Different people experience the same message differently.

Video

Video link

Write Up

Explanation:

This project is focused on the Formal Operational stage explained by Jean Piaget in his cognitive development theory. The Formal Operational stage focuses on children ages 11 years and up and covers five core concepts which include information on how different people experience the same message differently (Cognitive Development, 1995). I feel I have researched and broken down this core concept in a way that children in the formal operational stage will better understand how media messages can have a different meaning to different people based on their interpretation of the message .

Activity Idea:

The activity I chose to best fit this core concept is to show a piece of music media and have you compare your views and thoughts on the message of the media content we will watch. The role you will play in this activity is that of an audience member at a concert. Try and pay close attention to the music artists message and answer the questions which are located below the video further down the page.

Foreseeable Difficulties:

The only difficulties I see with this activity is if the student does not have access to the internet or YouTube from any device stated below in project materials. If this is the case, a student can complete this activity with any form of media to include a movie, music or even a television show or advertisement. If no one is available to do this activity with you it is alright to start by yourself and later compare responses to see of your activity partner got the same message as you did from the music video.

Lesson Plan

Learning Objectives:

• To gain a better understanding on how the same media message is experienced differently

• To understand how we as the audience member bring a unique experience in are view of a message

• To gain more knowledge on how different people's views of media messages compare to your own views

• To conduct this activity by watching the music video and comparing the answered questions to better understand how messages can be interpreted differently than yours

Project Materials:

• Phone, computer, tablet (whichever has access to YouTube)

• Pen, Pencil or marker (participants preference)

• Piece of paper

• List of questions copied or printed (attached questions under video)

• Someone to conduct this activity with (friend, parent or sibling)

Activity Procedure:

For this activity, you will be answering five questions about the message you received from watching this music video. To watch the music video, simply scroll down and watch the video and then answer the questions further down the page to compare them with a friend to see the differences in understanding the music videos message.

Activity Time: 10-15 minutes

Activity Video

Activity video link

Questions

1. What was the message of the music video?

2. Who did you choose to do this activity with? What are the differences between the two of you, if any? (age, gender, education, class, etc.)

3. What are the differences in views about what the message is in this video?

4. What other interpretations of this message could there be?

5. Did you learn anything from the other persons responses during this activity?

Printable in link below:

Google doc: Questions link

Assessment:

The assessment portion of this activity will be writing your responses to the questions listed and comparing answers to your partner who also watched the same media message as you did. Be sure to ask any questions if you don't understand or want to know more about this core concept. You should also have a better understanding of why different people experience the same message differently by because they interpret messages differently based on their prior experience, knowledge and values.

Takeaway:

1. Media Literacy Core Concept #3: Different people experience the same message differently.

2. Keyword: Audience

3. We learned that, we as the audience, play a role in interpreting media messages because each audience member brings a unique life experiences towards understanding a message.

4. We can gain knowledge and value from understanding others interpretations of messages that are different from our own views when understanding a message.

Takeaway printable link below along with QR code:

Google doc: Link to takeaway

If for some reason the links above do not work, they are inserted below in order of which they appeared on the page!