Reading the Media

Renee Hobbs provides the first empirical evidence of the impact of media literacy on the academic achievement of adolescents. This pioneering book chronicles the practice of high school teachers who prepared their students to critically analyze all aspects of contemporary media culture. To do so, they developed an innovative curriculum that incorporates popular media, television, journalism, film, and new media into the required English curriculum. This book examines the processes they used to design and implement the new curriculum as well as the specific, measurable impact that the program had on students.

Book Features:

• Documents how a media literacy course significantly improved reading comprehension, writing, critical analysis, and other academic skills.
• Offers practical information for teachers attempting to bring media literacy into their classroom, including lesson plans and activities.
• Examines how media literacy education increases motivation and builds citizenship skills with teens.

Renee Hobbs, a national expert in media education, is Associate Professor of Communication at Temple University in Philadelphia.

“Today, no responsible citizen can get by without knowing how to intelligently consume the media. In this book, Renee Hobbs, a pioneer in the field of media literacy, provides a model for the design and assessment of media education curricula in the 21st century.”
Robert Thompson, Syracuse University

“Renee Hobbs, one of America's leading media educators, takes us behind the scenes... At once a vivid narrative of a school undergoing a profound transformation and a compelling argument for the place of media literacy in contemporary schools, this book will create many new converts to the cause.” Henry Jenkins, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, author of Convergence Culture