Implementation of ‘Advertising’ (SOI-MT-118)

Subject: English Language and Media Literacy

Class: Since this learning scenario was created for Upper Secondary pupils, I had to slightly adapt it for children at Primary Level.

Intention: The main idea of this session was for pupils to write an advert using different digital tools.   

I have chosen and implemented the learning scenario by Alenka Taslak with a class of Year 5 pupils. The main reason for choosing this learning scenario is the fact that it encourages children to work collaboratively using different digital tools. This learning scenario also allows pupils to create new ideas and be innovative in finding different ways on how to produce an advert. Apart from sparking pupil’s creativity, it also helps children in improving their writing skills.

Capturing pupils’ attention

The children were initially introduced to Europeana. This was my first time working on a learning scenario taken from the website; therefore a link to Europeana’s collections was created on the pupil’s tablets. They were given some time to visit and explore the different resources Europeana.eu offers.  

The initial stage of the lesson was quite simple with true to life artifacts which put our topic in context. During the introduction the pupils were grouped in groups of maximum 5 children. They had to explore different advertisements presented, discuss in groups and guess today’s topic. The main objective underlying this activity was to immediately capture the pupil’s attention. I believe that the anticipation of discovering and investigating an answer and the fact that they are actively involved with their learning motivates students to learn a subject and entices them to want to learn more about it.  The lessons’ objective was shared with the pupils during this stage and was written on the whiteboard for all children to refer to throughout the lesson.

What makes a great advert?

Before this lesson, the children were asked to bring different magazines from home. During one of the activities which I adapted, the pupils had to compare the vintage adverts found on Europeana versus the modern ones found in magazines. With the use of the application ‘AnswerGarden’, the children had to discuss and think in groups about what makes a great advert. Each answer given was immediately and automatically transferred to the interactive board. After the given allotted time, a discussion about their observations took place. I believe that this activity in recall produces interest as children manifest their knowledge about adverts and related their answers to different practical life experiences.

Later on, a PowerPoint taken from ‘Twinkl’ was used. This resource explained further the concept of writing language persuasively. It included prompts and examples of persuasive language used in the industry. Furthermore, the success criteria were shared with the pupils and written on the interactive board. One important aspect of using this web-2 tool is the fact that children’s answers were visible both on the interactive white and on each pupil’s tablet. This is done as I believe that children learn from one another and thus, they can refer to the different vocabulary and throughout their advert writing.

Creating the advert

I believe that by working together and therefore by using group work during the different activities planned, children engage more with what is going on in the classroom. They enjoy themselves because it is a big change from the routine of having individual work all day long. Therefore, for this activity, I allowed pupils to plan their advert in groups. Each group was given a different object to produce their advert on. Some groups were challenged as they were given old and torn objects, but they had to create interesting adverts which manage to sell such objects.

Children were given a worksheet taken from worksheetplace.com, where they had to brainstorm on the audience, media used and the product being advertised. After the given allotted time, children used ‘WorkSpace’ and application found on their tablets to produce their adverts.

As a closure to this learning scenario, pupils were encouraged to present their adverts to their peers.  During this part, pupils had to criticize constructively each other’s work. Different questions were posed for children to carry out self and peer-assessment as writers were also encouraged to respond to this feedback. I believe that this activity is an excellent method in helping children gain the necessary confidence both socially and in their writing. 

Conclusion

During this lesson, different approaches to teaching and learning were used. While student-centred activities were the main focus of this learning scenario, the use of ICT and collaboration were also essential. These approaches aided in increasing pupils’ motivation towards learning and created better conditions for pupils to learn the target language. Finally, this lesson implementation enabled pupils to develop important 21st-century skills such as collaboration, creativity, and digital competence.

Did you find this story of implementation interesting? Why don’t you read about the related learning scenario:

Advertising created by Alenka Taslak

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Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). The featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana Collections and provided by Wellcome Collection.