Art of Persuasion: Creating Editorial and Marketing Messages

National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS): 

National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS): 

Creating a Brochure in Microsoft Publisher 

Creating a Newsletter in Microsoft Publisher 

Knowledge 

Skills 

Familiarity with word processing and copying and pasting text and images.

Ability to find and save information and images from Encarta or the Internet.

Ability to select text boxes and images for formatting and resizing.

Comfort with saving files to a shared folder on a computer or network.

Preparing the project (3-4 class periods)

Creating the project (2-3 class periods)

Finalizing the project (2-3 class periods)

Presenting and reflecting (2 class periods)

Create a project to use for demonstration, and then share the process with the class. It is also helpful to display student projects from prior years if they are available.

Align your project to your curriculum and state standards, and then create an assessment rubric for your project. (Visit the Rubistar Web site at http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php for more information.)

Communicate with the school librarian so that materials can be prepared and reserved for your classroom.

In the week before the project, have students gather brochures and newsletters from professional offices, churches, malls, Web sites, and any other places where promotional literature is distributed.

A few days before the project, talk to students about how people are influenced by the media. What makes for a good or bad presentation? How is text arranged? How do images and graphics affect the message? Tip: Display 5-10 brochures and have students select and support their favorite design.

Help students set up their calendar by "back-tracking" from the final due date and set deadlines for separate project elements.

Send out a message to parents letting them know of the project expectations and due dates.

Create a series of mini-lessons that address the skills and knowledge needed to complete the project.

Allow time to meet with individual teams 2-3 times each week to assess progress and assist in problem-solving. Make this an assessment time by checking off and scoring completed elements.

Make sure you plan for differentiation or modification as needed for your diverse group of learners.

Create a class newsletter that describes the current class activities, lessons, and accomplishments.

Create a brochure that describes a major pre-Columbian settlement, such as the cliff dwellers and Pueblo people of the Southwest desert, the Native Americans of the Pacific Northwest, the nomadic nations of the Great Plains, or the woodland peoples east of the Mississippi River.

Create a newsletter that reports on the internal weaknesses that led to the fall of the Roman Empire.

Create a brochure for a current political candidate

Create a newsletter that reports on the effects of the rise of industrialization on living and working conditions.

Create a brochure describing how water, carbon, and nitrogen cycle between abiotic resources and organic matter in the ecosystem and how oxygen cycles through photosynthesis and respiration.