GRADING
PERIOD:
Teacher: Ables
Grade(s): 10
Title:
Lesson TOPIC:
TAKS Objective:
Texarkana Independent School District
PLAN CODE: E10.3.6
English Language Arts Course/subject:
Time allotted for instruction:
2-3 class sessions
Concepts
Persuasive techniques
Advertising
Audience
Logical fallacies
Enduring Understandings/Generalizations/Principles
The student will understand that
Most advertising is designed to connect a product or a service to a particular set of feelings.
Advertising can sometimes affect behavior by convincing one to take action or to buy a product.
Ads are tailored for target audiences. Target audiences are determined by demographics – statistical characteristics of the population, including the tastes, occupations, and lifestyles of people in different geographic regions and age groups.
Logical fallacies, or errors in reasoning, may trick people wh o don’t examine an ad carefully.

Division of Curriculum and Instruction

School Improvement Department

Texarkana Independent School District

I. Sequence of Activities (Instructional Strategies)
A.
B.
Focus/connections
Show students Poster 1 advertising Lubriderm lotion. (See Poster Packet.) Ask students to tell the first thing they think of when they see the poster. Write their comments on the board.
Instructional activities
(demonstrations, lectures, examples, hands-on experiences, role play, active learning experience, modeling, discussion, reading, listening, viewing, etc.)
 Introduction: Explain that advertisers use many different techniques to appeal to the reader to persuade them to buy a product. Consumers should be aware of these techniques so that they make good purchasing decisions.
 Direct Instruction: Hand out Commonly Used Techniques in Media and discuss each technique with the class. After the discussion, hand out For Practice –
Identifying Common Techniques and have students match advertisement types with the common techniques.
 Discussion: Once students are familiar with the techniques, display several of the posters in the packet, and lead a discussion over each advertisement. Make sure that students not only identify the techniques, but also tell how those techniques are used.
 Strategy: Introduce the strategy of deconstructing media by using Handout –
Deconstruction Steps. Using another poster from the packet, model each step of the strategy by completing a think-aloud.
C.
D.
E.
Guided activity or strategy
Divide students into pairs or small groups, and give each group a poster and a
Deconstruction Steps handout. Circulate through the groups, and check for understanding. Once students have completed their analysis, ask for volunteers to present their findings to the class.
Accommodations/modifications
Enrichment
II. STUDENT PERFORMANCE
A. Description
Explain that these same persuasive techniques are often used not only for commercial advertisements, but also as political propaganda. For their independent assignment, each student will deconstruct two visual representations, both propaganda posters produced during World War II. The student then will analyze both representations for similarities and differences and will write an expository essay using comparison/contrast.
In the essay, the student will identify main idea, purpose, and audience. The student also will evaluate the persuasive techniques used in the representations.
B. Accommodations/modifications
To modify this assignment, have the student deconstruct one of the two visual representations. Instead of writing a comparison/contrast essay, the student would write an expository essay based on the one representation.
C. Enrichment
As an enrichment exercise, have students create an advertising campaign for a major company. In the campaign, the students should identify and use specific persuasive

Division of Curriculum and Instruction

School Improvement Department

Texarkana Independent School District

techniques. Students could present the campaign in either video, electronic, or print formats. iii.
IV.
V.
Assessment of Activities
B.
A.
B.
C.
D.
Description
Students will be assessed on both the deconstruction and on the essay. Two separate grades could be given on these two segments of the assignment.
Rubrics/grading criteria
See the following:
Deconstructing Media Rubric
Writing Rubric
Accommodations/modifications
Enrichment
E. Sample discussion questions
1. How did the author use visual techniques in this representation?
2. What persuasive techniques are used?
3.
4.
5.
6.
How effective are the techniques?
What is the main idea of the representation?
What is the purpose?
Who is the intended audience?
TAKS Preparation
A. Transition to TAKS context
Sample TAKS questions
1. This graphic is mainly about how to ---
2.
3.
F
G
H
J
From Spring 2006 TAKS
Who is the intended audience for this graphic?
A
B
C send kids to college drop a college class pay for college read a college catalog
Teachers and principals
University administrators
Students in small school districts
D Parents of college-bound teens
From Spring 2006 TAKS
This graphic would most likely appear ---
F in a magazine
G on a billboard
H
J in a movie on television
From Spring 2006 TAKS
Key Vocabulary
Media, deconstruction, persuasion, glittering generality, logical fallacy, symbol, main idea, audience, purpose, propaganda

Division of Curriculum and Instruction

School Improvement Department

Texarkana Independent School District

VI. Resources
A.
B.
Textbook
Supplementary materials
 Poster Packet
 Handout – Commonly Used Techniques in Media
 Practice Activity – Identifying Common Techniques
 Practice Activity – Identifying Common Techniques – Instructor’s Copy
 Handout – Deconstruction Steps
 Poster 1 – Warning! Our Homes are in Danger Now
 Poster 2 – Victory Waits on Your Fingers
 Instructor’s Notes – Posters 1 and 2
 Rubric – Deconstructing Media
 Rubric – Writing
 Instructor Resource - Media and Advertising Links
C. Technology
See attachment: Media and Advertising Links vii. FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES
(reteaching, cross-curricular support, technology activities, next lesson in sequence, etc.)
This lesson would be an excellent reinforcement of the study of World War II in social studies.
As a follow up activity, ask students to bring a visual representation to class and present their deconstruction analysis orally to the class.
VIII. Teacher Notes
Summary – TAKS Questions
Grade Test
Year
Visual Representation Question TEKS Skill
9 2003
Advertisement –
Profit organization
31
32
33
31
19C Purpose
19B Relationship
20B Main idea – to ID audience
9
10
10
2004
2003
2004
Advertisement –
Nonprofit organization
Chart –
Plants as nutritious foods
Cartoon
32
33
26
27
28
26
27
28
20B Main idea
20B Main idea
20B Main idea
20B Main idea
29B
19C
Analyze ideas
Purpose
19C Purpose
19B Ideas – generalization
10
2004
Make-up
Advertisement –
Professional organization
26
27
28
26
20B Main idea
20C Persuasive technique
20C Persuasive technique
19C Purpose - conclusion
11
11
2003
2004
Photograph –
With caption
Flyer –
Discussion at mall
27
28
26
27
28
20B Main idea
20B Main idea
20C Persuasive technique
20B Main idea
20C
19B
Persuasive technique
Analyze ideas

Division of Curriculum and Instruction

School Improvement Department

Texarkana Independent School District