Regular Day: I saw all classes.

Found on the Internet somewhere.

I will be grading the ads of sections 3, 6, and HB this week.  I will post when grades have been updated. 

The only class that has homework is section 4.  They will be entering the Choosing the Right Word Tuesday.

Block Scheduling: I updated some grades on HAC

I collected the ad projects in sections 3 and 6 today.
HB needs to get them to me.  I did not get to see them today.

Interims will be entered starting May 8th.

Monday is a regular day.  We are beginning unit 13 and a new writing assignment.  More details will follow on Monday.

Despite what the students think, there are many weeks left in the marking period. 

Here are the assignments/grades I have planned for the rest of the year:

1. 700-1000 words as part of the preparation for the last written piece: Due around May 11th.
2. The written piece: Due May 21

3. Vocab unit 13 pictionaries, choosing, and quiz: Due... as we get to them.
4. Vocab unit 14 pictionaries, choosing, and quiz: Due... as we get to them.
5. Unit 15 might have to be open book.
6. I would like to give a vocab final for a test grade (not a huge grade) to show them what they have learned.

We will also be doing some Daily Oral Language sheets in class which count towards their participation grades.

I hope this helps.  

Block schedule: Frustrated

Homework:
Sections 4, 6, and 3 will take the unit 12 quiz tomorrow.
Section HB MUST turn in their ad on Monday.
Section 3 MUST turn in their ads Friday.
Section 6 is supposed to have their ads done for Friday.

Frustrated:
I gave sections HB and 3 work time today in class to get the ad project done.  It seems that if I do not hawk over them, they will not do the work.  If I make it homework, which it was, it will not get turned in.  I don't know what else to do, but I am always trying to help students be successful.  Too many are not pulling their own weight.  Interims should be interesting.

Block scheduling: Ad unit ending

Due Tomorrow:
Section 5 and HB- Quiz Unit 12
Section HB- Ad project due

I will try to keep up with homeworks on here, but I have to be honest, it is not going to be easy!  The block schedule has NO CONSISTENCY.  I will not be able to get a rhythm going. 

I included the picture of charts on my board because that is how I will keep track of what each class has done.  I will post the next lesson soon.  We are wrapping up the advertising unit... while some will start the new lesson tomorrow. 

Again, I will do my best to keep you informed.

Grades are updated on HAC

Students, for various reasons, are not getting their work in to me.  I updated the grades and gave them to the students today so they can get me the make-up work.

The grade for the 250 word piece we wrote before break is temporary.  However, if the grade is a zero, I do not have it!  When I read over them, I will assign them a quick A, B, or C, depending on the depth of the answer.  These paragraphs were practice for brief constructed responses. 

Change in plans! Due dates below.

I can't do it all.

Originally, I planned to roll from the magazine ad into a video commercial for their products.  I must confess that the focus of the students is waning.  It is like pulling teeth to get these magazine ads done.  So, by the end of this week, we will be finished advertising and move on to something else. 


(We made some video commercials earlier anyway.)

Due dates by section:

Section 3: Magazine ad due Thursday, Quiz 12 Friday
Section 4: Magazine ad due Wednesday, Quiz 12 Friday
Section 5:  Magazine ad due Wednesday, Quiz 12 Thursday
Section 6: Magazine ad due Friday, Quiz 12 Friday
Section HB: Magazine ad due Thursday, Quiz 12 Thursday

Here is a simplified version of what the ad paragraph should include.  I think the paragraph should be closer to 300 words honestly.

Written Piece #1

 In 200 words or so, explain why your print ad is an effective way to promote the product.  Type it neatly, single-spaced, size 12, Times-New Roman font.  PUT ON THE BACK OF YOUR AD. ***

 What is the product?

What are the real things that this product can do for the audience

Who the Audience

Age Range: 

Male/Female

Race:  Does it matter?

Interests/Hobbies:

Family situation: (Married, single, with kids?)

List the techniques you think this audience will respond to.

Technique Why?   How do you know this? There should be at least three clearly identifiable ad techniques.

            1.

            2.

3.

Explain the person in the ad.

Powerful or Powerless?

The ad should be eye-catching and colorful. Will your ad include people who are

Why do you think this will be a good ad for your audience?

In what magazine do you plan to place your ad?

Why is this magazine a good fit for your ad?

Students are dragging their feet on their ad.

It seems like as soon as the students leave class, the project is "out of sight, out of mind."  Each day when I ask them to get started, it's like they spend half the time just playing around.  No student has said he/she is finished a rough draft for Monday.  I guess I will give them more work time next week, but they just seem to waste it.

Maybe a weekend will help them come back refreshed.  It is going to be a long week next week.  We go to block scheduling:
Tuesday I will see sections 3, 5, and HB. 
Wednesday, sections 4, 6, and 5.
Thursday, sections  3, 5, and HB.
Friday, sections 4, 6, and 3.

