Store Window Activity for grades 3 and 4

Jennifer Boggs
Byerly Gallion

Television and Magazine Advertisements

1. A description of the intended audience.
We intend to do a project in which we teach students about the effects that advertising has on children. Our intended age group is the third or fourth grade because students in this age group are surrounded by media, such as commercials, magazine advertisements, and radio announcements. However, they may not be aware of how these ads affect them. We imagine this activity will make students more aware of how advertisements are put together and their purposes.

2. A statement of objectives.
The goal of the Language Arts curriculum is for students to practice oral and written language use. This project will focus on how we communicate information in different ways. The students will think critically and creatively using oral language, written language, and other media and technology as tools.

Language Arts Curriculum
Grade 3

3.05 Compare and contrast printed and visual information (e.g., graphs, charts, maps).
3.06 Conduct research for assigned and self-selected projects (with assistance) from a variety of sources (e.g., print and non-print texts, artifacts, people, libraries, databases, computer networks).
4.02 Use oral and written language to:

        present information in a sequenced, logical manner.
        discuss.
        sustain conversation on a topic.
        share information and ideas.
        recount or narrate.
        answer open-ended questions.
        report information on a topic.
        explain own learning.

Information Skills Curriculum
Grade 3

2.03 Recognize the diversity of ideas and thoughts by exploring a variety of resources (print, non-print, electronic) and formats (print, graphical, audio, video, multimedia, web-based)
2.05 Determine usefulness of information resources.
2.06 Recognize the power of media to influence
4.09 Present information in a variety of formats (print, graphical, audio, video, multimedia)
5.01 Respond to reading, listening, viewing experiences orally, artistically, dramatically, through various formats (e.g., print, multimedia).
5.02 Produce media in various formats (print, graphical, audio, video, multimedia) appropriate to audience and purpose.
5.03 Collaborate with others, both in person and through technologies, to identify information problems and to design, develop and evaluate information products and solutions.

3. A detailed description of the activity itself.
The purpose of this lesson is for teachers and students to analyze advertisements and explore how they are put together. The teacher will begin a discussion on television commercials. The students will discuss the purpose of commercials and how they convince people to buy products. The students will then be asked to view various commercials which were recorded off of television. The commercials will be played with no sound with the intentions of getting the students to think about what the commercial is trying to portray. Students will be asked to describe the commercials' storylines. The teacher will ask the following questions:
-What is the commercial advertising?
-What clues make you believe that?
-What else could it be advertising?
The commercials will then be played with sound and students can see if their predictions were correct. A discussion about the commercials and their elements (characters, emotions, embellishments, and life-like settings) will conclude this section of the lesson.

The second part of the lesson will involve magazine and other print advertisements. The class will look at a magazine advertisement and analyze it as a group. The teacher will then hand out various magazines that are appropriate for the age group. Students will be asked to analyze an advertisement of their choice in the magazine they are given. The students will be expected to answer the following questions independently:
-What do you notice first when you look at this ad?
-What is pretty or ugly about the ad?
-What product is this ad trying to sell?
-How does the ad make you feel about the product? Why?
-What other information do you need to know before buying this product?
After the students have analyzed their advertisements independently they will share their findings with the class.

The final portion of the project will be for the students to create their own magazine advertisement, using construction paper and markers. The students will then be expected to write a brief summary about how they created their ad. They will answer the following questions in their summary:
-What knowledge did you use to create your advertisement?
-Who are you trying to sell your product to?
-Wht type of magazine would you have your advertisement printed in? Why?
-What did you include in your advertisement to make it appealing?

The students will be given the opportunity to share their creations with the class. The store windows created by the students will be displayed in the classroom.

4. Links to media literacy materials on the web.
      Center for Media Education
     Ad Age--History of TV Advertising
    Advertising and your Child
    KQED Education Network

5. A reflection on how the activity went when it was taught.
     We presented this lesson to the third grade class at Mabel Elementary School, and they loved it. In the beginning of the class we talked about the purpose of advertising. We asked them what they thought about advertising. Then we showed them TV commercials without the sound, and asked them to pay close attention to what they were seeing. We asked the students what they thought the commercial was advertising, what the background music sounded like, and what the announcer was saying. They had a great time predicting what each commercial was about. All of the students were excited and wanted to share their opinion. After we watched the silent commercial we would watch it with the sound. Then we discussed the reasons the commercials showed their product for such a limited amount of time. The children realized this was due to the fact that the creators of the each commercial were trying to get their attention.
     We then discussed magazine ads. After each child was given a magazine, we asked them what they noticed first about their ad. Most of them said the color or the bold print was the first thing they noticed. The students then answered the various questions they were asked about the ad. The students then had an opportunity to create their own ad for shoes using the knowledge they had already learned. The next day the children presented their advertisements and tried to sell their shoes to the class.
    This lesson was extemely successful. We used the ads they made to assess the knowlegde they had gained about advertising. The majority of the students had bright colors, big words, and catchy shoe names. They had fun completing this activity and wanted to keep watching and analyzing commercials.

Students are showing their advertisements and trying to sell their shoe to the class.