April 15, 2010

Homework:
Finish Unit 10 vocab
Quiz Friday

Today:
In sections 1,2,6,7 we have been doing daily drills which focus on idioms and analogies.  We have been doing vocabulary reviews because we are going to be covering one unit a week until the end of school.  We have also been working on the yearbook ad project mentioned in an earlier blog.

Today I explained that I would like the groups to present their ideas to me Friday.  Just as an ad agency would present their ideas to a client, I want to hear what they are thinking about doing.  I gave them a copy of the 500 piece requirements to use for the presentation because four of the five ideas need to be discussed.  I would like to see a rough draft of the 500 word piece early next week.  I would like the ads done ASAP so I can start promoting the yearbook.

Ironically, I have been doing this project with 100 students.  Not all of them have bought yearbooks.  Now, if we have been talking about selling yearbooks so much and they haven't bought them, what are my chances of the rest of the students buying them?

This makes me think about one part of the video "The Persuaders."  There is one man who believes he can find out what people really want deep down.  He believes you don't have to convince those people to buy the product if they already want it.  In other words, you need don't need to advertise to people who want to buy anyway.  Just find those people.  I am hoping our ads will find students who have not bought a yearbook yet buy who really want one.  We will see.

Requirements for the 500 word piece

The piece will discuss a few things:
-What did your research show about why students did not buy a yearbook?
-Based on research, what techniques address the needs/perceptions of students?
-Explain everything in the ad: the pictures, words, colors, etc.
-Ads are tested on focus groups. What feedback did you receive on your ad?
-Why do you think the ad will be successful at increasing yearbook sales?

Grade
The piece should be about 500 words. I want the number written on the piece.
There should be NO GRAMMAR ERRORS at all.
You must answer the questions above in a smooth, continuous piece.
It should not be a series of short answers.
The piece should flow from one topic to the next focusing on the goal of selling yearbooks.