to relevant topics. ... Verdict: An outstanding resource for librarians and teachers intending to teach media literacy."--from School Library Journal Review, May 2019 "Close Reading the Media by Frank W. Baker is an incredible resource for any middle or high school humanities teacher looking to teach students how to think critically about the media content they regularly consume. ... I am excited and empowered to teach many of these lessons throughout the next school year, thanks to the informative, fun, and thought-provoking ideas that Frank Baker provides in this book. As an English teacher, I am always looking for balance and variety in what and how students are reading, and this book is so helpful in incorporating media literacy into that balance. ... I highly recommend this resource to anyone who is intrigued by or already teaching med