Katie Glackin

ED398 Critical Literacy Invitation

Spring 2015
Butler University
Invitation Overview and Rationale: Social Media

Document 1: The Critical Literacy Invitation and Overview

Theme: Social media and its effects on education, business, and privacy.
Essential Question: Students these days are all about whos doing what with who and how
many selfies it is acceptable to take in one week, but they rarely stop and think what kind of
effect their obsession with social media has on different aspects of their lives. The goal of this
unit is for students to stop and take a critical look at social media and the positive and negative
connotations that go with it. Through this unit, students will answer the following essential
questions:
1) Based on the data you have found, how significant is the impact social media has had
on our society?
2) What impact will social media have on the future?
3) How has social media impacted you personally?
4 Critical Literacy Theoretical Framework Quadrants:
Disrupt the Commonplace: Sixth grade students will most likely have social media, know
someone who has social media, or have been exposed to social media. Being millennials, they
will have grown up knowing technology and accepting its existence as part of life. By looking at
the good and bad sides of social medias effect on different parts of society will cause them to
question how society has changed in the past few years. It is unlikely that they will have noticed
the technological changes in society in their lifetime, so it is important to bring their attention to
those changes so they will better understand how society has evolved.
Consider Multiple View Points: On each of the invitations, I have listed
http://socialnetworking.procon.org/ as a possible source for the students to utilize. The website is
a Pro Con site, so it gives factual evidence both supporting and condemning social networking. It
also has popular opinion statement about social networking and background information about
social networking. The students are to use this site to find statistics to convert into percentages,
fractions, or decimals. They are allowed to use any of the statistics on this site, which means they
could use pro, con, or a mixture of both depending on the opinion they are forming about social
media.
Focus on Sociopolitical Issues: The eruption of social media has caused a lot of controversy in
multiple aspects of society. The invitations each look at how social media has affected a single
but major part of society: business, education, or privacy. Social media has revolutionized news
and how people get information, make connections, socialize, and spend their time. Students will
have the chance to look at the issues surrounding major changes that have happened as a result of
social media in all three of my invitations.
Take Action: In each of my invitations, I have invited students to ask themselves and others how
the data they are collecting makes them feel about social media and what they can do now that
they have this information. The students can consider these questions on their own and are then

asked to display the data in a format of their choice (poster, Facebook page, powerpoint, etc.).
Based on the opinion they have formed, they can display their data to reflect their opinion. By
creating a visual, they are invited to share their opinions with class and even with the rest of the
school. As a culminating activity, I plan on having each group present their visual to the rest of
the class, so students have the opportunity to take action and reflect on the other aspects of social
media that were discussed in the other invitations. In this way, students will get a full look at
social media and its many impacts on society.
Gateway Invitation and Three Instructional Invitations:
Gateway Invitation: Since I am teaching this unit to sixth graders, some of them may not have
had a lot of exposure to social media, whereas some of them may have had quite a lot of
exposure. The goal of my gateway invitation is to level the playing field so that all students have
knowledge of social media and to get students to start thinking critically about social media. I
will begin the gateway by showing two short YouTube videos about social media. The videos are
meant to get the students to start thinking about the impact of social media. The videos also both
have a lot of statistics and get you to look at social media in a different way from what is normal.
I will then have them discuss what they already know about social media in small groups and
then as a whole group. I will then take a poll of the class about whether or not they have social
media. I will then group students according to the amount of exposure they have had to social
media so that each group has someone who knows enough about social media to teach their
peers. In those small groups they will look at Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter so they have a
better idea of what social media is and does. During this activity I will monitor ENL students to
make sure they understand what we are talking about and are being appropriately included in the
group activities. I will provide extra support to them as needed.
Invitation: Privacy: This invitation introduces students to the accessibility of the information
they post on social media. The introduction to this activity will be two YouTube videos. The first
video focuses on a guy finding information about the people around him, just by looking up their
social media pages. He walks up to strangers and tells them all the information he knows about
them without telling them about how he got the information from social media at first. The
strangers are all very freaked out by the encounter. The second video is similar except it takes
place in Belgium and the people in it are speaking French. This video has English subtitles so it
accessible to both English-speakers and ENL learners who speak French. These videos show a
comedic and serious side to the availability of information and lack of privacy associated with
social media. Students are then asked to discuss how the videos made them feel. They will then
research statistics about privacy and consequences of social media using a website I have
provided. They will be asked to find statistics and then convert the numbers to percentages,
fractions, decimals, or graphs. Finally, they display what they have learned in a format of their
choosing.

