Sarah's+Photo+&+Poster+Lesson

Background/Explanation: • At this point in the unit, students will already have learned about the major types of advertising propaganda. This ensures that they have good knowledge about the topic already, and helps to connect the content to their own lives. • Because students will already be completing the NARA worksheets, I decided to not have them do a KWL or Venn Diagram. While both of those are very useful organizational tools, I don’t think they would be necessary for this particular lesson.

Subject: Language Arts

Unit: Advertising Awareness

Grade: 7

EQ: How can I analyze advertisements to be a more critical consumer?

Objectives: TSW: • Analyze how companies promote themselves through advertising. • Identify elements of propaganda.

Materials: • A photograph of someone wearing name brand clothing (such as Aeropotale or Hollister) • A poster/advertisement for the same name brand • NARA photo analysis worksheet • Modified NARA poster analysis worksheet

Procedure:

• Activator: Ask students what they choose to spend their (or their parents’) money on. Many students will probably respond that they spend some money on clothing. Ask them why – what motivates them to spend their money on certain items? Discuss their answers.

• Explain that they will be doing an analysis of a clothing brand in class today. Display the photograph of someone wearing a name brand article of clothing. In pairs, have students analyze the photograph (allow ~5-7 minutes). When completed, have pairs share their answers with another group. Do the same thing for the formal advertisement.

• When completed, discuss their ideas and observations as a class. What stood out to them? What did they notice about the photograph? …the poster advertisement? Did this affect them at all?

• Identify the elements of propaganda in the advertisement.

Homework: Give students another modified NARA poster analysis worksheet. They need to select a well-known company and complete the worksheet on a poster (billboard, on-line ad, etc) for that company as well as identify at least 2 propaganda techniques.

Sarah, I really like your lesson and how you have chosen the topic of clothing to instruct 7th graders. It appears to be a lesson your students will enjoy as well as learn from. I often talk about propaganda during my lessons on WW1 and WW2 but I may try to to compare government propaganda to advertisers propaganda also. Gloria