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This activity intends to have students discuss the internet phenomenon of memes and create their own meme photos and captions. This activity is an adaptation of Activity 47: LOLcats in Dudeney, Hockly & Pegrum (2013: 297-301).
What is a meme?
According to the definition given by Lifewire,
a ‘meme’ is a virally-transmitted cultural symbol or social idea.
The majority of modern memes are captioned photos that are intended to be funny, often as a way to publicly ridicule human behavior. Other memes can be videos and verbal expressions. Some memes have heavier and more philosophical content.
The world of memes (which rhymes with ‘teams’) is noteworthy for two reasons: it is a worldwide social phenomenon, and memes behave like a mass of infectious flu and cold viruses, traveling from person to person quickly through social media.
Learning outcomes
On completion of this activity, students:
- will be able to explore and respond to an internet meme
- will begin learning about remix
Technology requirements
- One Internet-enabled teacher computer & data projector; student computers or mobile devices (one per student pair)
Procedure
Before class
Put five memes of your choice into a PowerPoint slideshow. You can find memes on different meme generator websites, such as imgflip, MemeGenerator, etc.
In class
- On the projector screen, show your students a slideshow of 4-5 collated pictures from memes you have chosen. Ensure your students understand the captions. Try to have them explain what an internet meme is.
- Ask students to work in pairs, giving them a 5-minute time limit to browse the meme generator site and find 3 more pictures they like, with or without captions. Then, ask students to share one of their chosen pictures with the class, and explain what they like about it in the target language.
- Ask students to produce their own memes by adding captions in the target language.
- Ask students to share their pictures and captions with the class. Have students vote for the best meme.
After class
You can encourage pairs to submit their meme to the website, and then monitor and respond to any comments they receive on their picture. Feedback after this commenting stage can be conducted a week or so after the initial activity.
Related activities
| Context of use | ID | Title | Related themes | Languages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DL-D-R-001-C | Remix literacy, what is it? | EN, FR | ||
| Independent learning | ||||
| DL-D-R-002-S | Remix literacy, what is it? | EN, FR | ||
| Activities for the classroom | ||||
| DL-D-R-003-A | Generating memes | EN, FR | ||
| DL-D-R-004-A | Remixing a silent movie with Peanut Gallery | EN, FR | ||
Source/attribution: Digilanguages. Author: Johanna Keogh
This activity intends to have students discuss the internet phenomenon of memes and create their own meme photos and captions. This activity is an adaptation of <em>Activity 47: LOLcats</em> in <a href=”/bibliography/#/?_k=2xzfdy” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/bibliography/#/?_k=2xzfdy”>Dudeney, Hockly & Pegrum (2013: 297-301)</a>.<br />What is a meme?According to the definition given by <a href=”https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-a-meme-2483702″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-a-meme-2483702″>Lifewire</a>,<h5>a ‘meme’ is a virally-transmitted cultural symbol or social idea.</h5><h5>The majority of modern memes are captioned photos that are intended to be funny, often as a way to publicly ridicule human behavior. Other memes can be videos and verbal expressions. Some memes have heavier and more philosophical content.</h5><h5>The world of memes (which rhymes with ‘teams’) is noteworthy for two reasons:<em> it is a worldwide social phenomenon</em>, and <em>memes behave like a mass of infectious </em><em>flu</em><em> and cold viruses</em>, traveling from person to person quickly through social media.</h5>
<br />Learning outcomesOn completion of this activity, students:<li style=”text-align: justify;” data-mce-style=”text-align: justify;”>will be able to explore and respond to an internet meme</li><br /><li style=”text-align: justify;” data-mce-style=”text-align: justify;”>will begin learning about remix</li>
<br />Technology requirements<li style=”text-align: justify;” data-mce-style=”text-align: justify;”><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>One Internet-enabled teacher computer & data projector; student computers or mobile devices (one per student pair)</span></li>
<br />Procedure<span style=”text-decoration: underline;” data-mce-style=”text-decoration: underline;”>Before class</span>Put five memes of your choice into a PowerPoint slideshow. You can find memes on different meme generator websites, such as <a href=”https://imgflip.com/memetemplates” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://imgflip.com/memetemplates”>imgflip</a>, <a href=”https://memegenerator.net/memes/popular/alltime” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://memegenerator.net/memes/popular/alltime”>MemeGenerator</a>, etc.<span style=”text-decoration: underline;” data-mce-style=”text-decoration: underline;”>In class</span><li>On the projector screen, show your students a slideshow of 4-5 collated pictures from memes you have chosen. Ensure your students understand the captions. Try to have them explain what an internet meme is.</li><li>Ask students to work in pairs, giving them a 5-minute time limit to browse the meme generator site and find 3 more pictures they like, with or without captions. Then, ask students to share one of their chosen pictures with the class, and explain what they like about it in the target language.</li><li>Ask students to produce their own memes by adding captions in the target language.</li><li>Ask students to share their pictures and captions with the class. Have students vote for the best meme.</li>
