Margaret Murray
Research Unit on Buying a Cell Phone
Course/Grade Level:
English 8 Regular
Big Ideas/Long-Term
Goals:
The long term goals for students in this class is that they will successfully be able to read, discuss, and analyze a variety of print and nonprint texts. Through the activities of reading, writing, speaking, and listening they will be given the opportunity to begin to think critically about the works which they encounter. By critical thinking I am referring to the ability not to simply read for correctness, but to read for a higher level of comprehension where students are able to discuss in both oral and written form the ways in which themes, metaphors, imagery, symbolism, and even grammar and word usage can affect the meaning of a text and what those differences mean in terms of our understanding of literature, our selves, and our world. They will also learn how to express their understanding of these texts through written, visual, and oral forms both individually and in a social setting amongst peers.
Day 1 Lesson Plan:
Introducing the unit
State & National
Standards:
NCTE Standards
Standard 4- This standard refers to the students’ ability to vary their use of language to accommodate different purposes. In this class students will use their spoken language to contribute to the class wide discussion.
Standard 11- This standard refers to the need for students to participate in a socially constructed community of their peers so that they may experience interacting as “knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical” members. In this class the students will be functioning in a discourse community where each individual contributes to the class discussion.
Standard 12- This standard refers for the need for students to use language and literature for their own purposes. In this lesson they will be using language to express their ideas about an item which holds their interest.
NYS Learning Standards
Standard 1 – Students will read, write, listen and speak for information and understanding. In this lesson students will be speaking in a group discussion to brainstorm information about cell phones and cell phone providers based on their prior knowledge of the subject.
Standard 4- Students will read, write, listen and speak for social interaction. This lesson involves students interacting as a large group to generate ideas.
Lesson Objectives:
In this lesson students will draw on their prior knowledge to identify the important factors that go into the decision making process of buying a cell phone. My objective for this lesson is to introduce the unit, get students to start thinking about what they already know, and to promote their ability to work together as a group towards a common goal. I also wish to promote a
Motivation:
In one of the classes I observed this semester, one of the
teachers had students share responses to a journal entry written to the prompt
“What was the best gift you have ever given or received?” Far and away the most common gift named by
the students was a cell phone. This lesson
capitalizes on an item which is clearly of interest to the teen population in
order to motivate students to think about the elements that go into making a
critical decision. They will be using
their prior knowledge about cell phones to shape the class by contributing
their expertise to the class discussion.
Procedure (Timed
Outline of Class Activities):
First I will introduce the unit by asking questions to get students talking about cell phones: Who here has a cell phone? Who here doesn’t have a cell phone, but wants to have one? What kind of cell phone do you have? Is your cell phone valuable to you? Why? (5 -7 minutes)
Next I will outline the project that we will be working on for the rest of the week: “This week we will be doing a research project based on the decision making process involved in buying a cell phone. In a little while we are going to break up into groups. Each group will be responsible for a particular cell phone carrier, for whom that group will gather information so that they can defend their company in a class debate. I want you to teach me about the different options I would have if I were to buy a cell phone. Two weeks from today you will also have a project due based on this week’s research that we will go over at the end of class.” (3 minutes)
As a class we will proceed by brainstorming the factors that go into the process of buying a cell phone. For this segment of the class I will open the floor for students to respond. As students come up with suggestions I will list them on the board. Once we get a fair amount of factors I will work collaboratively with the class to narrow down the factors by identifying the 10 most important factors which go into the decision making process. After class I will type up the list and distribute it to students in class on Wednesday when they get into groups to share the research they have collected. (15-18 minutes)
Next I will break the class up into 4 predetermined groups of 5. Each group will be assigned a cell phone provider to research. If it works out I will allow the groups to choose which provider they want to research, however if not everyone agrees then I will a member of each group draw out of a hat. The providers that will be covered are: Cingular, Verizon, Sprint-Nextel, and T-Mobile. At this point I will also hand out the homework assignments for Tuesday and Wednesday and go over what will be expected of them. (5-10)
The remainder of the class will be devoted to talking about the final project for this unit. Students will be given two choices for the project. They can either write a persuasive essay in which they use the information collected during their research to convince the reader that they should buy a particular cell phone or they can create a pamphlet advertising a cell phone provider of their own making. (5-10 minutes)
Closure:
For Wednesday’s class each student is to bring in information from provider’s website, newspaper/magazine articles, consumer reports, advertisements, or any other source pertaining to their topic. For Tuesday’s class each student is to bring in at least one ad for the company they are assigned.
