By discussing the children's favourite TV programmes, books and films, this lesson explores how the media influence the children and whether these media are always reliable.
The overall aim of the theme Mar a chéile muid (looking at ageing and the media) is to enable the child to:
The objectives of this lesson are to enable the child to:
For Activity 4 in this lesson, print the story, Cuairt ar Mhamó, in advance so that you can read it to the class. The children will need drawing materials for Activity 5 in this lesson.
The Online activities include the following words: in éineacht le, fiafraigh, cluiche leadóige, an tacsaí.
| Lesson plan | Discussion Brainstorm Role-play Story Read and draw |
Are all sources of
information reliable? What is your favourite? Two sides to every story Visiting Gran Choose from a range of books |
| Online activities | Pop-up
facts Cloze procedure Cloze procedure Mathematics Project Write a story Find out |
Sources of
information Visiting Playing tennis How much did the trip cost? My favourites Visiting Gran What do older people like to watch? |
Start with questioning to elicit the fact that sources of information can vary and may not always be reliable. Follow a line of questioning that is appropriate for the class, for example:
It’s very likely that almost everyone in the class will support the same team or teams. Elicit that this is usually because of loyalty to a local team or a team with local connections, or because of a desire to support a successful team. Popular and media attention to successful teams makes those teams more popular.
Make the point that personal recommendations are more reliable than claims made by advertisements.
Make the point that ads and slogans (such as "Milk's the one", "Coke is it", "The great taste kids love", "Toothkind", and so on) may make claims that a product may not live up to.
Summarise:
Allow children to name their favourite in each of these categories: TV programme, film/video, story/book, comic. Allow each child a few seconds to name their favourites, and note the responses on the blackboard.
Identify the top five favourites in each of the categories, and discuss. Encourage the children to identify areas where they are inaccurate or where they portray something as fact when it is not.
Ask the children to identify older characters in the top five favourites. Initiate discussion about one or two older characters, from these favourites, that are familiar to almost everyone in the class. The following may be helpful:
Allow children to illustrate differences between media portrayal and real life by telling about an older person that they know. From the children's descriptions, elicit qualities such as active, resourceful, busy, independent, helpful.
Divide the children into groups of four or five, depending on the size of the class. Choose one of the top five favourite programmes, films, or stories discussed earlier - preferably one that has at least one older character. Outline a scene or situtation that featured the older character, with which most of the children will be familiar. Allow the groups to take turns to role-play an alternative outcome to the incident, that shows the older person in a different way.
Make the point that individuals can behave in many different ways, regardless of whether they are older or younger. The media that we are familiar with often portray people in a stereotyped way - for example, children as noisy and troublesome, teenagers as moody, older people as needing help. We should not accept these stereotypes, and media sources should always try to show people with a variety of characteristics.
Read the story Cuairt ar Mhamó
Discuss the story. The following questions may be helpful:
Encourage the children to relate their own experiences with grandparents or other older people, as prompted by incidents in the story.
There are many stories that you can read for this age group that counteract stereotypical views of older people, showing older people as active and resourceful, for example:
These stories can form the basis for further discussion and for drawing activities.
This lesson provides opportunities for many cross-curricular activities and links directly to the curriculum for primary schools as follows:
| SPHE | Myself and the wider world | Media education |
| Drama | Drama to explore feelings, knowledge, and ideas | Exploring
and making drama |
The key questions for this lesson include: