Teacher Information
Materials and resources:
SOFTWARE
Word-processing, presentation, spreadsheet or graphing,
video-editing
HARDWARE
Audiotape player, video camcorder
WEB SITES
· Newspapers:
· Magazines:
· Radio Stations:
· TV Commercials:
Preparation:
- Gather samples of advertisements in various media forms: newspapers, magazines, radio and television recordings, and Web sites.
- Preview relevant media-related Web sites.
- Assemble and troubleshoot necessary technology tools. (See Tools and Resources.)
- Schedule adult helpers or cross-age tutors to assist younger children with group activities.
Procedure
Day 1:
As a class, discuss the following questions:
What is the difference between goods and services? What are consumers and producers? Who is more likely to advertise, consumers or producers?
As a class, discuss the purpose of advertising:
How do advertisements influence the way you act on needs and wants? How does fact and opinion play a part in advertising? How does the type of media affect the cost of the product/service?
As a class, study one advertisement from at least three media types (choose from: newspaper, magazine, radio, television, and the Web). Discuss the following focus questions:
How does the ad make you feel?
Were you persuaded to buy the product?
What do you think the purpose of the ad is?
Who do you think is the target audience?
What ad components were effective?
Was this a product that you need or that you want?
Why is this medium effective for this particular ad?
In small groups, students research advertisements found in various types of media. Each group works with one of the following: newspaper, magazine, radio, television, or the Web.
Each group chooses a representative advertisement in their medium and discusses the attributes of the ad, using the list of focus questions.
Day 2:
Small groups meet again to design an advertisement for a product of their choice, for the media they have been working with. The group chooses a particular audience to which they will advertise the product, focusing on how consumers in this particular group can best be reached by the attributes of this media.
Students begin working on their advertisement. Print ads should be created using a drawing program. Radio and TV ads should be written in a word processing application, then performed on tape or video. These can later be saved to the student portfolios.
Day 3:
Small groups use electronic presentation software to present their final advertisement to the class.
As a group, have the class reflect on the results of the advertisement, discussing which media is most effective for different audiences and purposes.
Further topics of discussion may include:
Consumer spending habits of different population groups
How personal choices may affect the economy
How local advertisements compare with nationally run advertisements
Vocabulary
Advertising—the action of calling something to the attention of the public, especially by paid announcements
Attribute—an inherent characteristic
Consumer—one who uses economic goods
Media—a channel of communication; a publication or broadcast that carries advertising
Producer--a person, company, or organization that creates a product or provides a service
Target audience—the person or group of people that an advertisement is designed to influence