UbD – The Power of Advertising – Stage 1 Essential English

Title of Unit The Power of Stage 1

Advertising
Curriculum Area Essential English Time Frame 4 weeks of 5 x 45 minute lessons
Developed By Grace Mitchell Class Context This unit would be undertaken with a
mixed gender Stage 1 Essential English
class in an average SES area. Within the
class there is a wide range of literacy skills,
with most students requiring a high level of
scaffolding in their tasks.
Identify Desired Results (Stage 1)
Learning Requirements
1. develop communication skills through reading, viewing, writing, listening, and speaking
2. comprehend information, ideas, and perspectives in texts selected from social, cultural, community, workplace,
and/or imagined contexts
3. identify and analyse how the structure and language of texts vary for different purposes, audiences, and contexts
4. express information, ideas, and perspectives, using a range of textual conventions

Assessment Design Criteria

Communication
The specific features are as follows:
C1 Clarity and coherence of written and spoken expression, using appropriate vocabulary.
C2 Demonstration of grammatical control.

Comprehension
The specific features are as follows:
Cp1 Comprehension of information, ideas, and perspectives in texts.
Cp2 Understanding of the purpose, structure, and language features in texts.

Analysis
The specific features are as follows:
An1 Analysis of ways in which creators of texts convey information, ideas, and perspectives.
An2 Identification and analysis of ways in which language features are used to create meaning in texts.

Understandings Essential Questions

Overarching Understanding
Advertising is a powerful medium of
persuasion. (OU1)
Methods of advertising change over time
and according to audience and social
context. (OU2)
Related Misconceptions
Overarching
How does the time period affect
the way a text is written or
perceived? (OQ1)
How do creators of texts alter
their work to cater to a particular
audience? (OQ2)
Topical
How do persuasive techniques
change depending on the
advertising medium? (TQ1)
How do visual advertisements work
together with words or sound to
create a persuasive and informative
piece? (TQ2)
All advertisements are targeted towards How are texts used to persuade
everyone. (M1) an audience of a particular point How can advertisements be used to
Methods of advertising are always the of view? (OQ3) mislead or promote stereotypes?
same. (M2) (TQ3)

How does the social context of a

particular time period change the
way something is advertised? (TQ4)

