Internet Safety Lesson Plan: Online Advertising

Nancy Brown
LIS 725
Information Literacy Lesson Plan
December 7, 2010
Internet Safety Lesson Plan:
Online Advertising Awareness
Overview: This lesson will be taught in the library media center to sixth grade students from a
language arts class as part of a unit of study covering advertising and persuasion. The library
media specialist will collaborate with the language arts teacher to introduce students to the types
of messages conveyed through visual media. Throughout the unit, students will use viewing
skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media. They will also use skills and
strategies of the reading process to make, confirm, and revise predictions, determine author’s
purpose, and understand specific devices an author uses to accomplish his or her purpose.
Students will learn about the purpose for online advertisements and how they are directed to a
target audience. Finally, students will use this knowledge of advertising techniques to create
their own ads.
Standards:
21st Century Learner:
2.1.3 Use strategies to draw conclusions from information and apply knowledge to curricular areas, realworld situations, and further investigations.
2.1.6 Use the writing process, media and visual literacy, and technology skills to create products that
express new understandings.
4.1.8 Use creative and artistic formats to express personal learning.
4.3.2 Recognize that resources are created for a variety of purposes.
I-SAIL Objectives
Standard 1: 10. Begins to understand visual literacy clues
Standard 2: 6. Reads, views, listens to information critically and competently
Standard 2: 7. Applies evaluative criteria to print and/or non-print materials to determine the
usefulness, relevancy, suitability, authority, objectivity, currency
Standard 3: 4. Creates a product using technology when appropriate
Illinois State Learning Standards for English Grades 6-8
1.C.3d Summarize and make generalizations from content and relate them to the purpose of the material
3.C.3b Using available technology, produce compositions and multimedia works for specified audiences
NET-S (National Educational Technology Standards for Students)
1. Creativity and Innovation
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and
processes using technology. Students: c. use models and simulations to explore complex systems and
issues.
3. Research and Information Fluency
Students will c. evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to
specific tasks.
4. Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making
Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and
make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources.
Objectives:
In their study of online advertising students will apply persuasive techniques through the creation
of a sample advertisement.
Grade Level/Learner Population/Grouping Arrangements: The series of lessons about
online advertising will be taught to a sixth grade regular education class that includes several
mainstreamed learning disabled students. The instruction will take place in a whole group
setting. There will be some instances of small group work as well. For the final product,
students will work in pairs.
Time: These lessons will be taught over a period of three class sessions (days), each equaling
about 45 minutes.
Environment: The lessons will be taught in the library media center. Students will also use the
library computer lab.
Materials:
Hand-outs for each student:
“Sticky Sites” Activity Sheet 1by Cybersmart! Education
http://cybersmartcurriculum.org/assets/files/activitysheets/6-8/Sticky_Sites.pdf
“Sticky Sites” Activity Sheet 2 (2 copies per student) (same link as above)
“Find It Online” scavenger hunt worksheet by Admongo.gov
http://www2.scholastic.com/content/collateral_resources/pdf/smp/ftc_admongo/FTC_Online_W
orksheet_1.pdf
Powerpoint presentation showing examples of types of ads
Video link to Teacher Tube video “Cracking the Advertising Code” (on Powerpoint)
Creating an Online Advertisement assignment sheet one per student
Rubric for Creating an Online Advertisement assignment
Resources:
An interactive white board would be useful for presenting this lesson so that all students could
see the examples. In addition, a computer design program such as Microsoft Paint, Microsoft
Word, or an online program such as Glogster would be helpful if students wanted to create their
advertisements using a computer. If students wanted to create drawings of their advertisements,
they could use markers, colored pencils, and 12x18” white paper.
Instructional Roles:
The language arts teacher and the library media specialist may choose to complete a
Collaborative Planning Template. The language arts teacher will be responsible for pre-teaching
the following skills and information. He/She will introduce students to the purposes of
advertising and the techniques that advertisers use to convince consumers to buy products.
Students will practice looking at examples of print advertising within their classrooms. The
teacher will grade the completed advertisement assignments. The library media specialist will be
responsible for introducing students to online consumerism and advertising. He/She will instruct
students using the Powerpoint presentation as well as the advertising video. The library media
specialist will lead the class discussions about online advertising and will lead two whole class
activities in which students examine examples of websites to look for “sticky sites” and online
ads. The library media specialist will also assist student teams as they complete the online
activities. He/She will also help students who may need guidance in the creation of their
advertisements.