Assessment:
This is only the first lesson of the unit so there will be no formal assessment for the in class activities. However their homework assignments will be graded on a check plus, check, or no credit basis towards a long term homework grade as part of the assessment for the day when they are due.
Materials:
Chalk and chalkboard
Homework Assignments
List of Sample Sources for research
Final Project Assignment
Acknowledgement of
Sources:
Alfie Kohn Beyond
Discipline
Christenbury ch. 9
Day 2 Lesson Plan:
Analyzing Cell Phone Ads
State & National
Standards:
NCTE Standards
Standard 1- This standard requires that students read a variety of print and nonprint texts. Among the purposes for reading these texts the standard lists the acquisition of new information, personal fulfillment and responding to the demands that the student will face from society and the workforce. In this unit the students will interact with a variety of texts ranging from non-print advertisements to magazine articles. Their purpose in this interaction will be to acquire new information about a commodity which has value in their everyday lives. At the same time the information they learn about cell phones and cell phone providers is useful to them personally since buying a cell phone is a decision that they and their family members will make at some point in their lives.
Standard 3- This standard refers to the strategies which students use when they examine a text. While analyzing advertisements, students will “draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and other texts, their word identification strategies” and other methods in order to relate the information they encounter to themselves and their research topic in order to make meanings in the classroom.
Standard 6- This standard refers to the importance of having students use their knowledge of language structure, language, conventions, and figurative language to evaluate and discuss print and nonprint texts. In this lesson students will be using these language skills to evaluate the ads they examine and discuss.
Standard 9 – This standard refers to the importance of developing an understanding of language diversity due to cultural, social, and gender differences in your students. In this class students will be analyzing the ads in terms of cultural assumptions which are used to send a message to the consumer. By talking about these assumptions I will be able to open up the class to consideration of how language and image is used to highlight different social and cultural differences.
Standard 11- This standard refers to the need for students
to participate in a socially constructed community of their peers so that they
may experience interacting as “knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and
critical” members. In this class the
students will be functioning in a discourse community where each individual
group is the authority in a specific area.
As a group they will be interacting to make decisions about the project.
Standard 12- This standard refers for the need for students
to use language and literature for their own purposes. In this lesson they will be using language to
express their views in social interaction with their peers during class and
group discussions.
NYS Learning Standards
Standard 2- Students will read, write, listen and speak for literary analysis and expression. In this lesson the students will be analyzing the ads as literary texts. The methodology they use will be the same as looking at a novel or a play, only they will be using a non-print text in this activity.
Standard 3- Students will read, write, listen and speak for critical analysis and evaluation. Students will be analyzing elements in the ads to evaluate the ways these ads use words and images to portray messages as well as the cultural assumptions these messages play on to attract consumer attention.
Standard 4- Students will read, write, listen and speak for
social interaction. This unit involves
students interacting both as a large group to make decisions and generate ideas
as well as interacting in small groups where students work together.
Lesson Objectives:
In this class we will discuss the types of messages cell phone adds use to persuade people to buy their products. As a result students will be able to identify the social and cultural assumptions portrayed in these ads. They will also be able to describe the types of images and metaphors the ads use to portray these assumptions. This lesson will help to prepare those who choose the second option for their final project by showing them examples of how a pamphlet cover might look. On a broader level, as a result of this lesson students will be moving one step closer to developing critical thinking skills which will serve them while reading more canonical texts as well as whenever they encounter a cultural text in their everyday lives.
Motivation:
The visual nature of this lesson should help to motivate
students to take a part in this lesson.
They will be interacting with visual non-print texts, ads in particular,
instead of reading a more traditional text.
The social and cultural assumptions they will be asked to identify will
be content they are already familiar with due to the social and cultural
interactions of their regular lives. The
visual format will also make symbols and metaphors more accessible since they
will be literally drawn out instead of imbedded in a mire of words.
Procedure (Timed
Outline of Class Activities):
In this class we will discuss the types of messages cell phone adds use to persuade people to buy their product with a focus on the social and cultural assumptions played on by these adds. First I will ask students based on their experience, what do they think are some of the messages cell phone ads use to convince people to buy their product? What do you think are the cultural assumptions or beliefs which make these messages compelling? (5-7 minutes)
Next I will put an ad on the overhead projector. As a class we will discuss, in a teacher led
Q&A, the message of the ad and the cultural assumptions which make that ad
work. Depending on how quickly the
students grasp the activity I will have four ads prepared with the intention of
doing 2-3 in class. The ads I have selected so far come from the covers of
pamphlets I got at a Cingular store.