Knowledge Skills
Students will know… Students will be able to…
Advertisements are geared towards a Identify and employ a range of persuasive advertising techniques (S1)
particular audience (K1)
Different forms of advertisements employ Write with coherence and clarity (S2)
different techniques in order to persuade
their targeted audience (K2) Identify the purpose and structure of a particular advertisement (S3)
The way companies advertise has changed
over time (K3) Analyse the effectiveness of an advertisement in conveying a particular
message for the target audience (S4)
Assessment Evidence (Stage 2)
Performance Task Description
Summative Task 1 Responding to Texts: Analysis of two advertisements (one past and one present)
Summative Task 2 Creating Texts: Creation of an advertisement and writers statement
Other Evidence
- Pre-assessment task
- Class discussions
- Individual activities
- Group activities
- Exit cards
Learning Plan (Stage 3)
Week 1 Prior to lesson one:
 Students would undertake a pre-assessment task in which they would be
Domain 4.1 – Personalize and asked to respond to a series of questions about advertising and persuasive
Connect Learning: Build on techniques. This would gauge students’ knowledge on the topic and allow
Learner’s Understandings the teacher to differentiate according to student interest and readiness.
TfEL Pedagogical Framework
This preassessment task will Introduction:
determine students’ prior  The first lesson would begin with a ‘hook’ activity – something to pique
knowledge and interests, students’ interest and engage them in learning about advertising and
therefore helping the teacher to persuasion. Students would watch the Doritos vs. Mountain Dew Super
personalize the topic to meet Bowl ad featuring Morgan Freeman and Peter Dinklage. See here:
student needs and interests https://youtu.be/QNzzJzdgUto
 This would lead to a class discussion about this commercial and students
OU1 would be asked to consider questions such as
M1 - Would you buy this product after watching this advertisement?
OQ3 Why/why not?
- What did you like/not like about this advertisement?
- Who would this ad work/not work for? Why?
--------------  This introduces students to some of the persuasive techniques used in
Learning requirements: 1, 2 advertisements in a humorous and engaging manner. Students would be
Assessment design criteria: Cp1, encouraged to discuss the use of humor, celebrity endorsements and the
Cp2, An1, An2 effect of visual advertisement. They would also be introduced to the idea of
 Understandings, questions &
misconceptions: OU1, M2, OQ3
Knowledge & skills: S1, S2, S3
--------------
Greens 3D Model
Operational: Students consider a
range of persuasive techniques
used in advertising.
Cultural: Students are
encouraged to use their prior
knowledges and experiences to
interpret advertisements – how
do these connect to what I
already know? What is familiar
within the advertisements?
Week 2
Learning requirements: 1, 2, 3
Assessment design criteria: Cp1,
Cp2, An1, An2
Understandings, questions &
misconceptions: OU1, OU2, M1
M2, OQ1, OQ2, TQ1, TQ2, TQ4
Knowledge & skills: K1, K2, K3,
S1, S3, S4
--------------
Greens 3D Model
Operational: Students look at
different persuasive techniques
and how these are used in
visual advertising specifically.
Cultural: Students consider the
idea of the “target audience”
and how this is important to an
advertisement. They will discuss
why a particular advertisement
would/would not appeal to
a target audience, as not all of the students would find this advertisement
engaging or persuasive.
The prevalence and effect of advertising:
 Students will consider the prevalence of advertising in our society. They will
be asked to do a think, pair, share activity in which they would consider
questions such as: where do you see advertising in your daily lives? What
have you bought/done as a result of advertising? This will help students to
realize that advertising comes in many different forms and can be incredibly
persuasive if used correctly.
How is an advertisement a persuasive text?:
 Teacher will lead a discussion on persuasiveness – what does it mean?
What makes something persuasive?
 Individual activity: Students will be given examples of advertisements
which they will analyze to identify methods of persuasion used and the
effect of these on the audience. This activity will be completed solely on the
basis on student’s prior knowledge and will demonstrate that many
students are already aware of some persuasive techniques even if they did
not realize it.
 Teacher directed powerpoint: Teacher would introduce the concepts of
pathos, egos and logos and how these have an effect on the way
advertisements are created.
 Individual activity: Students would reanalyze their advertisements with
these concepts in mind and would be asked to write a short paragraph
explaining how their advertisement shows appeals to pathos, egos and/or
logos. These would be a form of ‘exit card’ which would be handed up to
the teacher before students leave the lesson. The teacher would read
through these to determine whether students grasped these concepts and
if further teaching is required. These could also be used to assess students’
writing abilities and allow the teacher to plan for explicit teaching of
grammatical skills if required.
During this week, students will look at each concept that is a part of the assignment
separately to gain a better understanding of how these affect the way an
advertisement is presented. This will assist students in planning their assignment.
Who is the target audience and why are they important?:
 Teacher powerpoint will discuss what is meant when we say a “target
audience” and how this relates to advertising. Students will consider why
having a specific target audience is important in advertising. Teacher will
use examples such as writing an email to your teacher versus a text to your
best friend to demonstrate the importance of a target audience
 Group activity: Students will be placed in groups and given a magazine
advertisement on a particular product. Their task is to analyze the ad and
determine the target audience. They will then be given a new target
audience and will work with their group members to create a new version
of the ad which caters to this audience. EG one group could be given an
advertisement about a car which is directed towards young families and
asked to alter it to be directed towards an elderly couple. What would they
change to fit the new target audience? What would the new target
audience value and respond to?
Timing is everything - how different eras produce different
advertisements:
 Teacher will lead class discussion on how advertising has changed over
the years and why, considering ideas such as:
certain people and why this may
be so.
Critical: Students critically
analyse how social context can
affect advertising.
Week 3
Domain 2.3 – Create safe
conditions for rigorous learning:
Negotiate learning
TfEL Pedagogical Framework
Assessment task #1 includes
allows for student choice in the
topic of their advertisements.
Students have the opportunity
