media
Unplugged - Ask interested students to sign up for a contest to see who can go longest without watching TV. You can set this up as a class project or for individual students to test how long they can stay “unplugged.” The sign-up sheet should consist of two columns – one for the names and one for the date each student resumes watching TV. (If students will begin the test on separate schedules, add a third column for the starting date.) As a follow-up to this contest, ask participants what benefits they derived from going “unplugged”; also, ask whether – and how – they plan to change their viewing habits.
Name That Tune - Have students come up with 5-10 jingles or slogans that are used in advertising. Take a survey to see how many people can name the product. Have the students present their findings to the class.
Ad Collage - Bring in a variety of popular magazines from the past year or two. Divide students into small groups and give each group several magazines to look through. Have students make a collage of advertisements from the magazines, focusing on ads that use sex or sexual imagery to sell their product (You can also focus on alcohol ads for tobacco ads). Have each group make a presentation of their collage, explaining what they have presented and what they have discovered about advertising and its messages, pointing out the connection between the use of sexual images to sell products. Ask students to look for the following things: target audience (male, female, age group), What assumptions does this ad make about me? Is there anything about this ad that’s intended to make me feel better about myself, or bad about myself? In what way is this ad attempting to appeal to me?
“Sexual Pressures” (PSA Campaign) - Working in small groups, students can develop a Public Service Announcement (PSA) campaign addressing teen sex issues. These PSAs should focus on the emotional impact of sex and the peer pressures and temptations kids face. Students should make a visual of their PSA, such as, a poster with slogan, pamphlet, TV advertisement, etc. The groups should create a message that is directed to a teen audience. Groups can then share their PSA campaigns with the class through oral presentation or have groups hang or post their PSAs around the room allowing the other students to see their work and their message.
“Targets” - For grades 7-12. Groups of students will compose a collage of alcohol ads and caption them according to what they believe the “real message” is. They will explain their collage and caption rationale to the class. Discussion will follow the presentations as to the targeted age group and messages the media attempts to portray. Students will then redo their captions with alcohol fact. For complete lesson plan, click here.
Counter Ad – Bring in or have students bring in ads from magazines, TV, etc. Divide students into groups of 3-4 students and have them make a counter ad to one of the example ads. The idea is to get students to look closely at what the ad is saying and design a counter ad to make a statement opposite of what the original ad says. Students can create an ad on paper, perform an ad, or video tape an ad to demonstrate to the class. Students should think about the following things: what techniques do advertisers use; what is the purpose of advertising; is advertising truthful?