Lesson Plan: Creating a Music Video – Understanding how to create Positive Media

(paper at end)
Date:
Subject: English Grade: 7/8
Topic: Creating Understandings of the Impact of the Portrayal of Mental Health in Media

Materials:
-informational handouts/fill in the blanks
-cameras/laptops
-props if needed

Safety Considerations:
For the activities, today we will need to consider personal safety and privacy, we will need to
discuss what it means to be respectful learners and create a safe space for sharing.

Management Strategies
Throughout the beginning of this class I will be instructing students as to what expectations for
their final projects will be – students will take note of final expectations as well they will take
this time to ask any questions that they may have. After the introduction, students can get into
groups of 3-5 and begin to brainstorm on the provided web/strategy sheet provided. Students
will be expected to keep a daily journal/worksheet outlining their groups daily progress
throughout the entirety of this project.. This lesson is expected to need 4-10 class periods
depending on the dialogue that is brought up during group discussions as well as the students
ability to appropriately utilize the class time allotted.

Stage 1- Desired Results – you may use student friendly language

What do they need to understand, know, and/or able to do?

 Psychomotor: Students will be expected to clearly portray an idea and understanding of their
selected song through the acting and creating of a final video concept to their class with the
song of their choice.

 Affective: Will discuss understandings of mental health, students will physically find a song
that relates positively to mental health and seeks to debunk the harmful
assumptions/stereotypes assumptions of mental health. Finally if they are able to find a
specific positive message as it pertains to a dimension of wellness. Students will discuss how
mental health can impact the emotional, social, and spiritual domains of wellness

 Cognitive: Will discuss the intellectual domain of mental health and seek to create an action
plan in which they can seek strategies to raise awareness and create an actions plan.
Stage 2- Assessment

Assessment FOR Learning (formative) Assess the students during the learning to help determine
next steps.
Throughout the lesson progression students will be given the opportunity to ask other groups for
constructive feedback, as well I will be walking around during film days to give feedback and direct
students concepts to further improve the student’s video ideas and concepts. Furthermore student
will be expected to fill out a daily journal as to what they completed for the day. Finally students will
be filling out a table on presentation day outlining their favorite part of each groups videos as well as
outline what they perceived the video to be talking about/raising awareness for.

Assessment OF Learning (summative) Assess the students after learning to evaluate what they have
learned.
At the end of the unit there I will provide each group with a list of feedback from their peers and they
can complete a feedback sheet in which they will outline what they would change about the filming
process and their final project. They will have the opportunity to apply these strategies later in the
year when we create videos again, for our history unit in social studies. Furthermore, all students
will be responding to the same prompt that asks how they feel they worked with their peers, if some
strategies of collaboration worked as well as which strategies did not. Here students will outline how
they can better contribute in a group setting in the future.
Stage 3- Learning Plan

Activity Sequence
Time

Intro to Expectations 5
Group creation/ discussion of concept 5
Song research/selection 15
Filling out the Music Video proposal (see attached) 10
Closure/reiteration of expectations 15

Motivational/Anticipatory Set
To begin this unit, I will be introducing impacts of media on stereotypes and understandings
surrounding mental health. Students will be given much freedom to roam the school during filming
but they will have to first confirm their location as well as write their names on the board and also
confirm with the teacher of the day. Students will be given a suggested list of songs that they will
have the choice to use or not in class over the next few weeks working through a better
understanding of personal, and community wellness.

Main Procedures/Strategies:

Skill or Concept Learning Teaching and Observation Points

Activities
Teacher Have students brainstorm their understandings of
Personal connections with experience mental health, discuss why they may have these
mental health with mental understandings/beliefs
health - make
activity
connections
Group/class Students will be expected to create a music video
Introduce the inquiry discussion from a song of their choice relating to mental health
project with efforts to raise awareness and debunk harmful
stereotypes
-students will be given an outline/proposal for the
video.
questions Prompt students to voice any questions/concerns
Discuss how the class they may have to clarify expectations, as well upload
went/if there are any the video rubric so that student expectations are
questions following the clear(see attached)
introduction of this new
project
Apply project Hand out cameras and allow students to start their
Filming plan to filming projects – would recommend that students are
aspects of saving their video clips to our shared school drive
 music video throughout the project so that none of their work is
(time lost, also might be smart to edit video clips along the
permitting) way to make work easier for later.

Adaptations/Differentiation:
Students will have the opportunity to work in groups, and those with exceptional understandings of
the concepts will have the opportunity to share with their classmates why they believe so as well as
apply different knowledges based on community understandings of mental health. Those having a
harder time grasping concepts and creating ideas relevant to our project will have the opportunity to
work with myself or an EA with differentiated instruction as it will be easier to work towards a more
succinct understanding in small groups.

Closing /Summary of lesson:

To close this lesson, we will review the expectations of this inquiry project and have students hand in
their groups proposal for approval before filming.
 Music Video Proposal

Names:

Proposed Song/Connection to Mental Health:

Connecting lyrics to Scenes:

Daily Filming Schedule/Tasks:

Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

 Name:

Presentation Day

Group Name: Group Name: Group Name: Group Name: Group Name:

Favorite Part of Favorite Part of Favorite Part of Favorite Part of Favorite Part of
Video: Video: Video: Video: Video:

Message of Video: Message of Video: Message of Video: Message of Video: Message of Video:
 I chose to do a music video assignment for my tech based

assignment as I experienced a project like this that worked very well

during my placement this semester. Throughout this lesson students were

given the opportunity to seek out songs they enjoyed and create a video to

convey a positive message. At the end of the project we had a Grammy’s

day were students dressed up and presented their projects, this was a very

fun way to incorporate curricular outcomes in the classroom and was

received very well by all of the students. I believe this lesson plan will

effective with this age group as well because they are in a time in their

lives where media heavily impacts their views of the world and

understandings of their own and the people around their lives. Furthermore

in an age of technology the skill to build and create videos is imperative

and student’s will generally be excited to engage and do so as well.

Furthermore, to have and create more of a community and have students

be vulnerable in front of one another is a great way to bond students and

create a more creative environment where students feel comfortable to let

loose and show their individual personalities. This assignment will also

create valuable life skills for students to seek out and interpret meanings in

media through the symbolism in/throughout songs and advocate for

positive representations of mental health and identity. This inquiry project

will also allow lots of freedom for students to take these concepts and run

with them or to complete them to the best of their abilities, thus

advocating for all different types of learners and allow different group

members to showcase their strengths either in acting, recording, or editing

the footage that they are able to create. I have chosen to include a journal

section for this assignment in efforts to keep students motivated and held

accountable for their day to day progress. As well I belive the journal will

help the group make day to day goals and seek to hit those goals before

they are done for the day. I also considered getting students to fill out.

Highlight reel in which they would have to outline each larger scene, in the

use of drawn diagrams and short written blurbs but decided against it as I

feel if given a bit more freedom of being able to change the story line

students will be able to come up with a more clear message for the end of

their videos. In the end this assignment will expect students to create a

video that will communicate a concise message that will seek to advocate

for an accurate depiction of mental health in/through media.