Activity 2.3

You and the Media

Commercialism - gaining profits through advertising or sponsorship

Media – the channels used to express an idea (billboard, commercial, powerpoint, etc)

Consumerism - the buying and consuming of goods or products.

*What is a consumer?

What is commercialism?

Before reading the article that begins on the next page, respond to the following questions in the “Before Reading” column.

Prior to reading

Preview the informational text and look at the subheadings

identify the unfamiliar words can you replace those words with

synonyms?(“costs” = “expenditures”)

Predict what the text will be about based on the

How do the subheadings and bullets affect your comprehension while they are reading?

When you hear the word target, what comes to your mind? Share this with your elbow buddy.

What is an audience?

Target audience = a specific group of people thatadvertisers aim to persuade to buy their products orservices.

Example: vicks“Who” is the commercial trying to target? Be specific.

Example: taylor“Who” is the target audience? How can you tell?

What is a target audience?

As your read, “Just the Facts,” mark the text to identify statistics that relate to the questions you answered on your survey.

Place markers next to statistics while reading.

surprising statistics: !confusing statistics: ?interesting statistics: *

While reading…

When you finish reading, work with your elbow buddy and discuss the use of the subheadings and bullets as aids to understanding.

explain to how you used these text features (did they help you while reading)?

return to the survey on page 110 and fill in the “After Reading” column. Revisit Activity 1.3 and to scan the article “WomanWarrior” in search of evidence that supports or contradicts the gistof the facts presented here.

Share your findings

After reading

Reread the paragraph in “Just the Facts…” that begins “Children’s spending has...” (page 111). This paragraph could be expressed in visual form as well as in written form. As a chart and a bar graph, it might look like these:

Part two…

Carefully examine the two graphs on page 114, making sure you understand what is represented within the graphs.

Evaluate the graphs independently. What do you see? What does the graph portray? Does it add value to the article?

Working with your elbow buddy determine which one presents the information most clearly. Explain.

Part two continued…

Working with your elbow buddy:

reread the text to find a meaningful set of facts or statistics to express visually (take the words and making a graph or chart).

transform the written text into a graph or a chart.

use the endnotes to identify the source of the information, and use this within your chart or graph.

When complete, present your visuals to a partner How was the information from the article portrayed? Is the information accurate? Is the chart complete (all of the facts are listed from the article) What additional details could be added/deleted to help the reader?

Practice

Marion Nestle, chair of the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at New York University, estimates that $13 billion a year is spent marketing to American children — by food and drink industries alone. Food advertising makes up about half of all advertising aimed at kids. (3)Evaluate the chart – what do you see? What is missing?

I’m stuck…what do I need to do?

foodsodasports drinkcandy