Sometime during the week we will have the quiz on unit 12.
The print ad will also be due around Thursday.

The school year is not over yet!

A rough draft of the ad and the paragraph are due Monday

Homework:
Choosing the Right Word unit 12
Rough draft of the ad and the 200 word paragraph due Monday



Today:
I checked the pictionaries and synonyms.
We reviewed the words and the answers.
I explained EXACTLY what is due Monday.
I gave students time to work in class.

The rough draft of the ad is a sketch that shows basically what the good ad will look like.  The students should label each part of the ad with arrows saying which technique is being used.   On Monday, the students should be ready to explain their strategy for selling the device. 

This ad project is putting together everything we have been learning.  Students should be proving to me that they can not only recognize how ads inform, persuade, or influence, they are showing me that they can do the same thing!

How to sell your product like the ShamWow! guy.

Homework:
Pictionaries 11-20 and synonyms unit 12

Today:
We listened to words 11-20 unit 12.
We watched the ShamWow! ad and discussed "need" and the artificial means of persuasion.

I wanted the students to see how a product is sold.  In this ad, the man is selling a towel.  A towel has one purpose- to soak up liquids.  With that said, what does he fill the rest of the two minute ad with? 

We watched as he made us think we need the product.  He showed at least 15 ways that we could use the towel.  Most times we think, "Duh," but after a while, it seems like we really do need the towel! 

Then we looked at our 20 ad techniques.  They seem like logical reasons, but they aren't.  The ad contains all 20 techniques including hype, lie, plain folk, repetition, and testimonials.

Here is the script from the ad:

ShamWow Ad

[Vince, the salesman, is standing behind a table with the towel in his hand and a bowl of water.  He is talking to us through the camera.]

Vince: Hi, it’s Vince with ShamWow.

Vince: You’ll be saying “Wow” every time you use this towel. It’s like a shammy, it’s like a towel, it’s like a sponge. A regular towel doesn’t work wet; this works wet or dry. This is for the house, the car, the boat, the RV. ShamWow holds twenty times it’s weight in liquid. Look at it! It just does the work! Why do you want to work twice as hard?


Vince: Doesn’t drip, doesn’t make a mess… wring it out. You wash it in the washing machine. Made in Germany - you know the German’s always make good stuff.

Vince: You can cut it in half - use one as a bath mat, drain dishes with the other one, use one as a towel.

Vince: Olympic divers use it as a towel. Look at that - completely dry [wipes arm].

 Vince: Put a wet sweater [on it], roll it up - it dries your sweaters. Here’s some cola. Wine, coffee, cola, pet stains…

Vince: Not only is the damage going to be on top - there’s your mildew - that is going to smell.


Vince: See that? Now we’re going to do this in real time. Look at this - put it on the spill, turn it over - without even putting any pressure, fifty percent of the cola - right there. You following me camera guy?

Vince: The other fifty percent - the color - starts to come up. No other towel is going to do that. It acts like a vacuum, and - look at this - virtually dry on the bottom. See what I’m telling ya? ShamWow - you’ll be saying “wow” every time.


[People talking about their ShamWows at a fair]

Person: “I can’t live without it! I just love it!”

Person: “Oh my gosh. I don’t even buy paper towels anymore.”

Person: “If you’re going to wash your car or any type of vehicle, you’d be out of your mind not to own one of these.”

Person: “All I can say is - Sham-WOW.”


 [Back to Vince]

Vince:You’re going to spend twenty dollars a month on paper towels anyway.

Vince: You’re throwing money away.

Vince: The mini ShamWows are for everything - everyday use.


Vince: This lasts ten years, this lasts a week [holds up sponge]. I dunno - it sells itself.


(Some more here.  I ran out of time to get this ready.)

[Ordering information]

Ad techniques in the ad:

I made a gallery of the objects we are selling in class.

Homework:
Pictionaries 1-10 Unit 12

Here is the web page for the current assignment.
Here is the gallery of our objects if the students want to use the picture in their ad.


Today:
We listened to words 1-10 unit 12.
Then we watched another beginning of the show Pitchmen with Billy Mays.  The focus of today's discussion was "need."  Sure, you can make people want the product, but that doesn't always translate over to making a purchase.  However, if you can get people to think they need the object, they will be more likely to spend their money.

Tomorrow, we will examine the two minute ad for the Sham Wow!  We will see how he makes us think that we cannot do without the towel.  We will examine the ad techniques he uses in his ad.   Many of them are real, but how many are artificial?  It should be interesting!

I am giving students time to work in class, but the more successful students will be planning ahead.  They will not be able to make the whole thing in class.  I do not have supplies to do that.  I will try to help them, though.

The students should be thinking about the exact audience who will buy their object.  I want them to choose which magazine they would place their ad in.  Here are some of the magazines I have hanging around the room and in the hall.  The students also listened to many students present their magazines.  They should have some idea even if they just express what the ideal magazine for their product is.

