Persuasive Media Planning

Overview

In this third lesson of the unit Persuasive Media Mastery, students work in teams to plan the key parts of a television-style advertisement. They use a template to decide on the message, the target audience, and the persuasive elements they will include in the final recording.

Learning intentions

• Students will collaboratively plan an advertisement with a clear message and persuasive purpose.
• Students will identify and select persuasive features suited to a target audience.
• Students will use planning tools (templates) to organise ideas for filming and soundtrack later.

Success criteria

• I can explain who my advertisement is for and what we want them to do or feel.
• I can list persuasive elements we will include (for example, catchy slogan, simple reasons, or visual demonstrations).
• I can fill in the planning template clearly with team ideas and roles.
• I can contribute respectfully and use feedback to improve our plan.

Curriculum links

• Students create and present ideas for media works using simple production and planning steps.
• Students identify and describe audience, purpose, and persuasive techniques in media.
• Students collaborate, communicate ideas, and revise plans based on feedback.
• Students use media concepts to make choices about content and presentation.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–5 min | Welcome + unit focus

• Briefly recap lessons 1–2: what persuasion means in ads, and how ads try to influence feelings or actions.
• Share today’s goal: “We are planning our TV-style ad together.”

2. 5–12 min | Watch and discuss (1–2 min clips)

• Show 1–2 short, age-appropriate children’s advertisements (teacher-prepared or pre-approved).
• Stop after 30–60 seconds to ask: “Who is it for?” “What is the message?” “What makes it persuasive?”

3. 12–18 min | Key vocabulary mini-model

• Teach and model 5–7 vocabulary terms using student-friendly sentences and gestures.
• Quick check: students turn-and-talk to find one example of each term from the clip.

4. 18–25 min | Teacher “I do” — complete a template together

• Project a sample planning template.
• Model filling it in with a simple, shared idea (for example: an advertisement for a pretend “new playground game”).
• Use an “I do, we do, you do” approach: first fill one section, then do the next section with students’ suggestions.

5. 25–40 min | Team planning “You do” (template work)

• Students form teams of 3–5 (25 students: aim for 5–8 teams).
• Each team completes the template:
• Team name and roles (planner, spokesperson, prop/visual checker, language/slogan writer).
• Advertisement message (what we want people to do/feel).
• Target audience (who it’s for).
• Persuasive elements (at least 2 chosen from class list).
• Planned visuals/scene ideas (2–3 simple steps).
• Teacher circulates, prompting with sentence stems:
• “Our message is…”
• “Our audience will be…”
• “We persuade by…”
• “One visual we’ll show is…”

6. 40–52 min | “Gallery walk” feedback

• Teams swap templates (or teams walk to view others).
• Each team uses two feedback prompts written on the board:
• “One thing that is clear is…”
• “One way to make it more persuasive is…”
• Teams record one improvement decision on their own template.

7. 52–60 min | Share-out + tidy + exit check

• Two or three teams quickly share: audience, message, and one persuasive choice.
• Exit check (verbal or on a small slip): “My ad is for… and our message is…”

Resources

• Advertisement planning templates (one per team)
• Projector/screen and speakers (or classroom device)
• Pre-selected, age-appropriate ad clips (1–2 minutes each)
• Markers, pencils, colouring tools, sticky notes
• Role cards for team responsibilities (planner, spokesperson, visuals, language)
• Persuasive elements word bank chart (teacher-created)
• Sentence stems for planning and feedback
• Sample completed template (teacher display)
• Timer and “feedback prompt” cards

Assessment

• Teacher uses an observation checklist during team planning and feedback:
• Clear target audience and message.
• Persuasive elements selected and explained simply.
• Template completed with readable, team-based contributions.
• Collect the completed planning templates to review evidence of:
• Audience-purpose alignment (message matches audience).
• Ability to justify persuasive choices using planning language.

Differentiation

• Support:
• Provide a partially completed template for students who need structure (e.g., audience and message boxes pre-started).
• Offer a simplified persuasive elements bank with pictures/words (for example: “Slogan”, “Reasons”, “Funny/surprising moment”).
• Use teacher-led conferencing for 2–3 teams.
• Extension:
• Challenge teams to include an additional persuasive element and a planned “attention-getter” line for the opening.
• Ask teams to justify why their chosen persuasive elements suit their audience.
• EAL/SEN:
• Sentence stems and word bank; allow drawing instead of long writing.
• Permit oral responses to be written by a team scribe if needed.
• Collaboration supports:
• Assign roles explicitly and rotate roles for fairness.
• Provide a clear “how to agree” routine (for example, one suggestion, vote, then record final choice).

Key vocabulary

• advertisement
• audience
• message
• persuade
• persuasive elements
• slogan
• visual (idea/scene)
• soundtrack (introduced as “sound we will add later”)

Answer key (teacher use)

• Template should show:
• Target audience: a group of people (e.g., “kids who like games”, “families”, “students at our school”).
• Message: a simple purpose statement (e.g., “Try this game”, “Ask for this book”, “Come to our club”).
• Persuasive elements: at least two from the class list (example outcomes):
• attention-getter (funny/surprising start)
• slogan or repeated phrase
• reasons/features (simple benefits)
• demonstration/visual proof
• 2–3 planned visuals/steps that match the message (opening, main idea, ending call-to-action).
• Feedback check:
• “Clear” point identifies one section that is specific and understandable.
• “Improve” point suggests one upgrade (make message clearer, choose a better persuasive element, or add a stronger opening).