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Comparing and Contrasting Campaign Ads in Class
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Lisa Cooper
Lisa Cooper has taught American History to fourth and fifth graders for the past nine years in a departmentalized setting.
Using the non de plum, Elementaryhistoryteacher, she began chronicling her content knowledge, teaching strategies, and opinions online in January, 2006 at her weblog, History Is Elementary. Her article, Oh, I Love to Tell the Story best profiles Lisa’s passion for the importance of Social Studies instruction.
Lisa resides in Douglasville, Georgia with her husband, two children, and a ten-toed cat that daily exhibits allusions of grandeur.
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More often than not the exercise of comparing and contrasting campaign ads in class ends up being a parent-child discussion on the way to ball practice, on the way home from daycare, or the subject of dinner conversation.
First using Ease History we begin by looking at campaign ads from the past. As we watch them we categorize the ads into the following categories-biographical, issue-oriented, values-laden, and negative. These terms come from a lesson plan at the website found here.
Once we have looked at several examples for each category I divide the class into groups. Each student receives a work sheet with the following questions (taken from this page):
Name:
Date:
Group Members:
Candidate in Ad:
1. How would you categorize your ad? (biographical, issue-oriented, value-laden, or negative)
2. Describe the language and tone of the ad? Is the narrator a male, female, or the candidate? Does the ad specify an action for the viewer (i.e. to elect the candidate, to visit the candidate’s website, to vote against the opponent)? How do language and tone shape the overall message?
3. How do words, images, color, music, camera angles, lighting, people, and symbols contribute to the message of the ad? Do you think they are effective?
4. Did this ad influence you? Did you learn from it? How did it appeal to you? How would you change it to make it more effective?
During our look at past campaign ads I also provide opportunities for students to answer the questions they will encounter during the group portion of the activity so that once they are are on their own they are familiar with the direction I’m trying to take them.
This activity meets several of Georgia’s standards for Language Arts as well as Social Studies.
Here are ads for each of the candidates that are still viable. I only took ads that were uploaded to You Tube by the candidate’s campaign. I tried to choose ones that have aired on television.
Now it’s your turn….Choose an ad or view them all and tell me which one(s) appeal to you, if you dare. :) I haven’t decided yet which candidate I will be voting for. Perhaps your response will influence my vote.
jawirt
9 months ago
40 comments
its got that mojo rising
Deven
9 months ago
554 comments
This is an excellent lesson that leads students up through the levels of Bloom's taxonomy. An extension that would go to the next level would be to have the students create their own campaign ad for a candidate or issue that interests them.
Deven
9 months ago
554 comments
This is a great lesson plan that leads students through the levels of Bloom's taxonomy. To take it even higher up the chain, you might want to have students create their own political ads for a candidate or issue that interests them.
johnslat
9 months ago
1592 comments
Very nice lesson plan. I love analyzing ads, whether political or otherwise, to get students to discover how such ads try to manipulate viewers. We're all bombarded by commercial or other appeals dozens of times a day, and I think it's important for our students to realize how those who create them are trying to "push our buttons" in various ways.