Invitation: Business: In this invitation, the students will first watch a YouTube video about
statistics of how social media has affected business. This video throws out a lot of interesting
statistics at a fast pace, so I will ask the students to watch the video at half speed. The students
will then go back and re-watch the video and pull statistics out of their choice to convert into
percentages, decimals, fractions, or graphs. I have also listed another source that they can use to
get statistics from both sides of the argument to convert. They will then display the information
they have found in a format of their choice. Again, I will offer extra support to ENL learners as
needed.
Invitation: Education: Once again, I will have the students begin this invitation by watching
two YouTube videos about the controversy surrounding the use of social media in education.
Both videos are short news segments about real issues that schools are having with social media.
These videos will help students start to understand the issues with social media and education.
Then, they will use the two sources I have provided to research statistics about how social media
has affected education. One of the sources is the Pro Con source, and the other one is an
infographic with tons of statistics related to education and social media. They will convert the
statistics they find to percentages, decimals, or fractions. The culminating activity for this
invitation will again be to display what they have learned in a format of their choosing. Support
will be offered to ENL learners as needed. Some examples of the kinds of support I might give
them would be to help them read individual statistics, help with vocabulary, or help them
understand how to arrange the numbers to convert them.
Rationale:
I chose social media as my topic because I feel that it is a very relevant topic for students in
middle and high school. Most sixth grade students either have social media accounts or know
someone who does. Social media is something that students find interesting and would be
excited to get to use and learn about in the classroom. Though many students have social media,
most of them dont know the dangers and other aspects of it besides socialization. The goal of
this unit is to get students to critically look at what they may be doing online and maybe adjust
their usage or be motivated to tell others about the knowledge they have gained. They will be
able to use statistics to back up their opinion of social media with fact. They will also see how
the math they are learning applies to real-life concepts.
I believe students might choose to do the Privacy invitation because it is easy to see a direct
application in their own life. Any student who has social media is vulnerable to online privacy
issues. This invitation may motivate them to adjust the privacy settings on their accounts and to
be more aware of the dangers of online relationships. They may carry this information as they
move through middle school into high school where social media is even more prevalent. It is
important that they get this information now to prepare them for the years to come. On the other
hand, students may decide they want to share information about themselves openly.

Students may choose to do the Business invitation for a variety of reasons. Students may have
an interest in advertisement and the economy. They may want to find out more about how people
make money from social media. They may want to find out why so many people have social
media accounts. As students are transitioning into middle and high school, they begin to develop
more specific interests. They may even have the opportunity to take business classes in
secondary school. This activity could allow them to explore their interests a little bit, which may
lead them to other decisions in the future. At the very least, students will become more aware of
the business behind social media.
Students may choose to do the Education invitation for a variety of reasons. They may choose
this invitation because they see a direct correlation in their own school lives. They may be
interested to know more the issues around why phones are banned in schools and the flip side of
the argument against them. They may decide they want social media to be used in the classroom
and want to understand why it is or isnt being used. At the end of the invitation, students will
share what they have learned about education and social media with the class, but they may also
choose to share their knowledge with the school administration or higher. This activity could
potentially spark an interest taking up the issue with their own school corporation.
Critical Pedagogy Orientation:
1. Howard, G. R. (2007). As diversity grows, so must we. Educational Leadership, 64(6),
16.
This article discusses five phases that school districts with increasing diversity should go
through to transform themselves and their schools to better serve their students. In phase
four, Howard discusses transforming instructional practices. He lists four essential
elements of culturally responsive teaching, one of them being Shifting instructional
strategies to meet the diverse learning needs of students (Howard, 2007, p. 20). In my
invitations I used a variety of methods to allow students to learn information in different
ways. Each invitation has a visual element (YouTube videos), a reading and researching
element, a creative element (displaying the information), and a presentation element.
Most types of learners can find something they enjoy in each invitation.
2. Zion, S. (2005). Understanding Culture. On Point Series, 1-18.
This article is about understanding culture, as the title indicates. It discusses what defines
a culture and then what defines an individual culture. Zion reaches this conclusion when
discussing individual culture, Thus, our identities are often a combination of the beliefs,
values, and experiences we have been exposed to and shared with others (Zion, 2005, p.
14). What we post online says a lot about who we are as a person. Social media is a
forum where anyone can express anything about themselves regardless of beliefs,
background, values, ethnicity, religion, etc. By exploring social media, students will be
given a chance to explore their own identity. Social media is used all over the world, so
even students from other countries may be able to relate to the invitations in some way.

