Portrayal of Disabilities within the Mass Media Project (30 Points)
Purpose:
To increase one's awareness of special education and of individuals with disabilities or other
exceptionalities throughout society.
Procedure:
Look for 10 (ten) newspaper and/or magazine articles; books, films, radio or television spots;
interviews, advertisements, observations or whatever else you may find which shows or talks about
individuals with disabilities. Examples include books, letters to the editor, news articles, pop movies,
videos/DVDs, observations of non-disabled people as they interact with individuals with disabilities or
other exceptionalities in our society.
DO NOT do a web search for organizations that serve exceptional persons or teacher forums. This
project is meant for you to look at how persons with disabilities are projected in the mass media to people
who are not teachers or individuals directly in service to persons with exceptionalities.
1. When you find the print source, photocopy it or cut it out (if possible), note the source and
date, and attach it to a piece of notebook size paper. Write a three to four sentence reaction
statement to each print source. If it is a book or long article just provide the first page only.
2. Date all entries and arrange them in a scrapbook or binder in a visually appealing way. For this
project to have maximum impact, start today and try to include entries periodically throughout the
marking period.
3. After the scrapbook/journal is compiled, read it over completely and write a two to three
page response/reaction paper based on the impact of the whole collection of articles and
observations. The grading of this project will depend substantially on your ability to
communicate to me that you have gathered cogent information, reflected upon it, and have
gained insights and understanding from the experience.
Your work should be typed, double spaced, 12 point font, and free from grammatical and
spelling errors.
Please make note of any changes you notice in your reactions as time passes and any attitudinal changes or
observations at the personal level.
Evaluation: The following general criteria will be used to evaluate the project:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Completeness of scrapbook/journal (5 points)
Variety of entries found (5 pts.)
Depth of development and reactions to entries. (5 points)
Final written reaction to the project. (10 points)
Writing Quality (5 Points)
Mass Media Project: Version 9-18-13