The Media and Social Justice in the United States
Date: Week 3, Day 4
Period/Class Title: English
Name: Karin Van Orman
# of students: 30
OBJECTIVE:
Compare two different types of media related to the same topic. How do subjectivity and objectivity affect the meaning? How does the media affect the message of justice?
MATERIALS: CD player, “Eccleftic” CD by Wyclef Jean, 35 copies of CNN article about Diallo shooting, paper, pens, composition books
NOTES:
Lyrics will be generated from the Original Hip Hop Lyrics website www.ohla.com which will be accessed through the Hip Hop Circuit website. CNN article can be accessed through CNN.com. Excerpt from song lyrics will be written on the board before class begins.
STEPS:
Anticipatory Set: Do Now: Write some reflections based on the following song lyrics in your journals: “You guys are vampires/in the middle of the night/sucking on human blood/ is that your sacrifice/ they said he reached, sir/ But he didn’t have no piece, sir/ Now he rests in peace, sir/ In the belly of the beast sir.” What do you think this song is about? Do you expect this song to be objective or subjective? If you already know this song, write about the monster/beast/vampire imagery in the lyrics. (5 minutes)
1. Mini-lecture on subjectivity and objectivity. Define terms. Give examples. (10 minutes)
2. Read CNN article about Diallo shooting aloud. Answer any questions about the content of the article. Using graphic organizer, quote objective statements in column one, and subjective statements in column two. In column three, rate this article on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 purely objective, 10 purely subjective). (20 minutes)
3. Listen to the Wyclef song “Diallo” twice. During the second playing of the song, use the graphic organizer to help you analyze subjectivity and objectivity in this song. Quote words or phrases from the song that indicate objectivity in column one, and subjectivity in column two. In column three, rate this article on a scale of 1 to 10 (1 purely objective, 10 purely subjective). (15 minutes)
4. Group discussion of findings. Review a few examples from the graphic organizers. What are the authors purposes? How does the language and style of each piece communicate subjectivity and objectivity? Discuss how the media affects the message being communicated.(10 minutes)
FOLLOW UP ACTIVITY:
Group discussion will allow teacher to assess students’ level of comprehension of the ideas of subjectivity and objectivity. Level of discussion at the end of the class will provide some indication of comprehension as well. Teacher will collect graphic organizers and comment to further evaluate and give feedback to students.
LITERACY ASPECT:
Students will utilize graphic organizer to help them build an understanding of how to approach this type of analysis. Students will activate, reading, critical thinking and comprehension skills as they work through the analysis.
REFLECTIONS/RESPONSE:
Any student who is hearing impaired would lose some depth in this activity because they would not be able to hear the song. If students are already highly proficient in subjectivity and objectivity, they may lose interest in the exercise. In this case, the teacher may choose to spend more time on the discussion and less time on the graphic organizer.