3. Hernandez-Sheets, R. (2009). What is Diversity Pedagogy? Multicultural Education, 1117.

This article discusses diversity pedagogy. Hernandez-Sheets discusses how as a teacher
you will become aware of the cultural backgrounds of your students, understand the
importance of gaining cultural knowledge about your students, and learn to critically
evaluate the cultural origins of your activities. She also discusses centering students in the
teaching-learning process. Part of that process is among children and teachers
may produce inequity of outcome (Hernandez-Sheets, 2009, p. 16). I recognize this
possibility in my gateway activity. Not all students have access to technology that would
allow them to use social media; not all students even want to use social media. In my
gateway activity, I provide the opportunity for all students to get a base knowledge of
what social media is and how it works.
Standards Addressed:
Math Standards:
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.RP.A.2: Understand the concept of a unit rate a/b associated with a
ratio a:b with b 0, and use rate language in the context of a ratio relationship.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.RP.A.3: Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world and
mathematical problems, e.g., by reasoning about tables of equivalent ratios, tape diagrams,
double number line diagrams, or equations.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.RP.A.3.B: Solve unit rate problems including those involving unit
pricing and constant speed.
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.RP.A.3.C: Find a percent of a quantity as a rate per 100 (e.g., 30% of
a quantity means 30/100 times the quantity); solve problems involving finding the whole, given a
part and the percent.
Literacy in Technical Subjects Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.7: Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in
words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart,
diagram, model, graph, or table).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.9: Compare and contrast the information gained from
experiments, simulations, video, or multimedia sources with that gained from reading a text on
the same topic.
Annotated Bibliography:
1. Social Networking. (2015, March 24). Retrieved April 29, 2015, from
http://socialnetworking.procon.org/

This is a really great website that can be used for all three of my invitations. It has
background information, fast facts, pros and cons with statistics to back each claim, and
videos both supporting and condemning social media. The students can use this website
to find statistics to convert and display in their projects.
2. Bennett, S. (2013, July 22). How Is Social Media Used In Schools? Statistics, Facts &
Figures [INFOGRAPHIC]. Retrieved April 29, 2015, from
http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/schools-social-media-stats/488104
This website has a brief introduction and then infographic describing statistics related to
the use of social media in school. This website has a lot of useful and easy to read data
that students can easily use to convert to other forms. The infographic supports the use of
social media in school.
3. [Buzzz Social Media]. (2011, October 23). The Social Media Revolution 2015 [Video
File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eUeL3n7fDs.
This is the first video I will show the students in the gateway activity. It is a fast paced
video that throws out a lot of interesting statistics about how social media has affected
different parts of society. It is an exciting video that will get students to start thinking
about numbers and social media.
4. Brian, Daniel. (2010, September 22). A Day in the Life of Social Media [Video File].
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iReY3W9ZkLU.
This is the second video I will show to students in the gateway activity. The pace of this
video is slightly slower than the first one. The statistics it gives are all within what is
happening with social media in one day. It gives a different perspective on how social
media is growing.
5. Vale, Jack. [Jack Vale Films]. (2013, November 18). SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERIMENT
[Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5P_0s1TYpJU.
This is the first video the students doing the privacy invitation will watch. It is a comedic
look at how easy it is to find information about strangers from their social media pages.
This video introduces the idea that by posting things on social media, you are giving up
your privacy.
6. Guillaume, Duval. (2012, September 24). Amazing mind reader reveals his 'gift [Video
File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7pYHN9iC9I.
This is the second video the students doing the privacy video will watch. This video is the
same kind of experiment as the first video except it takes place in Belgium. In the video,
the people speak French but there are English subtitles, so the video is accessible to both
French and English speaking students. This video is a little more serious.
7. [Mist Media Group]. (2013, February 19). Social and Digital Media Revolution Statistics
2013 [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Slb5x5fixk4.

This is the video that the students who choose the business invitation will use as an
introduction and to gather data to convert and display. This video has a lot of really
interesting statistics that are related to business, consumerism, and social media.
8. [kxan]. (2011, August 26). Social media in school [Video File]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD1gW0_Ilvc.
This video is the first video the students who choose the education invitation will watch.
It is a news broadcast about how schools are using social media to connect with parents.
It talks about the usefulness of social media in this way but also about how rules need to
be set to keep communications appropriate. This video gives students a chance to see how
social media is already affecting schools.
9. [Violet PR]. (2014, January 15). DNAinfo: Education Dept Rolls Out Rules to Help Kids
Navigate Social Media [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FoJ5IJZs4.
This is the second video students who choose the education invitation will watch. It is a
news broadcast about how the New York Department of Education has issued a code of
conduct to help students understand how to conduct themselves on social media. It talks
about teaching students how what they post online will affect them in the future. This
video lets students see another way education and social media are connected.

