Responding to Media Violence: Starting Points for Classroom Practice

Reneé B. Meloche is an instructional consultant with the Halton Board
of Education.

This resource provides critical background information and practical
activities to help students in kindergarten to Grade 8 understand,
enjoy, and critically appreciate media. The range of exercises are
intended to help students explore how media presentations, reports, and
products are made; examine their meanings and purposes; and produce
media texts of their own. Violence is addressed through four different
media contexts—fantasy, real life, news, and sports. Each theme
includes detailed, easy-to-follow lesson plans for kindergarten
children, students in Grades 1 to 3, and those in Grades 4 to 8.
Ready-to-copy charts, checklists, and other organizers provide all of
the components necessary to teach the concepts of media violence.