We have started the TV ad project

** Report cards were handed out today **

Some of the products

 

Homework:

No homework.  We have not started vocab unit 12.  We will do that Tuesday.

We just started the ad project.  The project listed below will be due within two weeks.  It's hard to create an exact due date because testing starts next week, and we will be in block scheduling for three weeks. 

Media Literacy Project 2012: Selling a Product

You are an inventor, like the people you saw on the show Pitchmen.  You have a product that you would like to have sold.  The “pitchmen” will be the group that you be placed with later. You will be creating this individually, but you will be pitching your idea to a group.  Whatever the group decides to promote will be the product that is filmed.

1. What is the product?

What are the real things that this product can do for the audience?

What are the things about this product that you are not going to mention?

2. Determine the Audience

Age Range: 

Male/Female

Race:  Does it matter?

Interests/Hobbies:

Family situation: (Married, single, with kids?)

List the techniques you think this audience will respond to.

(Yes, there are legitimate reasons to buy this product, but I would like you to do more than just list the uses for the product.  I want you to appeal to their emotions with your ad.)

Technique	Why?   How do you know this?

3. Design a print ad  Due: __________________

The ad must have a person in the ad.

There should be at least three clearly identifiable ad techniques.

The ad should be eye-catching and colorful. (You can use clipart and pictures from magazines or the Internet.)

Will your ad include people who are Powerful or Powerless?

Be prepared to explain everything chosen for the ad. 

Why do you think this will be a good ad for your audience?

In what magazine do you plan to place your ad?

Why is this magazine a good fit for your ad?

Written Piece #1

 In 200 words or so, explain why your print ad is an effective way to promote the product.  Type it neatly, single-spaced, size 12, Times-New Roman font.  PUT ON THE BACK OF YOUR AD. ***

Break has arrived

I entered the quiz grades from today.

There are a few students from sections 4 and 5 that must write out their magazine presentation because we ran out of time to present.

I have also asked that students in sections 4 and 5 have the 250 word piece finished ASAP and e-mail it to me.  The sooner the better so they don't forget what they have learned.

It is time to take a break. The push to the end of the year will be challenging with block schedules and testing.  I hope the students come back refreshed and ready to work. 

One more day before break...

But the students aren't done until they have completed two things.
       1. They have a quiz on unit 11 Thursday.
       2. They must give me the 200-250 word answer to the prompt I gave them Monday.
        
Prompt:  Now that you have analyzed your magazine for three weeks and listened to the magazine presentations, in what ways are you now more critical of the messages aimed at you?  

Then they can rest.

The grades for the magazine presentations are on HAC.  A few students are excused because they need to present.  If the grade is a zero, they have not turned in their presentation.  :(

We are completing the magazine presentations.

Homework:
Quiz 11 tomorrow OR Thursday
There is a paragraph due Thursday (see yesterday's blog)


I have updated two grades on HAC for the 4th MP.  I will add the magazine presentation grades tomorrow. 

However, section HB presentation grades are in because nine students still did not have their presentations, even  after two days of asking for them.

(Students who have a zero must now hand in the answers to the questions from page 19 of the yellow packet and the four ads they were going to discuss. I will give them half credit.  Without this assignment, it will be hard to be successful for the rest of the marking period.)

Brief Constructed Response due Thursday

Homework:
Students who want late credit should finish the presentation that was due today!
Vocab quiz unit 11 Wednesday
200-250 word response due Thursday (see below)

Today:
We began our magazine presentations.
Here is a PowerPoint from a great magazine presentation.

End of Magazine Study Written Piece:

Due Thursday, April 5

Being critical involves the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment:

·      Objective: not influenced by personal feelings or opinions in considering and representing facts

·      Analysis: detailed examination of the elements or structure of something

·      Judgment: an opinion or conclusion

Now that you have analyzed your magazine for three weeks and listened to the magazine presentations, in what ways are you now more critical of the messages aimed at you? 

You could discuss how you are more critical of magazines.

You could discuss how the study of magazines has made you more critical of messages aimed at you on TV.

You should refer to your yellow packet, any sheets I have given you, and my blog.

The written piece is due Thursday. 

·      Think of this as a brief constructed response question. 

·      It should be around 200 – 250 max words.

·      It should have a topic sentence that basically states that you have become more critical of the messages aimed at you.

·      Get to the point quickly.

·      As always, grammar is a separate grade.  Please make sure you have proofread.

·      The piece will be worth about 50 points.

General Outline

(Use this if you want, but it might limit some of you.)

 

Topic Sentence

First thing learned.

Explain what it is.

Explain what you have learned from it.

Second thing learned.

Explain what it is.

Explain what you have learned from it.

Third thing learned.

Explain what it is.

Explain what you have learned from it.

Conclusion sentence