Introduction:
In the world of marketing and advertising, one of the major target audiences is adolescents. Many ad slogans and campaigns are created with them in mind. In this lesson, students will understand what it takes to create an effective advertisement that people study, look at, and remember. The students will become more “media literate” and aware of the different principles advertisers and marketers use to attract attention, making them more cognizant when digesting media they encounter. This topic is relevant to many different content areas including social sciences, economics, psychology, sociology, English, mathematics, and science. In this lesson, students will work on the creation side of media, rather than the consumer side, giving them a better understanding of how media, marketing, and advertising design influences them. By the end of the lesson, students will better understand how design is linked to media. They will also better understand how to cooperatively and creatively work together, and improve upon their collaboration skills. Students will become more comfortable with certain technologies and will understand another way in which design affects their everyday lives.
Standards:
English and Language Arts -
1. Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
2. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, and graphics).
3. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, and vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
4. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
5. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and non-print texts.
6. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).
Information Literacy
Standard 1: The student who is information literate accesses information efficiently and effectively.
Standard 2: The student who is information literate evaluates information critically and competently.
Science / Technology (grades 9-12) -
E1. Abilities of technological design:
• Identify a problem or design an opportunity.
• Propose designs and choose between alternative solutions.
• Implement a proposed design.
• Evaluate the solution and its consequences.
• Communicate the problem, process, and solution.
Social Studies -
a. Culture - analyze and explain the ways groups, societies, and cultures address human needs and concerns; construct reasoned judgments about specific cultural responses to persistent human issues; predict how data and experiences may be interpreted by people from diverse cultural perspectives and frames of reference; apply an understanding of culture as an integrated whole that explains the functions and interactions of language, literature, the arts, traditions, beliefs and values, and behavior patterns.
Visual Arts -
Standard 1. Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes
Standard 2. Using knowledge of structures and functions
Standard 3. Choosing and evaluating a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas
Standard 5 Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others
Assessment:
Assess the lesson through the concept map and the relationships that students find between the concepts. Also, assess the students’ “Made Ya Look” project with the rubric. There is a rubric for the piece of media created, not for the concept map. The concept map must be a starting point for a discussion between the teacher and students. Suggest changes that can be made to re-describe or re-write the relationships between the concepts, until the student demonstrates advanced understandings of the concepts.
The lesson and experience can be differentiated in a variety of ways. For students who have difficulty working at grade level, provide them with simpler advertisements. Additionally, when the students create their own media, Microsoft Publisher has a variety of templates that can be used. Students with difficulty should be allowed to use those templates for their assignment. In terms of the concept map, the students with difficulties can be given more examples, and a longer time to complete the assignment.
Enrichment
Extension Activities:
As a class, create a “How to Consume Media” or “Media Literacy” guide to be distributed to the community. Create the brochure digitally using Microsoft Publisher’s templates or on MS word so students have further experience with the software.