Our weekly middle school program, Mega MediaLab, centers around weekly critically engaging media screenings of contemporary and historical films, music videos, news programs, commercials, and other forms of current media. Each screening includes post film discussions and critical thinking/writing exercises that enrich students’ study of literature, social studies, science, world languages, and the visual and performing arts. This program also provides students with a basic understanding of the languages of film and media: Camera, Editing, Sound & Script. Education faculty as well as guest speakers provide a social, historical, cultural, and aesthetic context for the media content and facilitate post-screening discussion. After post-screening discussions, students break into groups to collaborate, write and present new content for the current media in discussion.
Reading Media addresses ELA Inquiry-Based Literacy Standards and Media Arts standards, achieving the following goals:
- Students learn the basics of the language of film and media
- Foster critical viewing skills of a large cross-section of contemporary media
- Analyze, critique, and interpret ideas, issues and/or experiences presented in media texts and films alike
- Create media artwork that demonstrates an understanding and command of the principles of artistic design
- Foster public speaking and presentation skills
- Demonstrate the ability to write, revise, and edit media texts
- Identify and define the processes, techniques, and applications used in creating media work
- Create a knowledge of digital citizenship and a personal sense of responsibility in the media arts