1. Urica P. Floyd Teaching American History Orangeburg 5 February 24, 2009 Using Media to Decode History

2. What is media literacy?

3. Media Literacy is about asking questions to understand the motives behind a message. Media Literacy is the ability to understand the visual messages that we receive every day. What is media literacy?

4. Five Key Concepts for Media Literacy As part of its CML MediaLit Kit, the Center for Media Literacy has developed a series of five key concepts for media literacy education, and five key questions that correspond to each of these concepts. Five Key Concepts All media messages are constructed. Media messages are constructed using a creative language with its own rules. Different people experience the same messages differently. Media have embedded values and points of view. Media messages are constructed to gain profit and/or power. Source: Center for Media Literacy (CML).

5. Five Key Questions for Media Literacy As part of its CML MediaLit Kit, the Center for Media Literacy has developed a series of five key concepts for media literacy education, and five key questions that correspond to each of these concepts. Five Key Questions Who created this message? What techniques are used to attract my attention? How might different people understand this message differently from me? What lifestyles, values, and points of view are represented in or omitted from this message? Why was this message sent? Source: Center for Media Literacy (CML).

6. STANDARDS TO COVER: 3-2.2; 3-2.5; 3-2.6; 3-2.7 4-3.1 7-1.4; 7-1.6 8-1.1; 8-1.4; 8-1.6 USHC 1.1; USHC 2.1

7. Standard 3-2: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the exploration and settlement of South Carolina and the United States. 3-2.2:Summarize the activities and accomplishments of key explorers of South Carolina, including Hernando de Soto, Jean Ribault, Juan Pardo, Henry Woodward, and William Hilton. (H, G) 3-2.5: Summarize the impact that the European colonization of South Carolina had on Native Americans, including conflicts between settlers and Native Americans. (H, G) 3-2.6: Summarize the contributions of settlers in South Carolina under the Lords Proprietors and the Royal colonial government, including the English from Barbados and the other groups who made up the diverse European population of early South Carolina. (H, G) 3-2.7: Explain the transfer of the institution of slavery into South Carolina from the West Indies, including the slave trade and the role of African Americans in the developing plantation economy; the daily lives of African American slaves and their contributions to South Carolina, such as the Gullah culture and the introduction of new foods; and African American acts of resistance against white authority. (H, E, P, G)

8. Standard 4-3: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the conflict between the American colonies and England. 4-3.1: Explain the political and economic factors leading to the American Revolution, including the French and Indian War; British colonial policies such as the Stamp Act, the Tea Act, and the so-called Intolerable Acts; and the American colonists’ early resistance through boycotts, congresses, and petitions. (E, P, H)

9. Standard 7-1: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the colonial expansion of European powers and their impact on world government in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. 7-1.4:Summarize the characteristics of European colonial power and explain its effects on the society and culture of African nations, including instances of participation in and resistance to the slave trade. (H, G, P, E) 7-1.6: Explain the emergence of capitalism, including the significance of mercantilism, a developing market economy, an expanding international trade, and the rise of the middle class. (E, H, P)

10. Standard 8-1: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the settlementof South Carolina and the United States by Native Americans,Europeans, and Africans. 8-1.4: Explain the growth of the African American population during the colonial period and the significance of African Americans in the developing culture (e.g., Gullah) and economy of South Carolina, including the origins of African American slaves, the growth of the slave trade, the impact of population imbalance between African and European Americans, and the Stono Rebellion and subsequent laws to control the slave population. (H, G, P, E) 8-1.6: Explain how South Carolinians used natural, human, and political resources to gain economic prosperity, including trade with Barbados, rice planting, Eliza Lucas Pinckney and indigo planting, the slave trade, and the practice of mercantilism. (H, G, E)

11. Standard USHC-1: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the settlement of North America. Indicator USHC-1.1 Summarize the distinct characteristics of each colonial region in the settlement and development of America, including religious, social, political, and economic differences. (H, E, P, G) Standard USHC-2: The student will demonstrate an understanding of the establishment of the United States as a new nation. Indicator USHC-2.1 Summarize the early development of representative government and political rights in the American colonies, including the influence of the British political system, the rule of law and the conflict between the colonial legislatures and the royal governors. (P, H)

12. Media Literacy, Documentaries & Critical Viewing Skills Like all media, documentary producers have a point-of-view and it is up to the audience (our students) to be able to deconstruct it and understand all of the techniques used which make documentaries credible.

