Canva

 Canva for education is a free creativity tools for students to use. It allows a simple drag and drop way of creating posters, infographics, flyers, presentations, and so much more. The visual communication is very intuitive. There are many professional layouts to publish on the web or download as a jpeg, png, ppt, video, gif or PDF. Teachers can create a classroom where they can leverage even more creative power for their students, to collaborate and it allows the teacher to easily view student work. It can easily be shared with Google Classroom.

https://www.canva.com/education/

So many endless creative ideas one can create using Canva. Encourage students who feel anxious and frustrated when thinking they would need to draw by hand. It will give every students a space to shine.

Fodey...........Newspaper clip generator

You can make a Newspaper Clip with your own headlines and story.

An online tool students can use to publish newspaper clippings in a creative way. They can demonstrate their ability to write important details in a concise format geared to a specific audience.

CK-12 Free lessons and videos

CK-12 is a website that offers free textbooks, video, and activities.  They can be used in your lessons.  CK-12 can be customized and shared in Google Classroom for easier use.  Site is American but some lessons can be used in our classrooms.

Movie Posters..... Media Literacy

Showing a DVD does not mean that Media literacy is being taught.  It is teaching students how media messages are being constructed, who constructs them, the audience, why they are constructed and how they are constructed.  We cannot expect students to produce effective media if we do not equip them with the necessary skills to understand media.  To Understand Media Literacy better visit Center For Media Literacy where you will find a post written by Neil Andersen where he discusses the importance of Media Literacy Education.

I have surfed the net looking for some  instructional model on how to teach Media Literacy. I realized that to teach Media Literacy is to understand the Media, the messages conveyed  and how these messages in some way guide us in the decisions we make. I also realized that its more than just tv. Its newspapers, magazines, graphic novels, films, photographs, posters, songs, radio, music, etc. 

So I decided to begin my lesson on Movie Posters. 
The following is a synopsis of my lesson.  This lesson took about a month and half from start to its completion. 

 My students deconstructed movie posters and then they produced their own.  Students were given opportunities to self-regulate, communicate through class discussions and presentations, to use ICT for learning, critically analyze, synthesize and evaluate posters.

To see a more detailed lesson synopsis (not a detailed lesson plan), click on the links to view everything I used.
Movie Poster Activities
Power Point Activity
Video Tutorial for Photoshop

I used the ideas on http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2011/02/7-elements-of-a-great-movie-poster-design/  to help put my lesson together for when my students critically analyzed their movie posters.  I changed  the posters on this site to accommodate for the age  level of my students.  I also borrowed ideas from various websites.

Thank you to Sandra Mustacato for her support and resources.

Now where do I go from here?  Like I mentioned, there are other Medias to help students understand and deconstruct.  We will build on this lesson and move onto understanding advertisement and its marketing tricks.
What do you think?

Know The Net ...... powered by nominet

Know The Net is an information site that will guide you on surfing the net safely.  Below is an inforgraph on 10 Digital Citizenship Tips From Your Mother.  http://www.knowthenet.org.uk/

Knowthenet presents Manners Matter the online Netiquette Do's and Don'ts infographic.

CommonSense Media

Common Sense Media is a site that has cross curricular units that address digital literacy and citizenship topics in an age appropriate way.
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/scope-and-sequence

Youth Privacy.......... Social Smarts

Like Media Smarts, Youth Privacy is a site from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada where students can learn to become better informed about safety and proper use of Social Media and the Internet. There are lessons and tools to help students with privacy when using digital technologies.
http://www.priv.gc.ca/youth-jeunes/index_e.asp

My Privacy My Choice My Life

The purpose of this site is to help children learn how technology affects their private life.  There are lesson ideas and suggestions. You can download the PDF versions and use the lessons and worksheets. 

This site helps everyone understand Social Networking Sites.  There is a Graphic Novel, Social Smarts: Privacy, The Internet and You,  which I was able to download into each student's computer where they read it and then in groups answered questions and critically analyzed the scenarios that were given to them.  I was able to incorporate this lesson with the lessons and interactive games from the website I mentioned earlier, Media Smarts.

http://www.youthprivacy.ca/en/teachers.html

Media Smarts......formerly Media Awareness

In my January 13, 2011 post I mention the site Media Awareness.  I will repeat what I wrote:

A site where students can become better informed about using the Internet.  They learn about stereotypes, hate, violence and information privacy through interactive play. Browse the website and see how these educational resources can enhance lessons. I used Privacy Playground and Cybersense and Nonesense on this site with my class and I found that the games provided my students the skill to evaluate information. The students were able to critically analyze how negative decisions affect them.

This site is now called Media Smarts http://mediasmarts.ca/

I also used the Privacy section so that we can discover the affects of not being careful with our personal information when interacting with other people whether it is online or using some other smart product.