Close Reading & What It Means for Media Literacy

Close reading isn’t just for printed texts anymore. To help students meet Common Core standards related to close observation and effective questioning, media literacy consultant Frank Baker, writing on Middleweb.com, suggests ways to engage them with a range of visual content.

Images & Words of WWII Featured in New WWII Exhibit

"The Power of Words and Images in a World at War" (an exhibit at the Grolier Club in New York City) focuses on the iconic posters, broadsides, books and periodicals that influenced millions in the six-year course of the last great worldwide conflict. The major themes of this conflict -- the antecedents of war, the rise of German nationalism, the Blitz, Pearl Harbor, the European and Pacific theaters, life on various home fronts – are illustrated by colorful and dramatic examples of the graphic and propaganda arts, drawn from the collection of The Museum of World War II in Boston, one of the most comprehensive in the world. See a slideshow and read a review of the exhibit in The New York Times.

Magnum Photographer Recalls Tinanmen Square & Iconic Tank Man Photo

Stuart Franklin, the Magnum photographer, tells his story of the 1989 protests, from peaceful demonstration to bloody crackdown, the iconic 'tank man' – and how hamburgers gave him his big break.

Hollywood Reporter Roundtable Interviews/Airing on A&E

The Hollywood Reporter and A&E Network have partnered to produce The Hollywood Reporter Roundtables series, featuring TV's top Emmy contenders in intimate discussions leading up to the nominations. 

Broadcast as a four-part series, the Roundtables will kick off June 8 with two episodes, the hourlong Drama Actor and Drama Actress panels. A&E, which reaches 100 million U.S. homes, will air the Comedy Actor and Comedy Actress Roundtables on June 15. Film-focused Roundtables during the Oscar season will follow on A&E later this year.  
More details here.

2014 NCTE Media Literacy Awards (Call for Submissions)

The ninth annual NCTE Media Literacy Award will be presented at the NCTE Annual Convention. Previous award winners are profiled at the following site:
http://www.frankwbaker.com/ncte_assembly_of_media_literacy_award.

Deadline for submitting the application for the 2014 award is June 30, 2014. The award winner will be notified by the end of August and will receive a plaque along with a cash award of $2,000.

A resolution passed by the members at the 2003 San Francisco Convention on Composing with Non-Print Media, made the creation of this award especially timely.  The resolution recommended the encouragement of preservice, inservice, and staff development programs that focus on new literacies, multi-media composition and a broadened concept of literacy.  The award showcases NCTE members who have developed innovative approaches for integrating media analysis and composition into their instruction.

Applying for the Award

The Media Literacy Award will be presented to an individual, team, or department that has implemented and refined exemplary media literacy practices in their school environment.  The Award Selection Process will be based on a portfolio review by a selection committee.

Further details are posted here.

eBook: Reading The Movies

For those who teach film, this revision of the classic "Reading The Movies" by William Costanzo is now out as an e-book.  "The 2014 Kindle edition is intended for teachers and general readers who want a richer experience of great films. In Part I, Costanzo offers insights into the art of adaptation, the languages of film, and cinema technology as well as concise surveys of film history and theory. In Part II, he focuses on twelve extraordinary movies and how to get the most from them. Reading the Movies is an indispensable guide for watching movies in the 21st century."

History vs Hollywood: Who Gets It Right?

Because this year's Academy Awards nominees include so many docu-dramas, and because young people think they are seeing real history on the screen, I created this new resource. It ties in nicely with Common Core, critical thinking/viewing, media literacy and more.