Using Media in the Curriculum

Today we used a variety of on line videos to discuss three different areas of the curriculum.

An algebra joke! 

First...algebra! We used Khan Academy videos to discover 'what is algebra' (via a video happily titled "The Beauty of Algebra") and then we explored an example of a linear growth pattern translated into an algerbraic equation. We only needed to watch the first few minutes of these videos (we stopped after the simplest examples so as not to overly confuse ourselves) to get the idea that algebra is used to make a "generalization" (we also looked up what that word meant). The analogy I gave is that the letter (like 'x') holds the place of a number. It is like the understudy in a theater production...they stand in for the actor/number. Sometimes it stands in for  the answer...sometimes it stands in for any number you want to use in your calculation. Using algebraic equations with patterns helps us make predictions about the patterns....as you can see if you watch the 2nd video!

By the way, Khan Academy is a great resource for review of math concepts. If there is ever an area of math that needs review at home, try searching for it at khanacademy.com.

Second...bullying (our health topic...in particular, the various roles in bullying and the impact of bullying on those individuals, plus strategies). Two days ago we studied a variety of PSA commercials about bullying and today we looked at two songs and their corresponding music videos to see what they had to say about bullying. The two songs were "Mean" by Taylor Swift and "Is Anybody Out There?" by K'Naan and Nelly Furtado. We looked at/listened to the lyrics and aimed to answer these questions:

What does each song say about bullying...in particular, what does it say about those who bully, those who are being bullied and about the bystanders? Is the message aimed at one in particular?  What is the impact on each role from the episode of bullying?

Third...media (in particular, interpreting media representations and judging their effectiveness). When looking at the music videos of "Mean" and "Is Anybody Out There?", we listed the various images that they used and determined the meaning behind them (ie: girl sitting alone in a park = sadness, loneliness). We evaulated how well those images conveyed the lyrics and discussed how effective or ineffective those images were. We also noticed the different portrayals between the two videos/songs: "Mean" has a positive outcome, presents a success story for the victim  and a resolved ending...while "Is Anybody Out There?" does not. Instead,  in that video, the character who is bullied remain alone...which emphasizes the importance of needing connection. We discovered that both videos had effective and ineffective aspects...and students did a great job arguing their point of view by using evidence from the text/media!