{"id":27849,"date":"2020-10-29T12:31:15","date_gmt":"2020-10-29T16:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/?page_id=27849"},"modified":"2023-12-07T10:02:36","modified_gmt":"2023-12-07T15:02:36","slug":"close-reading-lesson-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/close-reading-lesson-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Close Reading (Lesson Plan)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Close Reading of News Story, Advertisements, Websites<\/strong> (LESSON PLAN\/ACTIVITY)
\nby Frank W. Baker<\/p>\n

There are at least two places in the Common Core ELA document where advertisements fit nicely:<\/p>\n

Speaking & Listening Standards<\/u>\u00a0(Grade 8)
\n\u201cAnalyze the\u00a0purpose of information\u00a0presented in diverse media \u00a0and formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) and\u00a0evaluate\u00a0\u00a0the motives\u00a0(e.g., social, commercial, political) behind its presentation.\u201d<\/p>\n

College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading<\/u>
\n\u201cDelineate and evaluate the\u00a0argument and specific claims\u00a0in a\u00a0 text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here is a lesson plan\/activity for you to consider using with your students. It involves reading a news story, questioning it and then examining the ads discussed in the news story and evaluating them.
\n1.\u00a0 Students read the story\u00a0\u00a0\u2018Liquid candy bars\u2019 still junk food, even with added vitamins<\/a><\/strong>
\n2.\u00a0 They answer or discuss in groups these questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Close Reading Questions\/Considerations
\na. Who wrote it?
\nb. Where was it published?
\nc. \u00a0Who is the audience, in other words, who is likely to be the target demographic the writer hopes to reach?
\nd. What is the purpose of the news story?
\ne. Is there one quote, or sentence, that stands out more than the rest? What is it?
\nf. \u00a0How would you summarize this news story\u00a0as a TWEET<\/a>?
\ng. What did you learn, that you did not previously know?
\nh. Who is quoted?\u00a0 Would you consider them to be authoritative\/credible?
\ni. \u00a0Who is not quoted?
\nj. \u00a0Considering who is not quoted, would this news story be considered “balanced”?
\nk.\u00a0Name three other sources you might seek out in order to read\/research more about this topic?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

NOTE: take the ad analysis study further by downloading this “Questions for Ad Analysis”<\/strong>\u00a0handout<\/a><\/p>\n

Taking it even further: have students create a 30-second\u00a0TV script and storyboard\u00a0<\/a>based only on the information in the print ad.<\/p>\n

3. Since the news story calls into question the ads from these nutritional supplements, students will now evaluate each of the ads in print, taken from magazines.
\nENSURE Advertisement<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0BOOST Advertisement<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Magazine Ad Questions\/Considerations<\/strong>
\na.\u00a0 Who created this ad?
\nb.\u00a0 Identify the slogan. What does it mean?
\nc.\u00a0 Who are the makers of ENSURE\/BOOST?\u00a0 How do you know?\u00a0 Where do you find their names?
\nd.\u00a0 Describe the images in the ad: what is going on?
\ne.\u00a0 What is the argument in the ad?\u00a0 What does ENSURE\/BOOST say it can\/will do?
\nf.\u00a0 \u00a0Who is the intended audience?\u00a0 What are the clues?
\ng.\u00a0 What is omitted? Where might you go to locate the missing information?
\nh.\u00a0 In which magazine(s) might you have found this ad?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
    \n
  1. These products are also being seen on television. What follows are links to two commercials which students will analyze and discuss.
    \nENSURE Commercial\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0BOOST Commercial<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    Have your students consider these pre-viewing questions:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    a.\u00a0who creates commercials and for what purposes?
    \nb. what techniques do the creators use to make a product appealing?
    \nc. how do they know who might be their “target audience\u201d?
    \nd. which information might be missing from these ads?
    \ne. which television shows might the creators buy time within to show the ad?
    \nf. how much does it cost to make an ad; to position it inside a prime-time program?
    \ng.\u00a0how are camerawork, lighting, music, editing used to tell the story?
    \nh. how do I feel after seeing a commercial? How does it appeal to my emotions?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    One of the approaches to studying ads using the acronym:\u00a0AIDA<\/a>\u00a0(Attention, Interest, Desire, Action)\u00a0 Students can use\u00a0this worksheet\u00a0<\/a>to study the commercials and answer the questions posed on it.<\/p>\n

    Additional: Have students re-write the script. What if ENSURE\/BOOST told the truth about its product? What might that ad say\/show?<\/p>\n

    5.\u00a0 Consumer Reports has produced\u00a0this AdWatch video<\/a> which dissects an earlier ENSURE ad which helps consumers challenge some of the product’s assertions.\u00a0 After watching this short segment, ask students to consider the way this product is advertised.<\/p>\n

    6.\u00a0 Nutrition Action Health Letter also evaluated the claims in these products. Have your students read it\u00a0here.<\/a><\/p>\n

    7. The Federal Trade Commission, back in 1997, reached a settlement with Abbott Labs over ad claims. Read the settlement\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    8. Another way products, like these, are promoted is via the “infommercial.” Ask students if they know how\u00a0these differ from regular commercials.\u00a0 Here is a\u00a0link to an infommercial\u00a0<\/a>for one of these products. Have students consider who speaks in support of the product and whether this type of message might be
    \nconsidered deceptive. (For example, might the doctors shown be paid by Abbott Labs, the maker of ENSURE?)<\/p>\n

    9. Website evaluation.\u00a0 Most students don’t question product websites. Here we’re asking them to go to either the\u00a0ENSURE<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0BOOST<\/a>\u00a0website (or both) and to use a\u00a0website evaluation form<\/a>\u00a0to look more closely at and answer questions about the content, credibility and the design of the page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Close Reading of News Story, Advertisements, Websites (LESSON PLAN\/ACTIVITY) by…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27849"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27849\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27852,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27849\/revisions\/27852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.frankwbaker.com\/mlc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}