After reading Popular Culture in the Classroom: Teaching and Researching Critical Media Literacy, by Alvermann, Moon & Hagood, I was intrigued by some of their lesson plans offered to use to tap into popular culture texts and images as a resource within the classroom. Although I teach sixth grade, I decided to implement the lesson that was designed for upper elementary students (pg. 61-84). My students are currently in a poetry unit, so it seemed like using song lyrics and band images would be an easy jump to make.
The lesson I was planning was based on four parts outlined in Alvermann's book:
1) Student Survey for Song Usage: Alvermann stressed the importance of choosing
materials that are relevant to students’ lives. In order to do that, I re-created one of their student surveys (p.65) in order to pick the songs that would be used in the lesson, as well as to see how adept the students were at reading critically.
2) Discussion of Musical Pleasures: The major points would include the following:
What are elements of a good band?
What kind of music do you like?
Why do you listen to music?
Where do you listen to music?
3) Reading Band Images and Song Lyrics: After discussing the pleasures of song, we will move to reading the images of the two bands. After students share their reading of the images, both songs will be played and time given for students to discuss their reading of the song with each other. Then, final component will involve reading the band’s images with the lyrics of the songs in order to develop a more elaborate response to the meaning of the song and an understanding of the band’s image.
4) Student Groups Create Bands: The last component of the lesson will require two class periods for the students to work in small groups to form a fictitious band, create an overall band image, write a song to describe an important part of the band’s image, and to design an album cover featuring band members.
This conversation took place as I was reviewing student surveys to select songs for an upcoming lesson. The songs on the list were popular hits that had been identified by more than one student in my class of 26 students. The two girls, Delaney and Adrianna, were talking casually with me and a colleague when Delaney spotted my list of songs to consider. This conversation shows the need to use popular culture in the classroom to engage students in critical media literacy. For me, this conversation reminds me that students are indeed surrounded by endless images, yet students are often not adept to 'read' the messages being communicated. I had planned these series of lessons to incorporate visual literacy and critical media literacy.
Delaney: Where did you get that list? Some of those songs you’re looking at don’t have appropriate words, and they’re about things…
Adrianna: Some of them are in code. It says things appropriately and it sounds appropriate, but it means something different. It’s like a code.
Teacher: Give me an example.
Adrianna: Like ‘Tick Tock.’
Delaney: And ‘In My Head.'
Teacher: (pause) I know. So, if you listen to it and it’s played on the radio, then why can’t it be brought into school?
Delaney: The principal. The principal doesn’t approve of it.
Adrianna: Yeah. But I also think she wouldn’t know what it means. Haha.
Delaney: Like outside of school, we can wear spaghetti straps, but then inside of school we can’t.
Teacher: What if Mrs. Z. and I were to listen to these songs in the classroom with our students.
Adrianna: They block it out. The radio and the DJ’s block it out.
Delaney: If you look at the lyrics, they say it, but then you can’t hear it.
Adrianna: It’s about being age-appropriate…and I don’t know if it would be age appropriate for school. School is really concerned with that. But then they just pretend we don’t know about it when we do.
Delaney: They treat us like we’re babies. The principal treats us like we’re babies.
Teacher: So what would you think if one of these songs were to be looked at and listened to in your classes….like reading or language arts?
Delaney: It depends on the song.
Teacher: Well, tell me about some on the list.
Delaney: The beginning of ‘Tick Tock' isn’t good. It’s like loud and clear that the girl is going to go out and get drunk and meet guys.
Adrianna: ‘In My Head’ is bad. It’s about a guy who wants to get with a girl.
Delaney: Wait, how does that one go again? (Adrianna demonstrates) Okay, yeah yeah.
Delaney: It’s not too bad. ‘What Do You Want from Me ’ isn’t bad.
Teacher: What are you using to decide whether a song is good or bad?
Delaney: The words.
Adrianna: Yeah, the words.
Teacher: So why can’t any of those things be talked about in school?
Delaney: Well it depends on why you talk about them in school. Like what’s the point…what would it be about?
Adrianna: No one wants to hear why the song is bad.
Teacher: Well, to talk about why do we like the song, what is the message of the song…so everyone can think together to talk about what the song is about.
Adrianna: Then yeah…that would be fine.
Delaney: But they don’t have any message or meaning.
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nice conversation; it seemed quite honest.
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