Author

Connie Lindsey
Brownwood, Texas

Grade Band

9-12

Estimated Time

Five 50-minute class sessions

Credits

Resources

Student Handouts

Vocabulary Quiz

Photo Shop: Step by Step Instructions

Sample Collage

Collage Rubric

Printer-Friendly Documents

Vocabulary

Lecture Notes

Step by Step Instructions

Lesson Overview

Students will find numerous images from the media and analyze them for pictorial qualities, design elements, as well as purpose and subtext or underlying messages. Each student will choose three images to save as a digital file and write a one-page analysis about.  Students will then use these three images to create a collage whose theme is an issue that faces us as Americans. The finished collages will be presented as both a digital file suitable for viewing on the Web and a printed copy to be turned in with a one-page reflection of the assignment and a self-assessment rubric.

Instructional Plan

Resources

• Media Literacy Video on DVD (23 min.) produced by Schlessinger Media
• Vocabulary List and Quiz
• Assignment Handout with step by step instructions
• Lecture notes: video handout,  design elements
• Creating Collages Rubric
• Various popular magazines for students to find and clip images
• Adobe PhotoShop or other image editing software program
• Computers with Internet access
• Scanner

 Instruction and Activities

Day 1

The purpose of this session is to introduce the assignment and define media literacy.

1. Provide students with handout of terms and concepts covered in video.
2. View the video Media Literacy (23 min.)
3. Discuss the media’s use of images and their implied underlying messages.
4. Have students locate several images from popular magazines and analyze them for composition and subtext.

 Day 2

1. Students will scan their images and save as JPEGs to their server folders.
2. Students will open images and create the canvas for their collage in Photoshop.
3. Students will select and copy portions of their saved images to paste into their collages.

Day 3

1. Students will continue placing images on collage and adding text using Photoshop.
2. Students will save collages as JPEG for easy viewing.
3. Students will place collage JPEGs in Web pages for presentation to class.

Day 4

1. Student presentations

Day 5

1. Student presentations, continued

Extensions

• Students may display their original images on their Web pages, along with the finished collage.
• Students may apply various filters and/or color variations to their collages to display on their Web pages, along with an explanation of the effect created.

Web Resources

• Text Effects in Photoshop at Good Tutorials.com
• Photoshop, Layers 101 - By Colin Smith

Student Assessment/Reflections

• Evaluate students’ comprehension of media images and their subtexts using the one-page analysis of the image.
• Evaluate students’ collages using the Creating collages rubric.
• Students will reflect on their learning in a one-page reflection and evaluate their collage using the collage rubric before turning in their projects.

Sources

Adobe Help Center. Adobe Photoshop CS2.

“Elaine Mellencamp & her motherLynn.” Almay Ad. Good Housekeeping. Feb. 2006, p.2.

Media Literacy. Research Skills for Students DVD Series. Wynnewood, PA: Schlessinger
Media, 2004.

“Woman tying corset.” Motrin Ad. People Jan. 30, 2006, p.36

“Serena Williams.” Got Milk? Ad. Glamour Feb. 2006, p.83.

Standards:  TEKS for Digital Graphics/ Animation

1E Students will use vocabulary as it relates to digital graphics

3A Students will model ethical acquisition and use of digital information, citing sources using established methods.

3D Students will research the impact of digital graphics in society.

5B Students will demonstrate the appropriate use of digital imaging

6C Students will analyze the designs to decide the opint of interest and the attributes that determine prominence and support of the subject.

7A Students will combine graphics and images for foundation or enrichment curricular projects

7D Students will edit files using appropriate digital editing tools and established design principles including consistency, repetition, alighnment, proximity, ratio of text to white space, image file size, color use, etc.

9C Students will evaluate data by using criteria appropriate for the purpose.

10A Students will identify pictorial qualities in a design such as shape and form, space and depth, or pattern and texture to create visual unity and desired effects in designs.

11A. Students will publish information in a variety of ways including, but not limited to, printed copy or monitor display.

12A Students will evaluate projects for design, content delivery, purpose, and audience.