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
t o 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
about 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 studnets were excited and wanted to share their opinion.
After we watched the silent commercial we would watch it with 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 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 ws extremely successful. We used
the ads they made to assess the knowledge 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.