to negotiate their learning to
focus on something they find
engaging.
--------------
Learning requirements: 2, 3
Assessment design criteria: Cp1,
Cp2, An1, An2
Understandings, questions &
misconceptions: OU2, M2, OQ1,
OQ2, TQ1
Knowledge & skills: K2, K3, S3,
S4
--------------
Greens 3D Model
Operational: Students consider
the operational elements of
advertisements as they build an
- Technology
- What it is/isn’t appropriate to discuss in a public forum
- Values
Students will discuss each of these points in relation to the era an
advertisement is published. Students will be encouraged to think about the
social context of the time when they are analyzing an advertisement. For
example, smoking is known to be unhealthy and life threatening now, but
in the social context of the 1950s it was seen as a fun activity and therefore
the advertising for cigarettes will be vastly different.
 Individual activity: Students would be given an advertisement on a
common product which still exists today (such as a cleaning product or food
item). They would be asked to write and submit a paragraph describing the
changes they would make to this advertisement to cater for a 21st century
audience.
Visual advertising:
 Students will consider the effect of form on advertising, focusing specifically
on television versus print advertisements.
 Teacher powerpoint will discuss persuasive techniques which are specific
to these forms, focusing particularly on visual techniques such as the use of
sound or music in television commercials, as well as the use of colour or
imagery. Teacher will stress the importance of words and imagery working
together to create a meaningful and persuasive advertisement.
 Group activity: Students will be given an advertisement with any captions
or words blurred out. They will be asked to discuss what they think the ad
is about and to create a new caption to go with it. The class will then come
together to look at the real captions, which will lead to a discussion about
how imagery alone often confuses the message of the advertisement and
therefore it is important that words and images are used in conjunction.
Introduction to Assessment Task #1:
 Teacher will introduce students to assessment task 1, which requires
them to choose two different advertisements and analyze the form,
language, audience and social context of each. This task encourages co-
design in that students will have the opportunity to choose the topic their
advertisements will focus on. Students have the choice between three
topics - health & beauty, entertainment, or the home – and will find an
advertisement from the past and one from the present to compare and
contrast. They will also have the opportunity to negotiate their topic with
the teacher should they have something else they are wanting to write
about.
 Teacher would model an example of this task for the students using two
advertisements related to guns. This is a current issue which most students
would have some knowledge of and will therefore be able to participate in
discussions about. The first advertisement is a print ad from 1904
promoting the gun brand Iver Johnson’s Revolvers: https://s-
i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/271136/slide_271136_1908234_free.jpg
The second advertisement is from a 2013 campaign for gun control:
https://www.adsoftheworld.com/media/print/moms_demand_action
for_gun_sense_in_america_kinder_egg
Each advertisement focuses on guns and uses children as a part of their
campaign, but with vastly different messages. Students would work with
the teacher to analyze the form, audience, social context and language of
the advertisements, building an example for all students to refer to in
writing their own assignments. As this will be used as a whole class
example, students will not be allowed to choose this topic for their own
analyses.
example of the assessment task,
discussing language features,
purpose and structure of these
ads.
Cultural: Students will discuss
the target audience of each
example and consider who this
advertisement would/would not
appeal to.
Critical: Students will consider
the social context of the time in
which these advertisements
were produced. They will
discuss the “why” and “who” of
the ads – why were they made?
Whose values do they
represent?
Week 4 – new assignment
Learning requirements: 1, 2, 3,
4 this week and will have the first lesson to work on fixing these. Teacher will
Assessment design criteria: C1,
C2, Cp1, An1
Understandings, questions &
misconceptions: OU1, M2, OQ2,
OQ3, TQ3
Knowledge & skills: K2, S3, S4
--------------
Greens 3D Model
Critical: Students critically
analyze the use of stereotypes
and misleading persuasive
techniques within
advertisements. They consider
who is represented in
advertising and in what way.
 The assessment task is highly scaffolded, with the task sheet including a
series of guiding questions to assist students. Students will have 2 doubles
of class time to work on this assessment in which the teacher will be
present to assist with any queries students may have.
Drafting Assignment 1:
 Students will receive their drafts of assignment 1 back at the beginning of
be present to answer any questions students have about their drafts. If
students do not finish their good copies during this lesson they will need to
work on them for homework.
Misleading advertising:
 Teacher will lead a class discussion about the idea that not all advertising is
truthful and can sometimes be misleading or even manipulative. Students
will be asked to consider advertising campaigns which they believe are
misleading. The teacher will discuss some reasons why an advertisement
may be misleading, such as: bias, prejudice or generalizations.
Stereotyping and representation in advertising:
 Students will be involved in a think, pair, share activity in which they
will be asked to brainstorm stereotypes they believe are promoted in
advertising.
 Magazine activity: Students will be split into two different groups, each
given a selection of magazines targeted towards either men or women.
Each group will be asked to go through these magazines and find examples
of advertisements which promote stereotypes about either gender (eg
women are housewives, men must be strong and brave). They would then
be asked how they would change the advertisement so that it didn’t focus
on stereotypes.
Students will hand in their final copy of Assignment 1 at the beginning of the last
lesson of this week
Introduction to Assessment Task #2:
 Assessment task 2 would require students to create their own print
advertisements about a product of their choosing. They must use a range
of the persuasive techniques that have been learned in class and ensure
they do not mislead consumers or promote stereotypes within their
advertisements. They will include a writers statement explaining their
stylistic choices.
 Word limit: Advertisement + 500 word writers’ statement
 Drafts due: Friday Week 5
 Good copy due: Friday week 6
 Past v. Present: How has advertising
changed?
Year 11 Essential English – The Power of Advertising: Assessment Task #1 (Responding to Texts)