Each pamphlet has a specific aspect of the company that they are
promoting which acts as the rhetorical situation for the ad on the cover. The top two that I would use are the two
Cingular World pamphlet covers. One
Cingular World pamphlet highlights a minority woman standing on a bridge with a
view of a foreign city in the background which looks like
After we have analyzed ads together as a class, I will have each student take out the ad they brought in for homework. I will collect as many ads as I can so that I can give students who did not bring one to class an ad to look at. Then I will have each student jot down some notes deconstructing the messages in the ads they brought in. The questions they will be asked to consider are: What message does this ad use to sell you their cell phone service? What do you think are some of the cultural assumptions used by cell phone companies to cell their product? What do these assumptions say about the cultural value we place on cell phones? (10 minutes)
After students have had time to reflect on their ads I will have them get into their project groups. I will ask them as a group to fill out a Group Work Report Sheet which will ask them to look at the various ads they brought in and record some of the messages and cultural assumptions they saw at work in the ads. They will also be asked to consider how they think that these assumptions affect their research. (10-12)
Closure:
At the end of class I will briefly remind the class that the
next day they will be meeting in groups to share the research articles,
pamphlets, and web sites they have found as sources. If you are using a web site, please print out
any pertinent information from the site, the address alone is not
sufficient. Also I want you all to think
about the activity we did in class today as you look at sources tonight and in
class tomorrow. How do the cultural
assumptions played on by the ad messages affect our decision making
process? What elements of the decision
making process are highlighted by the ads?
Assessment:
Each student will receive a homework grade and a group work
grade for their participation in this class session. The rubric for these grades can be seen at
the end of the unit plan.
Materials:
Overhead projector
At least 4 Cell Phone Ads
Chalk and Chalkboard
Group Work Report Sheet
Acknowledgement of
Sources:
Roy Fox, “Images Across Cultures: Exploring Advertising in the Diverse Classroom”
Laraine Wallowitz “
Leila Christenbury ch.6
Class discussions in CEE 588 concerning cultural assumptions
in ads
Day 3 Lesson Plan
State & National
Standards:
NCTE Standards
Standard 1- This standard requires that students read a variety of print and nonprint texts. Among the purposes for reading these texts the standard lists the acquisition of new information, personal fulfillment and responding to the demands that the student will face from society and the workforce. In this lesson the students will interact with a variety of texts collected during their research. Their purpose in this interaction will be to acquire new information about a commodity which has value in their everyday lives. At the same time the information they learn about cell phones and cell phone providers is useful to them personally since buying a cellphone is a decision that they and their family members will make at some point in their lives.
Standard 3- This standard refers to the strategies which students use when they examine a text. While selecting and evaluating materials during research as well as analyzing advertisements, students will “draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and other texts, their word identification strategies” and other methods in order to relate the information they encounter to themselves and their research topic in order to make meanings in the classroom.
Standard 6- This standard refers to the importance of having students use their knowledge of language structure, language, conventions, and figurative language to evaluate and discuss print and nonprint texts. In this lesson students will be using these language skills to evaluate the commercial and sources they examine and discuss.
Standard 7- This standard refers to students’ needs to
participate in research activities where they are responsible for generating
ideas and posing problems based on an issue and then going out to discover,
evaluate and organize data in order to address that issue. They are also expected to be able to then
communicate their findings in an effective way.
This entire unite is organized around a research and debate project during
which students are responsible for generating ideas and lines of inquiry,
finding and evaluating sources, and arguing for their position based on their
acquired data.
Standard 8- This standard refers to the importance of having students use technology in the classroom to assist them in their search for information as well as to help them create and communicate the knowledge they have gained. In this lesson students will be encouraged to use the internet as a source of information on cell phone companies. I will be providing them with a number of web sites as guidelines as to the types of sites that are appropriate for use as a source. They will also be viewing a DVD of a commercial which they will analyze.
Standard 11- This standard refers to the need for students to participate in a socially constructed community of their peers so that they may experience interacting as “knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical” members. In this class the students will be functioning in a discourse community where each individual group is the authority on a specific company. As a group they will be interacting to make decisions about the project.