Activity and Procedures for Completion:
These lessons will take place in the library media center. The Library Media Specialist (LMS)
will following the directions listed below:
DAY 1:
1. Begin a whole class discussion about how students use the Internet, for example for
email, social networking, to play games, to find sports scores, to do research for school
assignments, to shop, etc.
2. Ask students where they see advertisements, both online and in print and other sources.
Students will already have been introduced to advertising within their language arts class,
so this question should be a review. Students may share the following places that they
are exposed to advertising: “television, radio, newspapers, magazines, Web sites,
billboards, advertising mailers, the sides of trucks and buses, subway posters, handbills,
sidewalk signs, storefronts, blimps, skywriting, t-shirts, coffee mugs, shopping bags, etc”.
The LMS will make a class list of these spots on the white board.
List of advertising locations excerpted from the following source:
Cybersmart Curriculum. (n.d.). Sticky Sites Research and Information Fluency: Grades
6-8 Lesson Plan. Retrieved from
http://cybersmartcurriculum.org/researchinfo/lessons/6-8/sticky_sites/
3. Explain to students that they will learn how advertisers use websites to make sure that
consumers view their messages. Remind students that advertisements give information to
consumers to help them make decisions about what to buy. Also, tell students that
income from advertising pays for programming on television, radio, and online.
4. Hand-out the worksheet entitled “Sticky Sites” Activity Sheet 1. Read and discuss the
information with students. Review with students that commercial websites (usually
ending with .com in the URL) usually try to sell, promote, or advertise things.
5. Send students to individual computers within the library lab. Hand-out Activity sheet 2.
Instruct students to access the following website: www.cybersmartcurriculum.org and
click on Student Links on the lower left side of the web page. Then, when the symbols
appear, they should click the diamond. Students will need to page down to locate the
“Sticky Sites” lesson and open its links. The whole class will explore the Lego site
together. The whole class will work together to complete Activity Sheet 2 about the
website.
6. Hand-out the second copy of Activity Sheet 2 and ask small groups (about 3 per group) to
examine one additional website from Student Links. They should fill out Activity Sheet
2 together as a group. They should focus on using the links for K’NEX, Sports Illustrated
for Kids, and Cartoon Doll Emporium. A link to these websites can also be found in the
supplemental materials at the end of this lesson plan.
7. Discuss the results of the website examinations with the whole class. Collect group
copies of Activity Sheet 2 as a form of assessment.
DAY 2:
1.
The LMS will review with students examples of online advertising: banner ads and
other web page ads (that appear at the tops or sides of web pages), ads based on user
interest (Businesses track what websites people view, and so they place ads for those
products on people’s computers.), e-mail ads (Businesses or organizations send out emailings about sales. E-mail ads can contain viruses). Students should be careful
about opening attachments, downloading files, or clicking links in emails. Other
types of online advertisements include viral marketing and advergaming. Viral
marketing occurs when people forward videos or jokes to friends that may also show
a product, such as a soda, movie, new song, or gadget). Advergaming is a
commercial in the form of a game. Examples of this occur when kids use codes
found on such places as cereal boxes to log onto a website and enter the brand’s
made-up world.
Information about types of online advertisements excerpted from the following
source:
Federal Trade Commission. (n.d.). Lesson 1A: Online Advertising. Retrieved from
http://www.scholastic.com/admongo/lesson1a.htm
2. Show students the Powerpoint presentation that shares examples of various types of
electronic advertisements such as text message ads, social networking ads, billboard
ads within video games, and ads in an email newsletter. The Powerpoint also has a
short 3 minute video clip hyperlinked called “Cracking the Advertising Code” a
Teacher Tube video.
3. Discuss with students the idea that advertisements try to grab the attention of viewers.
To do this they create emotional reactions. Invite the students to keep track of their
feelings as they complete the next activity.
4. Ask students to work with a partner to complete Web Worksheet 1. This is an online
scavenger hunt in which students examine ads for products and evaluate the
effectiveness of the ads. They will use a list of approved sites to visit during their
hunts. See the directions listed on the “URLs of Websites Used in This Lesson Plan”
page in the supplemental materials.
5. Conduct a whole class discussion about students’ experiences from the activity.
Students should talk about their evaluations of the effectiveness of the
advertisements. They should determine if the ads would be appealing to the target
audience. In addition, the library media specialist could use the discussion questions
in the Assessment section of this lesson plan to determine if student learning took
place.
DAY 3:
1.