Katie Glackin
ED398 Critical Literacy Invitation
Spring 2015
Butler University
Student Version: Social Media

Standards addressed:
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.RP.A.2
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.RP.A.3
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.RP.A.3.B
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.6.RP.A.3.C
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.7
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.9

Disrupt the Commonplace: Most middle school students have or know someone who
has social media. Most of you have grown up with technology in your life. In this unit,
we are going to question how technology, specifically social media, has affected our
lives.

Consider Multiple View Points: In each invitation you will be provided with a source
that has the pros and cons of social media. By reading this website, you will get to see
multiple opinions of social media.

Focus on Sociopolitical Views: Social media has affected a lot of different parts of our
lives, including socialization, business, and politics. You are going to have an
opportunity to look at a specific aspect of social medias effect on society.

Take Action: At the end of each invitation, you will get to display the information you
find. You will share this information with the class. Then, if you want to, you can share
your opinions and what you have learned with other people.

SOCIAL MEDIA: GATEWAY

Some of you may have social media or know people have social
media. Most of you have at least heard of Facebook, Twitter,
Pinterest, or Instagram. This activity is going to give you the

chance to explore and get to know the different kinds of social

media and some of the general effects it has had on our society.
First, we will watch these two videos as a class.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eUeL3n7fDs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iReY3W9ZkLU

Now, in your small group, discuss what you already know about
social media.

I will group you based on how familiar you are with social
media.
Take this opportunity to visit different social media sites and
get to know them a little better.
Some social media sites you can look at are: Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Tumblr.
Make sure you ask questions if you are confused or dont
understand something.

SOCIAL MEDIA: PRIVACY

Social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest are
becoming more and more popular. Many people use these sites as a
way to share things about themselves and what they have been doing
with people they are close to, but they may not realize that what they
are posting can be accessed by strangers and companies too. Watch
the videos below and reflect on how you would feel if this happened to
you.
SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERIMENT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=5P_0s1TYpJU
Amazing mind reader reveals his gift:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7pYHN9iC9I
With your group, discuss how the video made you feel about your own
privacy.

Using the source I have provided below, research data related to social
media privacy. Find ways to represent the data you find as
percentages, fractions, proportions, and graphically. While researching,
think about the following questions:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Can this data be represented another way?

Does this data relate to other data I have found?
How does this data make me feel about social media?
What can I do now that I know this information?

Source: http://socialnetworking.procon.org/
(Specifically look at the Pro/Con Arguments.)

Now choose a way to display what you have found. Some ideas are to
make a poster, make a Facebook page, make a powerpoint, or come up
with your own idea.

SOCIAL MEDIA: BUSINESS

Business has perhaps been affected the most by social media.
Advertisements are being placed everywhere on different social media sites,
which is making those companies earn buckets of money. Watch the video
below (at .5 speed); it will tell you a lot about the business side of social
media.

Social and Digital Media Revolution Statistics 2013:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Slb5x5fixk4

Now, go back and watch the video again. Pick out statistics that interest you
the most. Then convert those statistics into another form (like percentages,
decimals, fractions, or graphs). While you are finding your statistics, think
about the following questions:
1.

Can this data be represented another way?

2.

Does this data relate to other data I have found?

3.

How does this data make me feel about social media?

4.

What can I do now that I know this information?

You may also use this source for additional information:

http://socialnetworking.procon.org/

Now choose a way to display what you have found. Some ideas are to make
a poster, make a Facebook page, make a powerpoint, or come up with your
own idea.

SOCIAL MEDIA:
EDUCATION
As social media has become more popular, it has affected other areas of
society besides social interaction. Social media has had a big impact on
education. Take a look at the videos below. Think about the different uses of
social media in education and the different opinions for and against using
social media in school.

Social media in school: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD1gW0_Ilvc

DNAinfo: Education Dept Rolls Out Rules to Help Kids Navigate Social Media:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0FoJ5IJZs4

With your group, look through the sources I have listed below. Find facts and
statistics about social media and education and rewrite them as
percentages, fractions, decimals, or graphically. While researching, think
about the following questions:
1.

Can this data be represented another way?