Standard 12- This standard refers for the need for students
to use language and literature for their own purposes. In this lesson they will be using language to
share the information they have collected in their research.
NYS Learning Standards
Standard 1 – Students will read, write, listen and speak for information and understanding. In this lesson students will be interacting with a number of print and non-print texts in order to acquire information about the various cell phone companies and the elements that go into deciding which cell phone they should buy.
Standard 2- Students will read, write, listen and speak for literary analysis and expression. In this lesson the students will be analyzing the ads as literary texts. The methodology they use will be the same as looking at a novel or a play, only they will be using a non-print text in this activity.
Standard 3- Students will read, write, listen and speak for critical analysis and evaluation. Students will be analyzing the information they collect in order to ascertain how it applies to their task and then will be using that information to synthesize their own approach to the data.
Standard 4- Students will read, write, listen and speak for
social interaction. This unit involves
students interacting both as a large group to make decisions and generate ideas
as well as interacting in small groups where students work together to build an
argument for their particular side. The
last class session will involve an in-class debate where each group defends
their company in answer to a number of questions.
Lesson Objectives:
The objectives for this lesson are two-fold. The mini-lesson at the beginning of the class
is designed to reinforce students’ grasp of the previous day’s lesson. It is important that they understand how to
look at the messages and cultural assumptions at work in these visual texts so
that later when we look at written texts I can call on these lessons as
examples of the types of analysis I want them to be employing. I purposely chose two commercials for this
class which use symbolism and metaphor to reinforce their messages. The
first commercial, which can be seen by clicking on file WFST-2741 uses the
image of four raising bars to reinforce the theme “Raising the bar” while
showing a slide show of memories as a woman waits for her man to come
home. The second commercial, file
WFST-2744, uses the metaphor of the family tree to advertise their family plan
as a way to connect family members. Both
commercials offer highly visual and easily recognizable examples of these
literary elements. The rest of the class
is devoted to having students work as a group to evaluate, analyze, and
synthesize the data they have collected as homework. My objective for this portion of the class is
to strengthen students’ social and research skills by making them work
collaboratively to make sense of a variety of sources.
Motivation:
For one the class will begin by showing a commercial, which
is clearly a different type of text for them to encounter in the English
Language Arts classroom. They should be
motivated to participate in the group work for the second half of the class
since this is their opportunity to use class time to prepare for the in class
debate.
Procedure (Timed
Outline of Class Activities):
Today the students will be working in their groups to prepare for the debate, however I will begin the class with a mini-lesson to remind them of the previous day’s activity. I will ask them to volunteer to talk about what we did the day before. Then I will tell them that today we will look at two commercials which we will analyze for messages as we did the day before, and also look to see if we see any literary elements in the commercial. Briefly I will ask them to name a few possible literary elements and what those elements are. Then I will play them the first commercial for Cingular. They will be asked to look at the ad to determine the message and cultural assumptions as they did yesterday, as well as any recurring themes or uses of a literary element that they see being used in the commercial to reinforce the messages contained in the ad. While the commercial plays I will have them jot down notes. Then I will show the second commercial and have them jot down notes. After both commercials have been viewed I will ask for volunteers to share their observations for each commercial. (12-15 minutes)
Next they will get into groups to share their research for
the remainder of the class period. I
will hand out copies of a group work report sheet to help them organize their
discussion. While they work I will go
around to check on each group’s progress, as well as to check how many and what
type of sources each student brought to class. (30 minutes)
Closure:
At the end of the class I will take 2 or 3 minutes to
briefly introduce the next day’s activity: “Now that you have gathered your
resources and discussed them, tomorrow we will work together as a class to
decide what questions you want me to ask in the debate, and what criteria we
think defines a good answer. For tonight
I want you to think about what questions you think we should ask and jot them
down.”
Assessment:
Students will only be assessed by a group work report grade
for this class.
Materials:
Cingular Commercial
Laptop
Projector
Group Work Report Sheet
Acknowledgement of
Sources:
Roy Fox, “Images Across Cultures: Exploring Advertising in the Diverse Classroom”
Laraine Wallowitz “
Leila Christenbury ch.6
Class discussions in CEE 588 concerning cultural assumptions
in ads
Day 4 Lesson Plan
State & National
Standards:
NCTE Standards
Standard 4- This standard refers to the students’ ability to vary their use of language to accommodate different purposes. In this class students will use their spoken language to contribute to making meaning in the classroom.
