OhioPerformanceAssessmentPilotProjectEnglishLanguageArts201011Pilot

ConstructingtheSelf:TeacherGuide
Version:9/1/10

ConstructingtheSelf
TaskSummary
Inthistaskstudents:

Read,analyze,andwriteaboutaselectionfromSusanBordosUnbearableWeightin
whichshemakestheargumentthattextsteachushowtoseeandthinkabout
ourselvesandothers.
Analyzeapopulartexttoexploretheideathattextsshapeourviewsabouthow
youngpeopleshouldthink,look,orbehave.Duringthisanalysis,studentsconsider
themethodsbywhichatextcanshapeanaudiencesideasorbeliefs.
Conveytheirownperspectiveaboutthemessagetextssendtoyoungpeopleabout
howtheyshouldthink,look,andbehavethrougheitheranessayormixedmedia
presentation.

ThistaskassessesstudentsabilitytomeetthefollowingCollegeandCareerReadiness
anchorstandardsforEnglishLanguageArtsandLiteracy(CommonCoreStateStandards):
Reading
Readcloselytodeterminewhatthetextsaysexplicitlyandtomakelogicalinferences
fromit;citespecifictextualevidencewhenwritingorspeakingtosupport
conclusionsdrawnfromthetext.
Determinecentralideasandthemes
Interpretwordsandphrasesastheyareusedinatext
Analyzethestructureoftexts
Assesshowpointofvieworpurposeshapesthecontentandstyleofatext
Delineateandevaluatetheargumentandspecificclaimsinatext
Writing
Writeargumentstosupportclaimsinananalysisofsubstantivetopicsortexts,using
validreasoningandrelevantandsufficientevidence.
Produceclearandcoherentwritinginwhichthedevelopment,organization,andstyle
areappropriatetotask,purpose,andaudience.
Conductshortresearchprojectsbasedonfocusedquestionsinwhichtheygather
relevantinformationfrommultiplesources,integratetheinformation,anddraw
conclusions.
Gatherrelevantinformationfromprintanddigitalsources,assessthecredibilityof
eachsource,andintegratetheinformation.

2010StanfordCenterforAssessment,Learning,andEquityandtheOhioDepartment
ofEducation

OhioPerformanceAssessmentPilotProjectEnglishLanguageArts201011Pilot
ConstructingtheSelf:TeacherGuide
Version:9/1/10

Drawevidencefrominformationaltextstosupportanalysis,reflection,andresearch.
Inaddition,throughclassdiscussionsstudentswillhavetheopportunitytodeveloptheset
ofspeakingandlisteningskillsthatsupporttheirreadingandwritingperformances
Preparefor,andparticipateeffectivelyin,arangeofconversationandcollaborations
withdiversepartners

CoreTexts:

ExcerptfromSusanBordosUnbearableWeight
Aselectionofvisualimageswithdifferentperspectivesonacommontopic(e.g.,an
antismokingpublicserviceannouncementandanadforcigarettes;oraLiveUnited
posterofayoungpersonandanadthatsuggeststhewildersideofadolescence.)
Popularculturetextsselectedbystudentswiththehelpandapprovaloftheteacher

2010StanfordCenterforAssessment,Learning,andEquityandtheOhioDepartment
ofEducation

OhioPerformanceAssessmentPilotProjectEnglishLanguageArts201011Pilot
ConstructingtheSelf:TeacherGuide
Version:9/1/10

IntroductiontoConstructingtheSelf
In2006,theAmericanAcademyofPediatricspublishedapolicystatement
titledChildren,Adolescents,andAdvertising.Thisdocumentwasaclear
statementonthenegativeeffectsofadvertisingonchildrenandyoungadults.
Theypointedoutthattheaverageyoungpersonviewsmorethan3000ads
perdayontelevision,ontheInternet,onbillboards,andinmagazinesand
suggestedthatadvertisersincreasinglytargetyoungerandyoungeraudiences
inanefforttoestablishbrandnamepreferenceatasearlyanageas
possible.Thereportarguedthatadvertising,includingadvertisinginschools,
contributessignificantlytochildhoodandadolescentobesity,aswellaspoor
nutritionandcigaretteandalcoholabuse.Theycalledformediaeducation
whattheytermmedialiteracyasanimportantwaytocurbtheeffectsof
advertising,pointingoutthatmediaeducationseemstobeprotectivein
mitigatingtheharmfuleffectsofmedia,includingtheeffectsofcigarette,
alcohol,andfoodadvertising.
Butadvertisementsareonlyoneofmanykindsofmediathatshouldbe
carefullyexamined.Othertexts,includingmusic,film,television,and
magazinesalsotargetyoungpeopleandinfluencethewaystheythink,look,
andspend.Together,allofthesetextscomprisewhatculturalcriticssuchas
SusanBordodescribeasculturalimagery.