Task: Compare and contrast two advertisements.

Mode: Written

Length: 800 words

Task Description: Compare and contrast two different advertisements which focus on the same
topic, discussing the form, audience, social context, and language of each. You must include one
advertisement from the present (within the past 5 years) and one from the past (at least 20 years
old). These advertisements may be either print or in commercial form.

Topics:
 Health & Beauty (eg smoking, food, medicine, hair/make-up)
 Entertainment (eg movies, gaming, activities)
 The Home (eg kitchen or bathroom products)
 A topic of your choice by negotiation with the teacher

Structure:
 Introduction
 What topic have you focused on?
 What are your advertisements and who were they published by?
 What is the overall message or purpose of these advertisements?
 Form
 Are your advertisements in print form? A TV commercial?
 Where would this ad have appeared? (A magazine, a newspaper, a poster, on the
television?)
 What does the ad look like? Who or what is in the advertisement?
 How does the form of the advertisement enhance the message?
 Audience
 Who is the advertisement aimed at? How do you know this?
 What does the advertisement include that would appeal to this audience?
 Is the advertisement effective in targeting the specific audience? Why/why not?
 Social Context
 When was this advertisement published?
 What was happening in the world at this time which would affect how this
advertisement was created or perceived?
 Language
 What techniques are used to persuade the audience?
 How do these make the audience feel?
 Are these techniques effective? Why/why not?
 Conclusion
 Sum it up!
 Did the advertisements achieve their purpose?
 Was one more effective than the other?

Draft Due: Friday Week 3, Term 2 (via SEQTA)

Final Copy Due: Friday, Week 4, Term 2 (via SEQTA)

Ensure that you appropriately draft, edit and proofread your work. You will have time in class to work
on this assignment.
Refer to the rubric for assessment criteria
Performance Standards for Stage 1 Essential English
- Communication
A Consistently clear and
coherent writing and
speaking, using an
appropriate vocabulary.
Thorough demonstration of
grammatical control.
B Mostly clear and coherent
writing and speaking, using a
varied vocabulary.
Effective and usually accurate
grammatical control.
C Generally clear writing and
speaking, using a mostly
appropriate vocabulary.
Appropriate grammatical
control; some errors, but
these do not impede
meaning.
D Occasionally clear writing and
speaking, with a restricted
vocabulary.
Partial grammatical control;
some errors impede meaning.
E Limited clarity in writing and
speaking, with a limited
vocabulary.
Limited grammatical control;
errors impede meaning.
Comprehension
Detailed comprehension and
interpretation of complex
information, ideas, and
perspectives in a range of
texts.
Thorough understanding of
the purpose, structure, and
language features in texts.
Detailed comprehension and
interpretation of some
complex information, ideas,
and perspectives in texts.
Appropriate understanding of
the purpose, structure, and
language features in texts.
Comprehension of some
information and ideas in texts.
Recognition and
understanding of the purpose,
structure, and language
features in some texts.
Identification of information
and ideas in texts.
Some recognition and
awareness of the purpose,
structure, and/or language
features in some texts.
Identification of some
information or ideas in a text.
Limited recognition and
awareness of the purpose,
structure, and language
features in a text.
Analysis Application
Thorough analysis of Creation of complex texts
ways in which creators of for different purposes,
a range of texts convey using appropriate textual
information, ideas, and conventions.
perspectives.
Identification and clear
analysis of ways in which
language features are
used to create meaning
in a range in texts.
Analysis of ways in which Creation of effective texts
creators of a range of for different purposes,
texts convey information, using appropriate textual
ideas, and perspectives. conventions.
Identification and
analysis of ways in which
language features are
used to create meaning
in a range of texts.
Identification, with some Creation of texts for some
basic analysis, of ways in purposes, using
which creators of a appropriate textual
narrow range of texts conventions.
convey simple
information and ideas.
Identification, with some
basic analysis, of ways in
which language features
are used to create
meaning in a narrow
range of texts.
Reference to one or Creation of texts for a
more ways in which narrow range of purposes,
creators of a narrow using some textual
range of texts convey conventions.
simple information and
ideas.
Reference to some ways
in which language
features are used to
create meaning in a
narrow range of texts.
Recognition of the way in Creation of a partial text
which a creator of a text for a purpose, attempting
conveys a simple piece to use appropriate textual
of information or idea. conventions.
Reference to a way in
which language features
are used to create
meaning in a simple text.
Word count: 2,184 (excluding task sheet + tracking column)