Technology in Advertising

Whew!  That first nine-weeks grading period really flew by us.  It's hard to believe I haven't updated this blog since that initial week of school.  Then again, I've been busy adjusting to the many wonderful aspects of middle school, as well as planning ways to integrate technology throughout the rest of the school year.

Of course, I wanted to share my major technology project from this past grading period.  In my Language Arts Applications classes, we just completed a unit on advertising.  Thanks to ReadWriteThink (a fantastic educational website), I was able to jump-start my unit by focusing on pathos, ethos, and logos within advertising.  Students then used this newly acquired knowledge to create their own cereals.  In addition to designing cereal boxes, they ultimately produced their own cereal commercials using Animoto (a video-based website that is very user-friendly and innovative).  As a teacher, it was so rewarding to watch these products come alive through the imagination, creativity, and ingenuity of the students.  Everyone generated such unique cereals!

Since advertising is--by its very nature--quite competitive, I couldn't conclude this unit without a little contest.  Not only did we display the cereal boxes prominently in my room, but we also viewed all the commercials together in class.  We found ample examples of pathos, ethos, and logos.  We discussed the various attributes of each cereal.  Lastly, we voted on which boxes and commercials the students felt best persuaded them to buy the cereal product. 

Here are the winners from my two participating classes:

Cereal Box Winners

Mackinzee, Period 7

 

 

Bridget, Period 8

 

Cereal Commercial Winners

Natalie, Period 7

Jonathan, Period 7

 

 

Mandy, Period 8

 

Congrats to these students on their success and to all my students for their hard work during this unit.  I truly wish I could share them all, and I hope the students enjoyed this unit as much as I did.

Mrs. Smith