2010StanfordCenterforAssessment,Learning,andEquityandtheOhioDepartment
ofEducation

OhioPerformanceAssessmentPilotProjectEnglishLanguageArts201011Pilot
ConstructingtheSelf:TeacherGuide
Version:9/1/10

SequencewithTaskSummaries
Therequiredtasksarenumberedbelow.Instructionalsupportsforstudentperformance
appearinshadedboxes.Thesuggestedinstructionalstepsinshadedboxesareoptionalfor
theteacher,andmaybeadaptedfortheparticularneedsofaclass.Whiletheyincrease
theoveralllengthofthetask,theycanhelpawiderrangeofstudentstodemonstratetheir
masteryoftheliteracyskillsinvolved.

Study
advertisements
toestablisha
contextforthe
tasks

Introducestudentstotheconceptofculturalimagery:texts,including
visualimages,thatcommunicatebasicvaluesorconceptsthatthe
authorsorcreatorswantanaudiencetoabsorbandbelieve.

Tohelpstudentsgraspthisconcept,havestudentslocateadswhere
theyseeyoungpeopletheiragebeingportrayed.Theyshouldlookfor
adsthatrepresentthembothpositivelyandnegatively.Placestudents
inpairsortriosandgivethemtimetosharetheiradswithoneanother.
Next,askthemtoselecttwoadsonethatrepresentsyoungpeople
positivelyandanotherthatportraysthemnegativelyandgivethem5
7minutestostudytheadsandtodiscussandmakenotesinresponseto
thefollowingquestions:
1) Describewhatyouseeintheads(theexplicitmessage).
2) Whatdoyouthinktheadistryingtocommunicatetoyoung
audiences?(theimplicitmessage)
3) Howdothetextandtheimage(s)communicatethese
messages?Whatchoicesdidtheadvertisersmakeinordertoget
theirmessagesacross?
Afterwards,reconvenetheclassandconductawholegroupdiscussion
abouttheadsandtheiranswerstothequestions.Recordthestudents
ideasonwallchartsforlateruse.

2010StanfordCenterforAssessment,Learning,andEquityandtheOhioDepartment
ofEducation

OhioPerformanceAssessmentPilotProjectEnglishLanguageArts201011Pilot
ConstructingtheSelf:TeacherGuide
Version:9/1/10

1.Text
Comprehension:
Understanding
argumentsin
visualand
writtentexts

Submitfor
OPAPP

Createatext
pool

2.Textual
Analysis

NOTE:These
notesarenot
submittedfor
OPAPP

AskstudentstoreadtheexcerptfromSusanBordosUnbearable
Weight.Attheendoftheselection,Bordomakestheclaimthat
culturalimageryisteachingushowtosee.Afterthereading,ask
studentstowritea400500wordresponseinwhichtheydothe
followingthings:
1) RestateBordosclaimsintheirownwords
2) Explaintheevidencesheusestomakethisclaim
3) Reflectonwhattheythinkofherclaim

SusanBordoisoneofmanypeoplewhoarguethattextsincludingad
campaigns,movies,stories,andmusicallyricsshapehowpeoplethink
theyshouldthink,look,andbehave.Forexample,Bordowritesin
UnbearableWeightabouthowimagesinfluencethewaypeoplesee
andfeelabouttheirownandotherpeoplesbodies.

Brainstormwiththeclassalistofspecificpopulartexts(e.g.,current
songs,televisionseries,ads,etc.)thatsendmessagesabouthowyoung
peopleshouldthink,look,orbehave.Workwiththeclassto:1)sortthe
listintocategoriesbytopicsand2)annotateeachiteminthelistwith
detailsaboutthemessagesitsends.

Helpstudentstoselectapopulartexttheyknowwell(e.g.,film,album,
novel,etc.)thatsendspowerfulmessagesabouthowyoungpeople
shouldthink,look,orbehave.Explainthattheywillbewritingaboutit
sothattheyshouldselectatextthatthey:
Knowwellandhavethoughtabout
Haveseenotherpeoplereacttoordiscuss
Thinkisworthinvestigating
Theselectionofanappropriatepopulartextiscrucialforcompleting
thistaskwell.Provideadviceandmakesureyouapproveofthetext
priortostudentsfinalselectionofthistext.

