Newseum
Persuasion Portfolios
After class members brainstorm a list of current social and political issues, groups each select a different topic from the list to research. Teams create a portfolio of at least 10 examples of stories about their issue, stories that...
Curated OER
Advertising and Healthy Decisions
Students analyze alcohol and tobacco ads and create parodies of them. The eight lessons in this unit include discussions about why teens smoke or drink, the psychology behind the advertising, and writing persuasive letters to agencies,...
US Institute of Peace
Practicing Conflict Analysis
Does your conflict management style keep you cool and persuasive, even under pressure? Young behaviorists practice analyzing conflicts and using conflict management skills during instructional activity five in a 15-part series. The...
Curated OER
Group Product-Pitch Presentation
Are you just about to teach persuasion in your class? If so, you should consider this short unit. In small groups, learners create a product, develop a magazine ad for the product, and pitch this product to the class using a visual...
Curated OER
Marketing to Teens: Parody Ads
High schoolers deconstruct advertising messages by analyzing parody ads and exploring the purpose of satire. Then they create their own parodies based on real ads discussed in class. A creative activity to extend any study of media,...
Curated OER
Pictures and Slogans Persuade an Audience
Students discover relationships between advertisement and persuasive techniques. In this literacy and consumer education lesson, students select magazine or newspaper advertisements that use symbols, pictures, and slogans to...
Curated OER
Values and Images Reflected in TV Commercials
Learners view commercials from American and Latin American cultures and discuss the values and selling strategies used in each commercial.
Curated OER
New Gun Control Politics: A Whimper, Not a Bang
Using an article from The New York Times, students answer discussion questions about gun control. They are divided into four groups to research different standpoints on gun control, including the Executive Office, Congress, Gun...
Curated OER
Messages in Art Work
Observe images and discuss what messages they convey. In this critical thinking lesson plan, students determine whether works of art are trying to persuade their audience. They also consider the media and how they communicate messages to...
Curated OER
The Art of Advertising
Get your class thinking about advertising with this lesson plan. Over the course of 15 days, your class will discuss advertising techniques, study the concepts of pathos, logos, and ethos, and analyze the persuasive techniques of...
Curated OER
Fighting The Horse Race: Creating Ads Which Explore 2008 Presidential Candidates & Issues
What is advertising? What role does it plan in an election? Middle and high schoolers discuss advertising and its purpose by sifting through different magazines and discussing the products they find. Then they relate advertisements to...
Curated OER
Convince Me!
Middle schoolers analyze advertisements meant to persuade a reader to purchase a certain product or service to find out what stands out about the ad or what it is about the ad that persuade readers. They complete an analysis chart, and...
Curated OER
Magazine Sales Talks
Students role-play to determine the best types of magazines that should be purchased for their media center. They create a sales presentation for a particular magazine in small groups. As they listen to each presentation they evaluate...
Curated OER
Media Literacy Discussion Guide
Young scholars examine and analyze visual media and its messages critically. They determine whether specific media messages inform, entertain, or persuade and what factors influence the media. Using primary sources, they participate in...
Judicial Branch of California
Public Service Announcement: Civic Responsibility
Get your message across. Scholars use their prior knowledge and artistic skills to create public service announcements. The project is designed to explain the importance of civic harmony and the responsibility of all citizens to...
Curated OER
The Right to Vote
In this voting worksheet, students identify and discuss changes in voting rights throughout American history.
Then, they identify why voting is an important right for Americans. Finally, students create voting bookmarks instead of or in...
Curated OER
Breaking News English: Bill Gates and Bono - Time's Persons of 2005
In this English worksheet, students read "Bill Gates and Bono - Time's Persons of 2005," and then respond to 47 fill in the blank, 7 short answer, 20 matching, and 8 true or false questions about the selection.
Curated OER
Art and Patriotic Culture
Art forms, especially government-sponsored "poster art", very effectively conveyed specific cultural values during World War II. Understanding the role that visual images play in expressing issues and ideas is critical to developing...
Curated OER
Sculpting a Message: From the Counter-Reformation to the Present Day
Students discuss persuasive messages in art. In this art history lesson plan, students research 17th- century European sculptures to find the messages given. They create their own sculptures and write press releases to explain their...
Curated OER
WWI Propaganda
Learners research propaganda from World War I and compare it with propaganda used today. They define propaganda and discuss the five techniques used by advertisers, conduct Internet research, and create a project that compares how...
Curated OER
Interpreting Christopher Columbus
Students compare historical interpretations. In this research skills lesson, students use Internet and print resources to research the controversy regarding Christopher Columbus's work as an explorer. Students use their...
Curated OER
Advertisement Evaluation Document
In this advertisement evaluation worksheet, students complete a checklist that tells about what type of advertisement they are looking at. They determine what type of product is being advertised and tell if they would purchase it.
Curated OER
Target Audience
High schoolers explore and describe various persuasive tools used in advertisements, analyze advertisements provided by teacher, and identify target audiences. Students then work in groups to find advertisements aimed at assigned target...
Curated OER
Writing a Commercial
Students create a product and write a commercial to sell the product. They discuss the differences between ads for television and radio and ads for print. They discuss the persuasion techniques used by ad writers.