Massachusetts English Language Arts

Composition:

The printed book, the Internet, computer software, television, film, video, and radio are media of mass communication. While the written text rightly remains the central focus of the English language arts classroom, the study of works in other media affords teachers opportunities to teach about the distinctive characteristics of each medium and the dynamics of adaptation from one medium to another. The experience of producing short films, radio or television programs, multimedia presentations, or websites affords students opportunities to practice compositional skills of planning, research, drafting, editing, and revising in a new context. Because the Media Strand builds upon the previous standards in this framework, it has only two standards, media analysis and media production.

Like a printed text, a work produced in an electronic medium can be analyzed in terms of the connections among its purpose, audience, and form. In studying a printed text, teachers show students how an author chooses words for particular rhetorical and aesthetic purposes. In studying a film, television or radio program, CD ROM, or website, students become aware that a skilled director or designer also thinks about her message and makes choices to heighten suspense, draw the listener’s or viewer’s attention to a particular point, or suggest underlying themes. Unlike printed books, electronic media use sound and moving images; therefore, teaching students to pay attention to these dimensions, as well as to words, is crucial.

When students create media presentations, they become aware that planning, defining central ideas or themes, composing text, images, and sound, and editing and revising successive versions of their work are often more demanding in media production than in individual writing. Professional media production is almost always a collaborative effort, and the same should be true in the classroom. A team of students might work as a group to establish the central idea and initial outline or storyboard of a project, then work individually, depending on the content and complexity of the project, as researchers, scriptwriters, interviewers, actors, designers, camera operators, or technicians. In the final phase of the project, students reconvene as a team to compose, evaluate, edit, and revise their material to create a coherent whole.