Askstudentstomakenotesontheirselectedpopulartextthatanswers
thefollowingquestions(besuretocitelinesandexamplesfromthe
texttoillustrateyouranswers):

2010StanfordCenterforAssessment,Learning,andEquityandtheOhioDepartment
ofEducation

OhioPerformanceAssessmentPilotProjectEnglishLanguageArts201011Pilot
ConstructingtheSelf:TeacherGuide
Version:9/1/10

Exploring
multimedia
presentation
options

1. Text:Whatisthetext?
2. Topic:Whatisthetopicthatthetextisteachingreaders/viewers
about?(Focusononetopiconly.)
3. Culturalimagery:
a. Describewhatyouread/seeinthetext(theexplicitmessage).
b. Whatmessageisthetexttryingtocommunicatetoyoung
audiences?(theimplicitmessage)
c. Howdoesthetextcommunicatethesemessages?Whatchoices
orstrategieswereusedtoconveythesemessages?

Workwithstudentstoexploreoptionsformultimediapresentationsof
theiranalysiswork.Modelsforthisworkmightincludethefollowing:
APowerpointpresentationthatjuxtaposestextwithimages.A
morecomplexvariationonthisisaslideswithnarrationoption
liketheOnein8MillionseriesintheNewYorkTimes.Thesecan
beviewedat:http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/nyregion/1
in8million/index.html.Seeinparticular:
JosephCotton:TheGrandfather
TikaChapagai:TheNewcomer
BusterEnglish:TheGreenThumb
Asetofimages,includingphotographsstudentstakeof
environmentalprintintheirownneighborhoods,thatenrichthe
writtenportionoftheportrait(e.g.,theslides,acollageofphotosto
illustratetheessay,etc.).SeesectionsofAnalyzingPrintAdsat
http://teachingmedialiteracy.pbworks.com/AnalyzingPrintAdsfor
anexampleofthiskindoftext.

Remindstudentsthattheyarelookingforexamplesoftextsthatthey
canuseasmodelsfortheirownmultimediapresentation.Duringthese
investigations,encouragestudentstopaycarefulattentionto
Theinterplayorrelationshipbetweenimagesandtext
Howotherelementsshapetheexperienceofamultimediatext,
including:
Aspeakersvolumeintonation
theuseofbackgroundnoiseandsoundeffects
thechoiceofimages
numberandpacingofimages

2010StanfordCenterforAssessment,Learning,andEquityandtheOhioDepartment
ofEducation

OhioPerformanceAssessmentPilotProjectEnglishLanguageArts201011Pilot
ConstructingtheSelf:TeacherGuide
Version:9/1/10

3.Presentingthe
textualanalysis

Submitfor
OPAPP

IfChoiceBis
selected,
studentsmust
submitan
electronicfileof
theworkonaCD
orDVD.*

Tocompletetheirtextualanalysis,eachstudentshouldselectONEof
thefollowingchoicesbelowasawaytocommunicatetheiranalysisof
thepopulartextinPart2above.

CHOICEA:Writea400500wordessayinwhichtheycommunicate
theirownperspectiveaboutthemessagetextssendtoyoung
peopleabouthowtheyshouldthink,look,andbehave,usingthe
populartextselectedinPart2asaspecificcasestudy.

OR

CHOICEB:Craftacompellingmixedmediatext(e.g.,amultimedia
slidepresentationaccompaniedbynarrationoraudio)inwhichthey
communicatetheirownperspectiveaboutthemessagetextssend
toyoungpeopleabouthowtheyshouldthink,look,andbehave,
usingthepopulartextselectedinPart2asaspecificcasestudy.

o Incorporateasetofimagesthatenrichorcomplementthe
written/oraltextportionofthepresentation

WhetherstudentsselectChoiceAorB,theyshouldallinclude:
Areflectivecommentary(e.g.,asaportionoftheessayORaclosing
statementinthemixedmediapresentation)thatrelatesthe
studentsfinaltexttoothersimilarwork.Thiscommentarymight
includedescriptionsofthechallengesastudentfacedincompleting
theassignment,commentsaboutthestudentsexperienceworking
withtheessayormixedmediaformatforcommunicatingtheir
textualanalysis,andanylessonsforfutureassignments.

*IfthepresentationinChoiceBincludesanoralpresentationbythestudent,the
presentationMUSTBEVIDEOTAPEDandincludedonaDVD.Anyaudioorvideofiles
submittedtoOPAPPmustbeplayableusingQuicktime(iTunes)orWindowsMediaPlayer
software.

2010StanfordCenterforAssessment,Learning,andEquityandtheOhioDepartment
ofEducation