2.

Does this data relate to other data I have found?

3.

How does this data make me feel about social media?

4.

What can I do now that I know this information?

Sources:
http://www.adweek.com/socialtimes/schools-social-media-stats/488104
http://socialnetworking.procon.org/
(Specifically look at the Pro/Con Arguments.)

Now choose a way to display what you have found. Some ideas are to make
a poster, make a Facebook page, make a powerpoint, or come up with your
own idea.

Critical
Literacy
Invitations
Overview:
standards
addressed
and
resources
provided.
20 points
Theoretical
underpinnin
gs of critical
invitations
25 points

Properties of
critical
invitations
25 points

Standards
Addressed

4
Exemplary

3
Proficient

2
Bas

INTASC: 2, 3
NCATE/ TESOL:
2a, 2b

Proficient and basic criteria AND

makes at least 3 explicit connections between what you
have learned this semester about creating inclusive
schools for ELL students. These 3 connections are cited
using APA format.

Basic elements AND

explains how the invitation
reflects a critical pedagogy
orientation and why its a
relevant theme for students.

Desc
mult
inclu
May
critic
orien

INTASC: 2, 3, 4
NCATE/ TESOL:
2a, 2b, 3a, 3c, 5a

All 4 quadrants of critical literacy theoretical framework

are visible throughout the invitation:
Opportunities for students to disrupt the
commonplace
Posing questions and exploring higher order
thinking real-life problems in which students
question social, economic, or environmental
issues
Students explore multiple viewpoints related to
the theme of the invitations
Students are encouraged to take action on their
developing understanding and beliefs
(See Van Sluys reading, p. 13-23 for more details about
these theoretical foundations)
The critical literacy invitations address the 7 following
principles of critical literacy invitations:
The invitations provide students with the
opportunity to learn from each others
experiences and perspectives.
Each invitation invites students to make
meaning around one experience.
Multiple languages are represented and valued
in the activities.
The students have opportunities throughout the
invitations to ask questions and explore big
ideas.
Students have the opportunity to show what
they know through multiple modalities.
Invitations have implications in students lives.
Invitations invite further inquiry.
(See Van Sluys reading p. 5-10 for in depth explanation
of these criteria)

Some inconsistency in
addressing all 4 quadrants of
the theoretical framework
throughout the invitations
but all 4 quadrants are
present somewhere in the
invitations.

A lo
in ad
quad
theo
Som
may
all.

Some inconsistency in
addressing all 7 principles
of the theoretical framework
but all 7 principles are
present somewhere in the
invitations.

A lo
in ad
princ
theo
Som
may
all.

Critical
Literacy
Invitations
Researchbased
practice
20 points

Standards
Addressed

4
Exemplary

3
Proficient

2
Bas

INTASC: 2, 3, 4,5
NCATE/ TESOL:
2a, 2b, 5a

Provides an essential question, 1 thematically linked

gateway invitation and 3 choice opportunities. Invitation
overview reflects a thorough understanding of research,
theory, developmental needs, and practical strategies
addressed in Cores 1-3. All invitations are inquirybased. Multiple modalities which allow diverse learners
to engage in the invitation are clearly visible in each
invitation. For each invitation, provides suggestions of
different ways students might interact with each
invitation activity (individually, pairs, small groups, etc.)
and how students might share their learning, products
created, etc. with others. Provides students with a list of
suggested resources and/or materials for each invitation.
All instructional elements are consistently applied to the
invitations.
Exceeds expectations.
References and annotations are included for all
resources and materials-written in correct APA format.
Minimal language convention mistakes or typos present.
Ideas and language flow. Well-organized. Easy to read.
A professional tone is consistent throughout; ageappropriate language is detectable and effectively used
in the student version. Both documents reflect care in
editing, revising and presentation.

Invitation overview reflects

research, theory, and
practical strategies
addressed in Cores 1-3.
Some inconsistency in
applying these
understandings to invitation
overview. Essential
question missing. Provide
some instructional
opportunities that address
multiple modalities.

Invit
refle
theo
strat
Core
lot o
appl
unde
invit
Prov
instr
oppo
addr
mod

References and annotations

included for all resources
and materials with most
properly formatted.
Few language convention
mistakes or awkward
phrases. Good sentence
construction. Wellorganized and
comprehensible.
Inconsistent professional
tone and student-friendly
language.

Refe
Som
conv
and
pres
orga
exist
are s
No v
use s
lang
vers

Writing
quality
10 points

Total Points Possible: 100