Christina+Mills+Week+6

Lesson Title: ** PSA Description: ** Students will have just completed their announcements from the previous lesson, and before they submit their ideas for a grade, they will post their announcements on the class website to receive feedback from their classmates. Students will post a podcast of their announcement as well as a short description. Each group will be required to visit two other groups’ work to add insights or comments to their announcement; students will then adjust their announcements accordingly. To complete the unit, students will present their final announcements to the school website to receive feedback from parents, school faculty, administration, and other community members. This feedback will help students develop their final announcement to present to the school administration in an effort to change the problem or issue they previously selected. Objectives: ** Introduction: ** Teacher will initiate a class discussion regarding persuasion techniques by first having the students listen and view several selected commercials. They will discuss what types of persuasion techniques are being utilized. Then teacher will present numerous ads or cartoons as more examples. Lesson: **  Students will post their podcasts to the class website to receive peer feedback through blogging. This will give students an authentic audience to view and critique their work (Laureate, 2009a). Each group will be assigned two other groups to listen to their announcement and give at least three suggestions for improvement and three positive remarks. They may also ask for clarification and offer further insight. The great advantages to blogging for this assignment is that “a true blog post is never really finished, that as long as it’s out there for others to interact with, the potential for deeper insight exists” (Richardson, 2009, p. 30)
 * Grade Level:** Freshmen
 * Subject:** Language Arts
 * 
 * 
 * 1) Students will be able to listen critically to interpret and evaluate announcements.
 * 2) Students will be able to view and respond personally in discussion and writing to a public announcement.
 * 3) Students will be able to analyze media biases and use of persuasion techniques in class discussions and in oral reports.
 * 4) Students will be able to use computers and all available technology to enhance their communication skills.
 * 5) Students will be able to write and type a formal business letter, using the standard block-style format.
 * 6) Students will work cooperatively to evaluate, respond, write, and amend their announcements.
 * 
 * 15 to 20 minutes **
 * 
 * 3 to 5 Class Periods: **

Once students preview their feedback, they will alter their announcements as needed in order to have them posted on the school website. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Once students’ announcements are ready to be published publically, students will write a letter home discussing their issue and their selected solutions as well as encourage feedback. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Students will utilize any feedback gained to help strengthen their announcements before they move on to the next step in the unit, presenting their case to the school administration. Extensions/Adaptations: ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> Students can even take this a step further and put an ad in the local paper or radio inviting community members to view their podcasts and leave feedback. Students will be supported with a rubric outlining the main criterion their announcements must include. Students will have protection from adverse consequences through cooperative learning as well as through constant feedback to help them refine and enhance their announcements. If needed, I will be available before and after school hours to help students with any technological issues or questions. Furthermore, I will monitor all feedback before it is posted to the site to make sure all remarks are appropriate. Lastly, because most of this lesson takes place online, students can work both in and out of class time to complete their assignments (Laureate, 2009b). Assessment: ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> I will informally monitor students’ knowledge during the class discussion and fill in any gaps or misconceptions when needed. Students will receive a participation grade for their blogging. To receive an ‘A’, students must reply to two groups as well as reply based on the selected number of responses. Students will also be graded on their block-style letters explaining their projects and soliciting feedback. They will continue to modify their announcements based on feedback and their rubrics.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">


 * References**

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009a). Spotlight on technology part I. Social networking and online collaboration. Baltimore: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009b). Spotlight on technology part II. Social networking and online collaboration. Baltimore: Author.

Richardson, Will. (2009). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA. Corwin Press.