Teaching about TV advertisements – A project on healthy snacks

1. Teaching about TV advertisements – A project on healthy snacks Ms Fiona Wong, Ms Zita Cheng, Mr Sam Ho NLSI Lui Kwok Pat Fong College

2. School background • CMI school • Students are creative and talented but….. • their achievement in English doesn’t match that in other subjects, so….. • enriching the English environment is a high priority for the school and….. • infusing language arts into the junior secondary curriculum is one way in which this is being done

3. Why this project in S3? • began two years ago • students had to do a cross-curricular project • teachers wanted to combine Home Ec and English • textbook had Healthy Eating chapter • TV ads a new idea – students can learn some Language Arts features of jingles, slogans and packaging, as well as some advertising strategies • presentation more interesting for inter-class competition

4. Extra curricular programme Project work Classroom teaching Inter-class competition for English Week Group project and class competition Lessons on features of TV advertising

5. Poems and Songs Knowledge Different types of poems (eg haiku, acrostic, shape poem, sonnet) Poetic features (eg rhyme, rhythm, simile, metaphor, alliteration) Skills Appreciating, responding, Creating, performing Popular Culture Knowledge Pop culture text types (movies, advertisements, comic strips) Features of those text types (language, style, format , target audience, use of images) Skills Responding, creating Presentation skills Drama Knowledge • Features of a drama script or screenplay • Drama vocabulary (audience, stage, costumes) Skills • Acting skills:- showing feeling with voice, gesture, movement • Team interaction • Writing a script or screenplay Fiction / Short Stories Knowledge • Story elements (eg plot, characters) • Major features (openings, closings, dialogue, creating mood) Skills • Analysing and appreciating stories • Storytelling • Writing stories or completing a given beginning or outline • Character analysis

6. Overview

7. Features of packaging • The colour, design and wording should attract the target consumers of the product and suggest something about the product’s “selling point” • The name and packaging may contain special features, eg alliteration or play on words (pun) • This is quite common in advertising, but difficult for students to replicate

9. Jingles and slogans • Should be short and memorable • May contain • rhyming words • puns • alliteration

10. Be ________. • Do it ________. • Obey traffic lights. bright right

11. TV Advertising strategies • Using humour • Using an image which shocks or surprises, but is memorable • Using famous people • Using “science” to scare/reassure • Suggesting the product will solve a problem – and also make life better in general • Using images of beautiful, rich people in glamorous settings • Using references to current events, “hot topics” etc.

12. Integration into the teaching schedule • Number of lessons • Textbook teaching (Healthy lifestyles) 8 lessons • Project 18 single lessons – 2 cycles (may take longer according to the class)

13. 1. Introduction Students….. • watch a clip from “Jamie’s school dinners” in which children refuse to eat healthy food. • discuss good ways to persuade children to eat more healthily. • raise the idea of marketing healthy snacks

14. 2. Packaging Students….. • identify features of packaging. • evaluate examples of packaging of snacks (candies, chocolate bars, cookies, etc.) which they have collected • work in pairs/groups to make a name, ingredients and design a package for their product

15. Features of packaging

16. Evaluating packaging

17. 3. Advertising strategies Students…… • watch a TV commercial as an introduction to highlight the different features, slogan, jingle, advertising strategy, etc. • read a passage about the techniques used in TV commercials and answer comprehension questions • watch and evaluate a selection of TV advertisements

18. TV Advertisements

19. 4. Slogans and jingles Students…. • listen to/read some jingles. • identify examples of rhyme, rhythm and alliteration. (Word plays are also used sometimes) • work on a slogan and/or jingle for their own product

20. Slogans and jingles Language features

21. 5. Storyboard Students • watch an example of a student product (advertisement) • look at an example of a storyboard of the same advertisement • draft storyboards for their own advertisements.

23. Benefits Students can get ideas about types of strategies to use They learn some English jingles and slogans They learn the features of these Difficulties Not familiar with vocab about healthy lifestyle (eg vitamins, fibre etc) Time constraint Drama skills Getting suitable advertisements for showing in class Students’ response to the teaching part

24. Changes for this year • Add drama skills for one or two lessons • Find more up-to-date advertisements! • Change of timing to include CNY holiday – students have more time to work on their videos • Worksheets compiled as a booklet, so students can keep it for their reference

25. From project to performance • Students present their products and advertisements in class • Peer evaluation is conducted • The best presentations and advertisements are chosen for the inter-class competition in English Week.

26. Benefits Students are very motivated to perform well Enables them to use their IT skills in the context of English The only time they want to speak English in front of others Difficulties Some students have stage fright Lack of basic drama skills Students like to make last minute changes For weaker classes, coaching in pronunciation is needed Preparation for performance

27. Holding the competition (Learning from painful experience!) • First time difficulties • No hall rehearsal • Timing was a problem • Technical problems • Second time improvements • Rehearsal time allocated • Improvement in technical aspects • Third time?

28. Students’ products

29. Front Back Packaging

30. Corn: carbohydrate , protein, fibre, vitamins Ham: protein, calcium , phosphorous, iron and fat Iceberg lettuce : Vitamins and fibre

31. Space Pudding

32. 2006 Honey Tofu

33. 2007 Power Jelly S3 students’ work “No Sweat” storyboard

34. Students’ responses What did they enjoy most? What was difficult? Feelings about the teaching materials Choice of presentation – live action or video?

35. Impact on students • Motivates them to produce something in English • Motivating for boys – can use IT skills • Can draw the attention of students in other year groups if they see the performances • Students gain confidence in presenting their ideas

36. Project assessment • Assessment of project work by teacher using rubric • Teacher’s feedback in project booklet • Self and peer evaluation • Competition adjudicators’ scoresheet and “audience award”

37. S3 project assessment rubric The packaging is attractive and carefully done. The design is suitable for the target audience. The packaging gives additional information about the product

38. audience awards peer assessment project booklet

39. Resources Materials from this project available on our website: • http://cd1.edb.hkedcity.net/cd/languagesupport/resource/English/26_healthy_snacks/index.htm Materials about TV ads • http://www.teachit.co.uk/index.asp?CurrMenu=132&T=411#411 Other websites with TV commercials: • www.youtube.com • www.thebesttvcommercials.com (mainly US) • www.visit4info.com (mainly UK) • www.funnyplace.org (international)