Standard 7- This standard refers to students’ needs to
participate in research activities where they are responsible for generating
ideas and posing problems based on an issue and then going out to discover,
evaluate and organize data in order to address that issue. They are also expected to be able to then
communicate their findings in an effective way.
This entire unite is organized around a research and debate project during
which students are responsible for generating ideas and lines of inquiry, finding
and evaluating sources, and arguing for their position based on their acquired
data.
Standard 11- This standard refers to the need for students
to participate in a socially constructed community of their peers so that they
may experience interacting as “knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and
critical” members. In this class the
students will be functioning in a discourse community where each individual
contributes to the class discussion.
Standard 12- This standard refers for the need for students
to use language and literature for their own purposes. In this lesson they will be using language to
express their views in social interaction with their peers during class and
group discussions.
NYS Learning Standards
Standard 1 – Students will read, write, listen and speak for information and understanding. In this lesson students will be speaking in a group discussion to brainstorm information about cell phones and cell phone providers based on their prior knowledge of the subject.
Standard 4- Students will read, write, listen and speak for social interaction. This lesson involves students interacting as a large group to generate ideas.
Lesson Objectives:
In this lesson students will use the information they have
collected in their research to contribute to a class wide effort to determine
the questions for the debate as well as the criteria for a successful debate
response as a self assessment guide.
Through this activity students will sharpen their social skills in the
classroom setting while articulating their increasing ability to evaluate the
key elements from their research. They
will also become more responsible for their academic success since they, the
students, are taking a part in defining the criteria for the following day’s
debate by defining the questions as well as what elements constitute an
acceptable answer.
Motivation:
This lesson draws students in by empowering them to take a
part in making classroom decisions. They
will have the opportunity to shape the following day’s debate by defining the
appropriate questions and the criteria for answering those questions. In addition they will be working together to
determine the criteria by which that debate will be assessed.
Procedure (Timed
Outline of Class Activities):
Today we will begin the class by deciding as a class on the questions that will be asked in the debate. For homework they had already been asked to think about this and jot down any questions which come to mind. First I will ask for volunteers to submit the questions they came up with; then I will call on students who haven’t been participating much this week to get their input. During this portion of the class I will record any and all suggestions on the board. (5-10)
The next class portion will be spent narrowing down our selection of questions to include 5 major questions and 2 or 3 bonus questions. This will be achieved by an election process where I will have students vote by a show of hands for the questions they think are most important. Each student will be asked to think about which question on which they would like to be the expert. (5-10)
Next as a class we will work collaboratively as a class to determine the characteristics of a good answer to the debate questions. Once again I will encourage volunteers to make suggestions and write all suggestions on the board. Then we will democratically select the most important criteria through group consensus. My goal here is for the students to develop an awareness of the criteria for answering a debate question so I will try to give them as much freedom as possible to come up with their own criteria and reasons why they think that their suggestion is important. (10 -15 minutes)
Once the criteria have been decided on, the remainder of the class will be spent in group work. I will have students decide who will be the expert on which question, as well as who will be prepared for the bonus questions, and who will be giving the final defense. At the end of class I will ask them to hand in a sheet for me recording who will be the expert on each question. (8-12 minutes)
Closure:
At the end of class I will remind students that tomorrow
will be our debate, so make sure that everyone prepares their answers ahead of
time for homework. I will make a point
to remind them to follow the criteria we decided on in class to make sure that
they are fully prepared.
Assessment:
Students will only be assessed based on their group work for
this class period. The students will be using the criteria decided upon as an assessment
tool to assess themselves and their classmates during the debate. I will have each student fill out a self
assessment rubric on their group’s answers during the debate on the following
day.
Materials:
Chalk and Chalkboard
Group Work Report Sheet for students to record group role
assignments
Acknowledgement of
Sources:
Alfie Kohn Beyond
Discipline
Grant Wiggins “Educative Assessment”
CEE 588 class discussions on rubrics and criteria
Day 5 Lesson Plan
State & National
Standards:
NCTE Standards
Standard 4- This standard refers to the students’ ability to vary their use of language to accommodate different purposes. Here students will be using their rhetorical skills to presents their research in a convincing way in response to the debate questions.
Standard 7- This standard refers to students’ needs to participate in research activities where they are responsible for generating ideas and posing problems based on an issue and then going out to discover, evaluate and organize data in order to address that issue. They are also expected to be able to then communicate their findings in an effective way. In this class the students will be using their speaking skills to present the information collected through their research in an effective way.
