Lesson #2 – Magazines

Materials

• 21 laptops
• Projector
• Instructors laptop

Objectives:
The goal of the lesson is to introduce the students to the world of magazines.  The students will have undoubtedly have read a variety of magazines, from super girly magazines to cyber-robot-computer ones.   Therefore some of the students will have had more exposure to the magazine’s messages of masculinity, femininity and body image.  By examining the magazines on the websites on the projector with the students, this ensures that all the students become somewhat familiar with what they should be looking for and examining.
By the end of the class the students should be prepared to obtain the necessary information and draw the necessary conclusions when researching these magazines.  However, as the students become increasingly versed in the methods implemented by the media, their understanding will increase.

Timeline:
The teacher would begin the lesson by examining the list of 5 magazines that the class selected during the previous lesson.  To ensure easy access for all students, every magazine must have a legitimate website.  The teacher’s computer would be hooked up the to projector, and each magazine’s website would be open in a separate window.

The students would be informed that for their projects they must go onto these websites at least 3 times a week and take notes in their workbooks that they believe are relevant to masculinity, femininity and body image (both positive and negative).

The teacher would then begin to go through the websites on their computer, asking the students if they see any specific messages about masculinity, femininity and body image.  The students would be asked what type of message is it? (Positive/Negative) Who is it directed at? (Men/Women/Both) etc.

This group discussion would take the first 30 minutes of the class.  For the final 20 minutes of the period, the students would be on their own laptops, searching through their groups website for relevant articles, images, videos, etc.  (The teacher would stress the importance that these articles are appropriate)

Lesson Activity:

• The examination of the magazines students selected during the class discussion
• Individuals look up information on laptops for their group’s magazine
  • Videos, articles & images
• Notes in their workbook