Week 1 — What IS Media?
The Anatomy of a Message — Part 1
This week is about noticing. Students discover that media is everywhere — books, signs, websites, packaging, shows, songs — and that none of it appeared by accident. Someone made every piece of it. That single idea ("someone made this on purpose") is the foundation for the entire course.
Key Vocabulary
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Media | Anything created by someone to share a message, a feeling, or information with other people |
| Audience | The people a piece of media is made for |
| Creator | The person or team that designs, writes, films, or produces a piece of media |
| Constructed | Built on purpose — someone chose every word, image, color, and sound |
Media is anything that someone made to send a message — like a cereal box, a YouTube video, a poster, or a song. Even a T-shirt with words on it is media! This week, we're going to look around and notice all the media that's already around us.
Connection
This is the beginning of the journey. This week introduces the single most important idea in the entire course: all media is created by someone, on purpose. Students don't need any background knowledge — just curiosity and willingness to look at everyday things with fresh eyes. Next week builds on this by asking why creators make media — what their purpose is.
Teacher Preparation
Gather a variety of media examples to show the student. Good options include:
- A cereal box or snack package
- A page from a picture book
- A short clip from a kids' TV show (30 seconds is enough)
- A screenshot of a website or app home screen
- A video thumbnail or game notification screen
- A billboard photo or magazine ad
- A meme or screenshot someone might share in a group chat
- A song lyric printout
The more variety you have, the easier it will be for the student to see that "media" is much bigger than just "screens."
If this is the very first session, take 5 minutes to complete the "Before" section of the Self-Assessment together. It only takes a few minutes and gives you a powerful comparison point at the end of the course.
Grab any 3-4 objects from around your house: a cereal box, a book, a piece of mail, a T-shirt with a logo. That's all you need — the whole point is that media is already everywhere.
This is an exploration week. There are no wrong answers. The goal is to get the student noticing and naming media they already encounter every day. Resist the urge to lecture — ask questions and let them discover.
Guided Session 1
What Counts as Media?
Learning Goal
Students can identify at least five different types of media and explain that "media" means any message created by someone for an audience.
Activities
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The Big Question — Ask: "What do you think the word media means?" Let the student share freely. Write down their ideas without correcting anything yet.
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The Media Walk — Walk around the room (or house) together. Point to objects and ask: "Is this media?" Try a cereal box, a poster, a book, a clock, a plain rock, a T-shirt with words on it, a video thumbnail on a screen, a game notification. Each time, discuss: Does this carry a message? Did someone design it?
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Sorting Game — Lay out the examples you gathered. Have the student sort them into two piles: "This is media" and "This is NOT media." Talk through any tricky ones together. (A plain cup? Probably not media. A cup with a brand logo? That's media.)
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Build a Definition — Together, write a simple working definition. Example: Media is anything created by someone to share a message, a feeling, or information with other people.
Reflection Questions
- What surprised you about what counts as media?
- Can you think of a place where there is NO media at all?
- Why do you think people create media?
Guided Session 2
Who Made This?
Learning Goal
Students understand that every piece of media was created by a real person (or team) who made deliberate choices about what to include and what to leave out.
Activities
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The Invisible Creator — Pick one example from Session 1 (a cereal box works well). Ask: "Who made this?" Not just the company name — think about the people. Someone chose the colors. Someone wrote the words. Someone decided what picture to put on the front. Someone decided what NOT to put on the front.
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Two Boxes, One Cereal — Show the student two different packages for similar products (or draw/describe two imaginary ones). One might be bright and fun with a cartoon character; the other might be plain and earthy with words like "natural" and "whole grain." Ask: "These are both selling cereal. Why do they look so different?" Guide the conversation toward the idea that different choices create different feelings.
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The Creator Questions — Introduce three questions the student can ask about any piece of media. These are the first three questions of The Media Checkpoint — a routine they'll build on throughout the entire course:
- What am I looking at? (What type of media is this?)
