Grade+2

=__Term 1 Focus: Cereal Box Advertising __= //Collect a variety of cereal boxes focusing on children's breakfast cereals. //

Teacher prompts to guide discussion:
After watching a children's breakfast cereal commercial: Who would enjoy watching this commercial? Does watching this commercial make you want to try the cereal? Who buys the cereal at your house? (identify purpose and audience, 1.1)

What are the clear and hidden messages in this commercial? (identify overt and implied messages, 1.2) Overt: this cereal is tasty and good to eat Implied: if you eat this cereal you will have fun and be happy

Comparing two children's breakfast cereal boxes: What do you like/not like about each cereal box? Which cereal box is your favourite? Can you find three reasons why this cereal box is better than the other? (express personal thoughts and feelings, 1.3)

Do you think boys and girls might choose different cereal boxes? Why? Why not? Which cereal box do you think parents might choose? Why? (identify different audience responses, 1.4)

Show an adult cereal and a children's cereal box made by the same company (Kellog's Corn Flakes vs. Corn Pops): How are these boxes the same/different? Why would the company choose to design the boxes differently? (point of view, 1.5)

Collect a variety of cereal boxes and identify the companies who make different cereals. Does the company only make cereal? What other products do you think this company might make? (Cap'n Crunch is made by PepsiCo) (identify producers, 1.6)

Look at a brand name cereal box (like Froot Loops) and the store brand box and discuss how the boxes are similar/different. Which box would you choose? Why? (identify producers, 1.6) Examine the front, back and side panels of several cereal boxes to look for common elements (identify elements of the media form, 2.1) Front: colour, character, catchy name, description, picture of cereal Back: games, puzzles, prize give-aways Side: nutrition facts, ingredients, customer service information

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">What do you notice about the colours, images and print on cereal boxes? (identify techniques of the media form, 2.2)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Creating a media text (3.4):
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[|Design A Cereal Box] is a PBS Kids Don't Buy It interactive online activity in which students design a cereal box by choosing the elements of a cereal box step-by-step. Then have students design their own cereal box (front and back panels) on white paper or construction paper and use to cover a cereal box. As they plan their cereal box, students will be prompted to consider the following:

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">What kind of cereal will you make? (healthy, sugary, hot/cold) (3.1) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Who will want to buy your cereal (parents, children, boys/girls) (3.1) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">How will you design your box to make kids want to buy it? How would you change the box so parents would want to buy it? (3.2, 3.3)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Extension Activities:
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Create a commercial or print ad for your cereal <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[|Co-Co's Adversmarts] is an online activity in which students design a website to market an imaginary cereal called Co-Co Crunch. The activity highlights 5 gimmicks that advertisers use to attract children to their websites and sell more products. After this activity, check out the [|Froot Loops] website and look for gimmicks used there.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">How did thinking about audience help you create your cereal box? (4.1) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">How did looking at other cereal boxes help you come up with the idea for your box? (4.1) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">How did talking about your cereal box with other students help you create a better box? (4.2)

=__<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Term 2 Focus: Eating Under the Rainbow __= //<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Studies have found that fast-food ads dominate children’s programming. In order to give children a perspective on the lure of snack-food advertisements, it’s important that they understand where snacks can fit into a healthy diet. Once they have an understanding of where snack food fits into their lives, they can begin to deconstruct the ads themselves. // = =

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Why does Canada have a Food Guide? How can we use it? Who might find it useful? (identify purpose and audience, 1.1) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">What is the Food Guide telling us about healthy eating? Do you believe its messages? (making inferences, 1.2) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">How can you use the Food Guide in your own life? What are three things you learned about healthy eating from the Food Guide? (express personal thoughts and feelings, 1.3) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Why are their different sections for children, teens and adults? How might parents use the food guide? (identify different audience responses, 1.4)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Consider how new Canadians or First Nations Canadians might use the Food Guide? Should more multicultural foods be included in the Food Guide? List some foods you eat at home that aren't in the Food Guide. Where would they be placed on the food rainbow? (identify point of view, 1.5)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Who created this Food Guide? (Health Canada) Why does Canada's government want Canadian's to eat healthy? (identify producer, 1.6)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Compare [|Canada's Food Guide] to the old American Food Pyramid. How are they the same/different? Compare the food pyramid to the new [|USDA's Choose My Plate] (identify elements of the media form, 2.1)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Compare a full colour version of the Food Guide to a black and white version. How do the colours of the rainbow help to make the message more clear? (identify techniques of the media form, 2.2)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Creating a media text (3.4)
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">From the Media Awareness Network lesson [|Eating Under the Rainbow] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Collect a variety of grocery story flyers and ask students to cut out pictures of five of their favourite foods. Draw a "food rainbow" on the chalkboard or mural paper and have students paste their food cut-outs on the correct colour (using the Food Guide as reference). All snack foods should be placed to the side of the rainbow. Discuss the fact that different people need different servings per day. Primary school-aged children need 5 servings of grain products, 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, 2-3 servings of milk products and 2 servings of meat or alternatives. Discuss the snack food surrounding the rainbow. Ask:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Where do these foods fit into the rainbow?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Why isn’t there a food group for them?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Why aren’t these foods as healthy as the foods on the rainbow?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Can we eat these foods and still be healthy?
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">How much snack food may we eat each day?

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Students will create a Daily Food Record and draw or write the foods they have eaten in the correct sections of a food rainbow. Discuss how gaps in their food pyramids can be filled with healthy foods. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[|Looking At Food Advertising] (from the Media Awareness Network) is a lesson which introduces students to the ways in which advertising can affect their food choices. Working from television and magazine ads, students discuss the techniques used by advertisers to engage kids with products. Specifically, they assess the importance of "spokescharacters" and jingles as effective ways to build relationships with kids. As a class exercise, they create jingles and spokescharacters themselves for the foods they enjoy.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[|Packaging Tricks] introduces students to the ways in which packaging is designed to attract kids. The class begins with a discussion about packaging and how the design, promotions and product placement all contribute to make a product attractive to consumers. In a series of individual and group activities, students compare similar food products based on packaging and on taste; assess the nutritional value of the foods and beverages they enjoy; and participate in a field trip to a local grocery store to see how packaging and placement affect consumer choices.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[|Create Your Own Ad] is a step-by-step online activity from the PBS Kids Don't Buy It website in which students create an ad for Burp Cola. The elements of a food advertisement including a snappy slogan, eye-catching image, grab words and ad copy are highlighted.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Students will then create a television or print advertisement for a healthy snack food using the elements of a snack food advertisement. As they plan their advertisement, students will be prompted to consider the following:

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">What kind of snack will you advertise? (3.1) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Who will want to buy your snack(parents, children, boys/girls) (3.1) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">What elements of an advertisement will you use to catch people's attention? How can you change your ad to appeal to boys/girls/older people/younger people/teenagers? (3.2, 3.3)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Extension Activities:
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[|Just Desserts] is an episode of Arthur in which Arthur over-indulges in too many sweets and has bad dreams. Leads to discussion about healthy vs. unhealthy snacks and snack food advertising. (This episode is available on YouTube).

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[|Buster's Sweet Success] is an episode of Arthur in which Buster is trying to sell chocolates for a school fundraiser. Lesson asks students to compare the gimmicks used in 3 different ads for chocolate. (This episode is available through the GPL as a DVD titled Arthur's Tasty Treats).

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Teacher prompts to guide metacognition:
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">How did thinking about audience help you create your ad? (4.1) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">How did looking at other ads help you come up with the idea for your ad? (4.1) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">How did talking about your ad with other students help you create a better ad? (4.2)