Hand-out assignment sheets for the “Creating an Online Advertisment” assignment.
Hand-out the rubric for the project. Discuss both with students and answer any
questions that they may have. Divide students into pairs to work on the assignment.
Students can choose to use computer software such as Microsoft Word or Paint, or an
online site such as Glogster to complete the assignment. Or, they can use markers,
colored pencils, and large 12x18” paper to create their advertisements. The library
media specialist and the classroom teachers should assist students as they create their
ads.
Modification/Differentiation:
This lesson should not need many modifications for special needs students. Since the
web searching involves partners or groups, special needs students should be able to work
together with regular education students to examine the websites and complete the
worksheets. The product could be differentiated for both learning disabled and gifted
students. For example, gifted students could be required to design an advertisement that
also employs “sticky” techniques to get viewers to return to it. Learning disabled
students could be given examples of print advertisements as models for their online ads.
This lesson appeals to students with various learning styles. For example, visual learners
will enjoy the computer work component in which they can view actual advertisements,
websites, a Powerpoint slide show, and a video. Auditory learners will benefit from the
direct instruction as well as the class discussions. Kinesthetic learners will benefit from
using computers. Also, they can choose to design their advertisements with markers if
they would prefer to work with their hands to create their products.
Evaluation:
The student products (advertisements) will be evaluated by the language arts teacher
using a rubric (attached).
Assessment:
Students will be assessed informally through the class discussions and through the
examination of their completed worksheets. The library media specialist may assess
student mastery of the lesson objectives by using the following questions during a class
discussion:
“What is a commercial website? (a site that advertises, promotes, or sells something)
What is meant by “stickiness”? (Stickiness refers to a site’s ability to keep visitors there
for long periods of time and to have them return frequently.)
Why do commercial sites try to be sticky? (They do that so that more people will
recognize and feel good about the brands and eventually buy the advertised products).
Which features have you seen that make a site sticky? (Answers will vary.)”
Questions quoted from the following source:
Cybersmart Curriculum. (n.d.). Sticky Sites Research and Information Fluency: Grades
6-8 Lesson Plan. Retrieved from
http://cybersmartcurriculum.org/researchinfo/lessons/6-8/sticky_sites/
When you examined the online ads in the scavenger hunt game, how were the ads alike
and how were they different?
List some ways that online advertisements try to attract possible consumers. (Through
sales, putting a commercial in the form of a game, using humor, using hype words like
amazing and incredible, by offering prizes or sweepstakes, through testimonials and
endorsements)
Extension/Follow-up:
The language arts teacher may want to continue the study of advertising within the
classroom. For example, she may want to teach students that advertisement can be used
for more than just selling products. They can be used to raise awareness or promote
special events. Advertisements are used in public settings such as schools to promote
sporting events, fundraisers, musical concerts, etc. An additional assignment might
require students to create public service announcements or design ad campaigns to
promote school events.
Independent Study: For students who finish their work early or who may want to
examine advertisements using a game format, the Admongo website provides access to
an online game. To play the game, students select an avatar and then direct their
character through multiple scenes to look for advertisements. Students use keys to jump,
climb, select objects, etc. They must also use problem solving skills to find their way
into new locations for searching. The link to this game can be found in the supplemental
materials following this lesson plan.
Federal Trade Commission. (n.d.). Lesson 1A: Online Advertising. Retrieved from
http://www.scholastic.com/admongo/lesson1a.htm
URLs of Websites Used in This Lesson Plan:
Day 1: Sticky Sites
Instruct students to examine the following four websites:
Lego
http://www.lego.com/en-us/Default.aspx
K’NEX
http://www.knex.com/
Sports Illustrated Kids
http://www.sikids.com/
Cartoon Doll Emporium
http://www.cartoondollemporium.com/
Day 2: Online Ad Scavenger Hunt
Instruct students to examine the following websites:
Banner Ad example: http://www.yahoo.com
Advergame example: http://www.postopia.com/
This website for Post Cereal brands is filled with online games. Users can create
accounts and enter Postoken codes (found inside product boxes) to gain access to the
games. Instruct students to explore the website without downloading any additional
software, such as Shockwave players.
If the LMS decides that it is appropriate, students can access their personal email
accounts to examine the email ads.
Viral video ads may be difficult to find.
Extension Activity:
Students who finish the activities early, or who would like to explore advertising by
playing the Admongo game can go to this website. There, they can access the Admongo
game in which their character tries to find ads hidden in the pictures.
http://www.admongo.gov/