Title: What's in a Campaign?
Grade: 5th
Time Needed: one class period
Essential Standards:
Social Studies
5.C&G.2.1 Understand the values and principles of a democratic republic.
Integrated Curriculum Standards:
Language Arts
5.W.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.
5.W.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Lesson Objectives: Students will:
Materials: student journals, projector or interactive whiteboard with internet access, television commercial analysis chart (1 page per student)
Procedure:
Assessment: The students' journal entries and analysis sheets will serve as assessment of this lesson.
Differentiation:
Resources:
lesson adapted from: http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/30/election-unit-part-3-the-campaign-strategy/
and http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/files/pdf/LivingRoomLessons.WHAT_.MAKES_1.pdf
videos: http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/
Grade: 5th
Time Needed: one class period
Essential Standards:
Social Studies
5.C&G.2.1 Understand the values and principles of a democratic republic.
Integrated Curriculum Standards:
Language Arts
5.W.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.
5.W.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Lesson Objectives: Students will:
- write and discuss their ideas about what campaigning is and what it entails
- list tactics that ads use to interest consumers
- analyze political ads for effectiveness using specific criteria
Materials: student journals, projector or interactive whiteboard with internet access, television commercial analysis chart (1 page per student)
Procedure:
- Begin by asking students to do a quick write in their journal answering the questions What is a campaign? and How do candidates try to win elections?
- After about 5 minutes, call the class back together to hear some of the students' ideas. Tell students that a campaign is the process by which a person running for office tries to get votes from citizens. Campaigns for federal office are often long and use many different tactics that they have already mentioned, like commercials and speeches. Candidates do this because they cannot get into office without citizens' votes.
- Ask the students to imagine that they are creating a television ad for a product, such as soap. Have them turn and talk to a partner about questions like Who would their audience be? Would it be a general audience, or would they want to target a specific group? What would they want viewers to think about the product? What arguments would they want to make? How would they want viewers to feel about the product? How would they want viewers to think and feel about competitors’ products? What sounds and images would they use in their ad? Why? Post these questions so students can refer back to them during their discussion. Teacher should walk around and listen while students are talking.
- Explain to students that a political ad, like their soap ad, uses sounds, images, and factual claims to make arguments and to influence the way that voters feel.
- Tell students they will be watching a series of ads and evaluating their effectiveness. The first issue they will focus on is intended audience. They will contrast an ad made for a general audience (“Surgeon”) with an ad that targets a more specific audience (“Yes We Can,” which is geared towards a young audience). Screen “Surgeon” (Clinton, 1996) and “Yes We Can” (Obama, 2008). http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/
- QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:Does this ad target a general audience or a specific audience? How do you know? Do you think these ads were effective? Why or why not? “Yes We Can” was a web ad that targeted young voters. Why might this audience be important in an election?
- Now that students have thought about the intended audience of an ad, they will watch a series of ads and focus on two levels of effectiveness (emotion and factual claims). For each level, they will watch two ads. They will choose one ad from each category and complete an analysis on it. http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/blogs/learning/pdf/2012/TelevisionCommercialAnalysisChart.pdf
- Review the clips "Prouder, Stronger, Better” (Reagan, 1984) and “Taxes” (Nixon, 1960) for the emotion category. Give students time to complete their analysis before discussion.
- QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION: How do you think the makers of the ad want you to feel? How do you know? How does the ad actually make you feel? Does the ad succeed? What is the tone of the ad? (For example, is it inspirational, hopeful, frightening, sarcastic, etc.?)
- Review the clips "Accomplishment” (Clinton, 1996) and “Wolverine” (Bush, 1992) for the truth category. Give students time to complete their analysis before discussion.
- QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION: Does this ad make specific factual claims? List all of the claims the ad makes. Are these claims general or specific? Does the ad cite any sources to support its claims? If so, are they reliable sources?
- Closure: Ask students to revisit their journal entry to add any new information on how candidates try to win elections and tactics that they use. Why is this process so important?
Assessment: The students' journal entries and analysis sheets will serve as assessment of this lesson.
Differentiation:
- ELLs and students with disabilities will be given an alternate version of the analysis sheet that will ask them to write or draw what they see and hear and how the commercial makes them feel. They may work with a partner if necessary.
- The videos will serve as accommodation for students with auditory disabilities
- Students who need enrichment or extension can work together to create their own commercial for a product using target audience, emotion, and facts.
Resources:
lesson adapted from: http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/30/election-unit-part-3-the-campaign-strategy/
and http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/files/pdf/LivingRoomLessons.WHAT_.MAKES_1.pdf
videos: http://www.livingroomcandidate.org/