Standard 11- This standard refers to the need for students to participate in a
socially constructed community of their peers so that they may experience
interacting as “knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical”
members. In this class the students will
be functioning in a discourse community where each individual group is the
authority in a specific area.
Standard 12- This standard refers for the need for students
to use language and literature for their own purposes. In this lesson they will be using language to
express their point of view, share the information they have collected during
research, and persuade their audience that their company is the best.
NYS Learning Standards
Standard 3- Students will read, write, listen and speak for critical analysis and evaluation. Students will be analyzing their panel’s responses and evaluating them based on the rubric developed in the previous class.
Standard 4- Students will read, write, listen and speak for
social interaction. This last class
session will involve an in-class debate where each group defends their company
in answer to a number of questions.
Lesson Objectives:
During this lesson students will present their research
findings in a debate setting. This will
both allow them to display their knowledge as well as practice their public
speaking skills. While the debate is in
session the students will also be using the criteria determined in the previous
class to assess themselves and their classmates. As a result of this lesson
students will come to a better understanding of the assignment after having
used the criteria as a guide to evaluate their classmates and themselves as
they participate in the activity.
Motivation:
They have spent all week working towards this event. They have been analyzing ads and commercials,
reading articles, working on criteria, looking for sources, and meeting in
groups all in anticipation of this event.
Unlike the majority of their classes, the students will be active during
the class as they answer questions and evaluate the answers of others. At the same time the topic is one in which
they have already expressed interest.
Procedure (Timed
Outline of Class Activities):
This class period will be devoted to the in class debate. I will arrange the room so that the desks will form a square. Each group, or panel, will sit on a single side. As the mediator I will stand in the middle of the square to ask the questions. I will begin the debate by reminding the students that their purpose is to convince me, the consumer, that their cell phone company provider is the best. At the beginning I will also hand out a blank rubric with the criteria that we decided on in the previous class listed. During the debate I will have students take notes on how each panel approaches each of the questions and mark off where on the rubric they would place them based on their observations. Each person will be responsible to assess the answers of each panelist who is responding to the same question as they are, including themselves.(3 minutes)
The debate will take up most of the class. I will ask each of the questions we decided on as a class the previous day. If we decide to allow 2 minutes per panel to answer each question we should have time to get through 5 questions, although I will have us decide on an additional 2-3 questions to ask if we have time.(25-30 minutes)
At the end of the questioning each panel may have a representative give a final defense of their company/cell phone. (10-15 minutes)
Closure:
I would envision this as a Monday through Friday unit. The final project will be due two weeks from
the start of the unit. Students will
have a week after we complete the unit to work on the project. I would also like the students to bring the
rubrics and notes they took during the debate to class on Monday. While I plan on moving on with the
curriculum, first I would like students to share their thoughts on the
assessment activity as well as share their comments in peer groups. I am thinking about having the students fill
respond to a number of questions regarding what how they felt about the
unit. Did they feel they learned
anything? What would they change if we
were to do the project again? What did
you especially like during this unit?
Did you find creating and using the assessment rubric during the debate
useful? No more than 10 minutes of class time will be spent on this wrap up
activity.
Assessment:
The debate section will be assessed formally and informally as well as on a group and individual basis.
Informally:
As I mentioned earlier each student will be assessing each
of the panel’s based on the criteria we decide on as a class. This assessment is designed to help students
better understand what is being asked of them by the assignment. It is my hope that having a say in defining
the criteria and then actually using it to assess themselves and their
classmates will help them form a metacognitive awareness of the activity.
Formally:
The debate will be formally assessed using the criteria
defined by the class in two ways. The
format of the debate allows for each student to be individually assessed based
on how well they prepared their answer for the question they were assigned to
be an expert on. The group will also be
assessed as a whole based on how well they synthesized their information for
the final defense of their side. Both
grades will count towards their end of the quarter grade.
Materials:
Criteria for debate in a blank rubric form
Questions designed by the class
End of Unit Project
Students will be given two choices for the end of unit project which will be due two weeks from the beginning on the unit. The first choice is a persuasive essay where the student will use their research from the debate to convince their reader that they should buy a cell phone from the company they researched. The second choice challenges students to use what they have learned from the research and debate unit to create a pamphlet advertising a cell phone company of their own creation.