13. Documentary Film Some questions for your students to consider: What is a documentary? Who creates them and for what purposes? What are the steps/stages to getting docs written/produced? How are they distributed; where might you find them? How do docs differ from other films? What techniques are used in documentaries that may not be used elsewhere? Who are the audiences for docs? Where can you go to see them?

14. Documentaries A documentary film is a movie that attempts, in some way, to document reality. Even though the scenes are carefully chosen and arranged In a true documentary the scenes are not scripted, and the people in a documentary film are not actors. Sometimes, a documentary film may rely on voice-over narration to describe what is happening in the footage; in other films, the footage will speak for itself. Often, a documentary film will include interviews with the people in the film. In recent years, the documentary film genre has become more popular and high profile, though it is still far less popular generally than the action or adventure film genre. Many of today's examples of the documentary film have a political or otherwise controversial agenda, such as An Inconvenient Truth, Super Size Me, and Fahrenheit 911. Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911, which documented the Bush family's ties to Saudi Arabia and Osama bin Laden, was the most popular documentary film of all time, with over $228 million US Dollars in ticket sales.

15. The History Channel - Slave Catchers, Slave Resisters Clip: Stono Rebellion (YouTube.com)

16. America’s History in the Making Mapping Initial Encounters http://www.learner.org/resources/series208. html?pop=yes&pid=2251# Watch carefully, think critically.

17. America’s History in the Making Puritan and Quaker Utopian Visions, 1620-1750 http://www.learner.org/vod/vod_window.ht ml?pid=1739 Watch carefully, think critically.

18. Utopian Promise Puritan and Quaker Utopian Visions, 1620-1750 http://www.learner.org/amerpass/unit03/ind ex.html#http://www.learner.org/amerpass/unit03/ind ex.html# Unit Overview Using the Video View the Video Authors Timeline ActivitiesUnit OverviewUsing the VideoView the VideoAuthorsTimelineActivities

19. Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/list/080_columbus.html

20. Strategies for Analyzing Visual Images (this can be printed out and used as a single page handout for helping students begin to understand the language of photography) 1. Examine the image holistically What does it represent? What is your initial reaction? Does it convey a message? 2. Consider the nature of the image Is this a professional portrait or a candid press shot? Was this video taken at a prepared ceremony or a spontaneous event? Were people, images, or objects deliberately posed to make a statement? 3. Examine perspective Is the subject depicted close-up or at a distance? Does the subject appear in control of the environment or does the background clash or dominate the frame? 4. Analyze contrasts and contexts Is the background supportive, neutral, or hostile to the subject? Does the image depict conflict or harmony? 5. Examine poses and body language of human figures How are human figures depicted? What emotion do they seem to express? 6. Look for bias Do you sense the photographers were trying to manipulate the people or events depicted, casting them in either a favorable or negative light? 7. Consider the larger context Does the image offer a fair representation of a larger event or an isolated exception? 8. Review the image for possible manipulation Could camera angles or retouching have altered what appears to be a record of actual events? 9. Consider the story the image seems to tell What is the thesis of this image? What visual details or symbols help tell the story? Source: Chapter 3, page 50, Critical Reading, “The Sundance Reader” (4th Ed, 2006) Mark Connelly, Thomson/Wadsworth

21. Painting Joseph Cinque After Etching Artist: Nathaniel Jocelyn, 1839

23. THANK YOU!