<span style=”text-decoration: underline;” data-mce-style=”text-decoration: underline;”>After class</span>You can encourage pairs to submit their meme to the website, and then monitor and respond to any comments they receive on their picture. Feedback after this commenting stage can be conducted a week or so after the initial activity.<br />Related activities
| Context of use | ID | Title | Related themes | Languages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DL-D-R-001-C | Remix literacy, what is it? | EN, FR | ||
| Independent learning | ||||
| DL-D-R-002-S | Remix literacy, what is it? | EN, FR | ||
| Activities for the classroom | ||||
| DL-D-R-003-A | Generating memes | EN, FR | ||
| DL-D-R-004-A | Remixing a silent movie with Peanut Gallery | EN, FR | ||
This activity intends to have students discuss the internet phenomenon of memes and create their own meme photos and captions. This activity is an adaptation of <em>Activity 47: LOLcats</em> in <a href=”/bibliography/#/?_k=2xzfdy” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”/bibliography/#/?_k=2xzfdy”>Dudeney, Hockly & Pegrum (2013: 297-301)</a>.<br />What is a meme?According to the definition given by <a href=”https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-a-meme-2483702″ target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-a-meme-2483702″>Lifewire</a>,<h5>a ‘meme’ is a virally-transmitted cultural symbol or social idea.</h5><h5>The majority of modern memes are captioned photos that are intended to be funny, often as a way to publicly ridicule human behavior. Other memes can be videos and verbal expressions. Some memes have heavier and more philosophical content.</h5><h5>The world of memes (which rhymes with ‘teams’) is noteworthy for two reasons:<em> it is a worldwide social phenomenon</em>, and <em>memes behave like a mass of infectious </em><em>flu</em><em> and cold viruses</em>, traveling from person to person quickly through social media.</h5>
<br />Learning outcomesOn completion of this activity, students:<li style=”text-align: justify;” data-mce-style=”text-align: justify;”>will be able to explore and respond to an internet meme</li><br /><li style=”text-align: justify;” data-mce-style=”text-align: justify;”>will begin learning about remix</li>
<br />Technology requirements<li style=”text-align: justify;” data-mce-style=”text-align: justify;”><span style=”font-weight: 400;” data-mce-style=”font-weight: 400;”>One Internet-enabled teacher computer & data projector; student computers or mobile devices (one per student pair)</span></li>
<br />Procedure<span style=”text-decoration: underline;” data-mce-style=”text-decoration: underline;”>Before class</span>Put five memes of your choice into a PowerPoint slideshow. You can find memes on different meme generator websites, such as <a href=”https://imgflip.com/memetemplates” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://imgflip.com/memetemplates”>imgflip</a>, <a href=”https://memegenerator.net/memes/popular/alltime” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” data-mce-href=”https://memegenerator.net/memes/popular/alltime”>MemeGenerator</a>, etc.<span style=”text-decoration: underline;” data-mce-style=”text-decoration: underline;”>In class</span><li>On the projector screen, show your students a slideshow of 4-5 collated pictures from memes you have chosen. Ensure your students understand the captions. Try to have them explain what an internet meme is.</li><li>Ask students to work in pairs, giving them a 5-minute time limit to browse the meme generator site and find 3 more pictures they like, with or without captions. Then, ask students to share one of their chosen pictures with the class, and explain what they like about it in the target language.</li><li>Ask students to produce their own memes by adding captions in the target language.</li><li>Ask students to share their pictures and captions with the class. Have students vote for the best meme.</li>
<span style=”text-decoration: underline;” data-mce-style=”text-decoration: underline;”>After class</span>You can encourage pairs to submit their meme to the website, and then monitor and respond to any comments they receive on their picture. Feedback after this commenting stage can be conducted a week or so after the initial activity.<br />Related activities
| Context of use | ID | Title | Related themes | Languages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DL-D-R-001-C | Remix literacy, what is it? | EN, FR | ||
| Independent learning | ||||
| DL-D-R-002-S | Remix literacy, what is it? | EN, FR | ||
| Activities for the classroom | ||||
| DL-D-R-003-A | Generating memes | EN, FR | ||
| DL-D-R-004-A | Remixing a silent movie with Peanut Gallery | EN, FR | ||
