Post of Ideas

Although these ideas don't really tie into the final unit that our group is doing, I thought they could be used as another unit.

My first idea inspired by Buckingham would be to have students research and compare the three largest daily newspapers in Utah, the Salt Lake Tribune, the Daily Herald and the Deseret News (or ones from the area in which I teach if it's not in Utah). The goal would be to have students compare and contrast the different papers according to Buckingham's four key concepts: production, language, representation and audience. Students would begin by researching how the different newspapers compare when they write about similar topics or news stories. They would do this by using both the daily newspapers AND looking at the newspaper's websites.
We would also look into the different audiences that the newspaper is appealing to. This information would be found through student research and I could also contact a reporter or editor from one or more of the papers to come and talk to my classes or at least answer some questions via e-mail. We could also look a little bit at how these Utah papers do things compared to larger papers like the New York Times or the Washington Post. I could read excerpts from the book Page One or the Kingdom and the Power about the New York Times.
The final part of the unit would be to research the difference in production for all the papers. We could research how papers are generally produced and I could even show the first few minutes of the documentary Page One: Inside the New York Times and then we could contact the three newspapers and ask for information about how they produce their papers. Finally, we would take a field trip to the offices of one of the papers and take a tour. The final assignment would be for students to write a reflection on what they learned about the newspaper world and what they think will happen to newspapers in the future. This would be a good way for students to learn about the news that they consume - especially because one of the main text types that adults are exposed to is the news. This assignment would help them to be aware of how reporters and the news industry goes about finding and reporting on news stories. As adults, this would help them to decipher the hidden spin that is a part of a lot of news stories and it would help them to learn how to find credible news in their own lives.

My other idea would be to have students compare a play with it's movie adaption or multiple movie adaptions. We wouldn't necessarily have to watch all of the movies but we could read the play as a class and then as we read a scene we could watch a movie adaption about it. That way we get to see how things are altered to make sense for a movie versus a play on a stage. We could talk about how different things work for each type of media. I would also utilize individual and group work to have students analyze each interpretation and compare it to the other ones we have seen. The final project would be for students to write a persuasive essay about which interpretation they feel was most accurate to the author's intentions and why. Or for a theater class, I would have students perform a monologue from one of the characters in the play, but they would have to perform it as the character is presented in their favorite interpretation. Instead of writing a five paragraph essay, I would have them turn in a well-written paragraph when they do their monologue that explains why they chose the interpretation that they did. They would also have to provide a quick explanation for the class. E.g. "I'm _______ character from ________ interpretation. I chose this because ____________." You could do more activities to help students with their monologues, but the ultimate goal would be for them to perform using the information they glean from a particular interpretation of the play. Also, if their favorite interpretation is the actual play itself, unfettered from other people's ideas, that could work too. I hope that all makes sense.
Neither of those really have to do with Whirligig, but they could be used as other units that incorporate media and Buckingham's ideas.