- Who made this, and why?
- What choices did they make?
Practice using these three questions on 2–3 of the media examples from Session 1. See the Media Checkpoint page for the full seven-question routine.
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Anchor Concept — Introduce the first core idea: All media is constructed. Explain: "Constructed" means built on purpose. Just like a building doesn't appear by accident, a video or a poster or a website doesn't either. Someone designed it.
Reflection Questions
- If you were designing a cereal box, what choices would you make to get kids to want it?
- What would you change to make adults want it instead?
- Can you think of something you watch or read where you never thought about who made it before?
Independent Session
Media Scavenger Hunt
Instruction
Go on a Media Scavenger Hunt around your home (or school, or neighborhood). Your mission: find 10 different pieces of media. For each one, write down or draw:
- What it is (book, sign, label, poster, screen, etc.)
- Who you think made it
- One choice the creator made (color, picture, words, size, etc.)
Try to find media in places you wouldn't normally think to look — the bathroom, the kitchen, inside a closet, on your clothes.
Skills Reinforced
- Identifying media in everyday life
- Recognizing that all media has a creator
- Noticing deliberate design choices
Setup
Provide the student with a notebook, a sheet of paper, or a simple printout with three columns: "What is it?", "Who made it?", and "One choice they made." A clipboard makes it easy to carry around. Set a timer for 20 minutes and let them explore independently.
Quick Check
After this week's sessions, the student should be able to:
- Name it: Point to three things in the room and say whether each one is media or not — and explain why.
- Explain it: In their own words, what does "all media is constructed" mean?
- Apply it: Pick up any piece of media (a book, a box, a poster) and name one choice the creator made.
If the student struggles, don't re-teach. Instead, pick up a cereal box or a book and walk through the three Creator Questions together one more time. Understanding builds through conversation, not repetition.
Caregiver Look-Fors
Signs that learning is happening this week:
- The student starts noticing media in unexpected places (on clothing, in the kitchen, on signs)
- They use the word "media" correctly in conversation
- They ask "Who made this?" about something without being prompted
- During the scavenger hunt, they can articulate at least one choice a creator made
- They understand that media includes more than just screens
🎯 Takeaway
Big idea: Media is everywhere, and someone made every piece of it on purpose.
Remember: Whenever you see something — a sign, a video, a package — ask yourself: "Who made this?"
Younger Learner Adaptation (Ages 6–8)
- Reduce scope: Find 5 pieces of media instead of 10, and use drawing instead of writing.
- Use the word "message": Instead of "media," start with "messages people make." Introduce "media" as the grown-up word after they grasp the concept.
- Focus on Session 1: The Media Walk and Sorting Game are the most accessible activities. Session 2's "Invisible Creator" can be done as a guided conversation rather than an independent exercise
- Provide sentence stems: "This is media because ___." "I think someone made this to ___."
Older Learner Extension (Ages 11–13)
- Go deeper on construction: Ask the student to analyze a short-form video thumbnail, a game's item shop screen, a recommended video page, or an app notification screen. What choices are visible? What choices are hidden?
- Introduce the term "designed artifact": Everything they encounter digitally was designed by someone — including the layout of their phone screen, the order of their video feed, and the notification that pulled them back into an app.
- Research challenge: Find three pieces of media for the same product or topic and compare the different choices each creator made.
Accessibility Options
Not every student learns best through writing. Here are alternative ways to participate this week:
- Verbal response: The student narrates their scavenger hunt findings aloud instead of writing. A caregiver can jot notes if desired.
- Drawing: Sketch each piece of media found and circle the creator's key choice.
- Sorting activity: Instead of writing, use physical objects or printed images and sort them into "media" / "not media" piles.
- Partner talk: Discuss each scavenger hunt find with the caregiver as they go, rather than recording independently.
- Photo hunt: Use a camera or tablet to photograph media examples, then review and discuss them together.