Understanding Media Messages

Critical Thinking Unit - Lesson 1 of 22 | Year 9-10 | Social Studies

🌿 Whakataukī (Māori Proverb)

"He kai kei aku ringa" - There is food at the end of my hands

Meaning: With your own hands, you can achieve anything

Today we'll use our minds to critically examine the media we consume daily.

🎯 Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:

Identify different types of media messages and their purposes
Understand how media can influence our thinking and decisions
Apply basic critical thinking tools to analyze media content
Recognize te ao Māori perspectives in media representation

📋 NZ Curriculum Alignment

Social Studies Level 5: Understand how people's perspectives are influenced by media messages (Achievement Objective 5.4)

Key Competencies: Thinking, Using language symbols and texts, Relating to others

Te Marautanga o Aotearoa: Te whakamahi i te reo Māori hei kōrero, hei whakaaro, hei tuhinga

🔍 Engage: Media Around Us

Let's start by exploring different media examples. Click each button to see how different media types present information:

📖 Explore: Types of Media Messages

Media messages come in many forms, each with different purposes:

📰 Inform

News reports, documentaries, educational content

🎯 Persuade

Advertisements, opinion pieces, political campaigns

🎪 Entertain

TV shows, movies, memes, games

🎓 Educate

Tutorials, how-to guides, educational videos

🤝 Activity: Media Sort

Working in pairs, collect 5 different media examples from around the classroom or online. Sort them into the categories above and prepare to explain your choices to the class.

Time: 15 minutes

🌺 Te Ao Māori Perspective

In Māori culture, storytelling (pūrākau) has always been central to sharing knowledge and values. Today's media continues this tradition, but we must ask critical questions:

🗣️ How are Māori stories and perspectives represented?
👥 Who gets to tell these stories?
🔍 What perspectives might be missing?
💭 How does this representation affect our understanding?

🧠 Explain: Critical Questions Framework

When analyzing any media message, always ask these five critical questions:

WHO? Who created this message and why?
WHAT? What techniques are used to attract attention?
HOW? How might different people understand this differently?
VALUES? What values or points of view are represented?
MISSING? What information might be missing?

🔬 Practice Together

Let's analyze a media example as a class using our critical questions framework.

Teacher: Display chosen media example here

📝 Apply: Independent Assessment Task

Individual Analysis Task (20 minutes)

Choose one media example from the selection provided and complete a detailed analysis. Your response should include:

✅ Identification of media type and primary purpose
🔍 Analysis of techniques used to convey the message
🌐 Consideration of cultural representation (especially Māori perspectives)
💭 Your personal response and critical evaluation

Success Criteria: Uses critical questions framework, shows understanding of media influence, demonstrates cultural awareness