ABSTRACT
The Common Core Standards call for students to become detectives: learning how to observe closely, locate evidence, look for clues, and ask the right questions. A magazine cover featuring the latest celebrity can be used to get students to recognize layout, design, color, font, facial expression, body language, and much more. Close reading of print is something that is taught in colleges of education and in professional development sessions, but close reading of non-print "texts" is seldom part of this professional learning process. One way to get started is to ask students to bring in a favorite photo, magazine, advertisement, or movie. There are many ways to use these texts in a classroom activity or exercise. Depending on the media text, a variety of questions can be posed. In media literacy education, the general questions are most often recommended. They make an excellent poster for the media literacy-savvy classroom.