Assessment:
Since these are more creative
assignments I would like to leave more freedom to the grading process than I
might have if I had to strictly adhere to the concrete requirements of a
rubric. Instead I included a list of
criteria which are necessary to receive a successful grade for each type of
assignment on the assignment sheet handed out to students. The persuasive essay will be graded for
attention to audience, persuasiveness, editing, organization, and display of
knowledge and the creative project will be graded for attention to audience,
display of knowledge, organization of materials, creativity, and careful
drafting of final copying (this includes editing the written content as well as
making sure all pictures and drawings are neatly done).
Homework Assignments
For Tuesday:
Please bring in at
least one ad for the cell phone company you have been assigned to
research. Acceptable ads may include
those found in newspapers or magazines as well as the covers of in store
pamphlets.
For
Wednesday:
Please bring in at
least 3 sources of information you researched to learn about your cell phone
company. Remember to think about the
factors that we talked about in class as you collect your data. If you are using an internet site as a source
print out the important information to bring to class. I will also be handing out a list of possible
sources you could use for this project.
End of Unit Project
You will be given
two choices for the end of unit project which will be due two weeks from
today. Please read over your options and
choose the one which most appeals to you.
1)
Imagine
one of your friends or family members needed a cell phone. How would you go about convincing them to buy
one from the company you researched? Use
what you have learned about the factors that influence the buying decision to
write a persuasive essay to prove why they should listen to your advice. The essays will be graded for attention to
audience, persuasiveness, editing, organization, and display of knowledge.
2)
Make a
pamphlet advertising a cell phone company of your own creation. The pamphlet should include both information
about the service and types of cell phones you provide as well as persuasive
ads in the form of words and pictures designed to attract customers. The pamphlets will be graded on their
attention to audience, display of knowledge, organization of materials,
creativity, and careful drafting of final copying (this includes editing the
written content as well as making sure all pictures and drawings are neatly
done)
Possible Sources for Research
Pamphlets
published by cell phone companies
Consumer Reports
articles
Magazine articles
Newspaper Stories
Company web sites
:
www.Cingular.com
www.verizonwireless.com
www.t-mobile.com
www.sprint-nextel.com
Other websites:
www.electronics.howstuddworks.com
You can also find
other sites on the internet which are valid sources of information, but please
remember to use discretion whenever you search the web for information.
Group Work Report Sheet: Analyzing
Cell Phone Ads
1)
What
are some of the messages your ads use to attract people?
2)
What
are some of the cultural assumptions or stereotypes behind these messages?
3)
What
types of language use, details, or images are used to portray messages?
4)
What
are some of the similarities among the ads in your group?
5)
What
are some of the differences?
6)
Consider,
if you were to design an ad as a group, what are some of the elements you would
include in your ad. Explain and sketch out a rough draft if you have time.
Group Work
Report Sheet: Debate Roles
Question:
Group
Expert:
Question:
Group
Expert:
Question:
Group
Expert:
Question:
Group
Expert:
Question:
Group
Expert:
Presenter
of the Final Defense:
Self-Assessment Worksheet
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Criteria |
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Not
Acceptable |
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Group Work Report Sheet: In Class
Research
These questions
are to help guide your discussion of the sources. In addition to these questions I urge you to
come up with your own topics of discussion based on our brainstorming on Monday
and analysis of ads on Tuesday. Also
think about what types of questions you would ask if you were to buy a cell
phone based on what you have learned so far.
Tomorrow we will be deciding on the questions for our debate on Friday.
1)
What
types of phones are offered by your company?
2)
What
kinds of rate plans? Do they have
national plans? Local plans? Family plans?
3)
What
kind of technology do they use?
4)
What
do you know about the quality of service?
5)
What
special features does the company use to promote their services?
Grading
Rubrics
Grading Rubric for Group Work
|
Grade |
Written Report |
Group Discussion |
|
No Credit |
Students do not fill out the Group Work Report Sheet |
Students are not discussing texts |
|
Check |
Students fill out the Group Work Report Sheet |
Students spend class time mostly discussing texts |
|
Check Plus |
Students completely fill out the Group Work Report Sheet |
Students spend all class time discussing texts with
enthusiasm |
Grading Rubric for Homework
|
Grade |
Criteria |
|
No Credit |
No attempt to
complete assignment |
|
Check |
Student meets
minimum requirement for assignment |
|
Check Plus |
Student meets assignment
requirements and exceeds those requirements by doing extra work or bringing
in extra materials |