About This Lesson
Thinkalong.org is a free, evidence-based interactive tool for students to develop media literacy skills by applying the 5 Key Questions of Media Literacy to public media content. Importantly, the tool does not require registration for teachers or students, abides by student privacy laws, and is advised by a board of both youth and educators.
Each module consists of:
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a compelling and timely question;
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related current and age-appropriate public media content including audio, video, and text;
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extension resources for advanced or highly-interested students;
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student graphic organizers;
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a simple debate tool;
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a teacher's guide to the module;
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and a guide to the 5 Key Questions of Media Literacy.
This Teacher's Guide supports the Should it ever be okay to destroy a work of art? module on thinkalong.org. Here is the full module and below is a summary.
Over the course of several weeks in 2001, the Taliban used repeated dynamite explosions to destroy the monumental Buddhas of Bamiyan - large scale sculptures carved into cliff rock in central Afghanistan. In 2009, the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei exhibited a series of three black and white photographs in which he’s shown dropping and shattering an ancient Chinese vase. The first incident has been condemned as an act of iconoclasm (literally “image breaking”) by a terrorist group, the other as a provocative example of contemporary art. Why is it that one of these acts of destruction has been deemed acceptable, while the other is criticized? Are there different kinds of destruction when it comes to art?
To use this module with learners in any setting, we recommend using one of the structured discussion formats outlined at thinkalong.org/structuring-discussions. You can find options for a small or large group, so that all students or just a few participate, and examples of some discussion formats.
