Description
Book SynopsisIn a world of media saturation, children today are not future consumers of information and goods, but targeted participants involved in a game in which they don't know the rules or even that they are playing, yet one that will affect them throughout their lives. This book is a teaching manual that helps teachers not only explain the concepts of consumer economics and media literacy to middle schoolers but supplies lessons for students to get hands-on experience recognizing, deconstructing, evaluating, and choosing for themselves whether to accept the tangible product or intangible message offered. Teachers can use the lessons to help students build a toolbox of analytical skills that they can carry with them and develop further throughout the rest of their lives to distinguish information from persuasion, from what people tell them they should believe to what the students, through critical thinking, decide is worthy of their belief.
Trade ReviewIt’s about time that topics such as economics and media literacy find a place in the middle school curriculum. This engaging, witty, and informative book is truly a gift to teachers; each chapter is accompanied by sample lessons, discussion topics, and class activities. The contemporary references will delight students, and parents and administrators will appreciate the authors’ keen insights into the “tween” years. -- Peter Wingerd, veteran middle and high school teacher, Oakwood School, California
An understanding of economics and media literacy are foundational to understanding how our economy and media intertwine to propel our everyday choices. With this book, Wasserman and Loveland have provided a wonderful service for classroom teachers everywhere to make these important ideas accessible and engaging. Media literacy is the underpinning to understand how democracy and capitalism are represented to us, and how we can represent ourselves effectively within a free market economy. Every student and every adult needs this understanding to be an informed and active citizen. -- Tessa Jolls, President, Center for Media Literacy
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Chapter 1: Marketing & Media: The Twin pillars of American Society Chapter 2: Introduction to Basic Neoclassical Economics (The Objective Study of Choice) Chapter 3: Behavioral Economics (How we are “Nudged” while Making our Choices) Chapter 4: Coolness: The Super Nudge Chapter 5: Seeking Media Lit’s Holy GRAIL (Consumer Demographics) Chapter 6: An Age-old Question (Media Lit and children) Chapter 7: Tween Centrics (media lit, tweens, and young teens) Chapter 8: Media Literacy, Relativity, and Persuasion Chapter 9: Telling the Truth Glossary Bibliography About the Authors
