Persuasive Holiday Adverts

Lesson Overview

Class: Year 4 (Age 8-9)
Duration: 35 minutes
Class Size: 30 students
Subject: English
Topic: Creating a Persuasive Holiday Advert for Our City using iMovie
National Curriculum Focus:

• English - Writing: Composition
  • Pupils should be taught to write for different purposes, including non-fiction, and plan, draft, edit and improve their writing (NC ref: English Programme of Study, Year 4).
• English - Spoken Language
  • Pupils should be taught to use spoken language to develop understanding through speculating, hypothesising, imagining and exploring ideas (NC Ref: Spoken Language, Y4).
• English - Reading: Comprehension
  • Pupils should be taught to understand and explain the purpose of persuasive texts and adverts by discussing effective language and persuasive techniques (NC Ref: Reading Comprehension, Y4).

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Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, pupils will be able to:

• Identify key features and persuasive techniques used in holiday adverts.
• Plan and create a short persuasive holiday advert video promoting our city using iMovie.
• Use persuasive language purposefully, showing awareness of the audience.
• Collaborate effectively to share ideas and justify their choices.

National Curriculum Reference:

• Writing: Composition (Y4) – plan and write for different purposes including persuasion.
• Spoken Language (Y4) – develop ideas and opinions through discussion.
• Reading Comprehension (Y4) – evaluate how language is used to persuade.

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Success Criteria

I can:

• Describe key features of effective persuasive adverts.
• Use at least three persuasive techniques in my advert.
• Collaborate with my group to plan our script.
• Use iMovie to create a clear, persuasive advert.
• Explain why I chose certain words, images, or sounds to persuade the audience.

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Resources Needed

• Projector and screen
• Examples of persuasive holiday adverts from YouTube (downloaded or curated, no links)
• Devices with iMovie installed (1 per group of 3)
• Whiteboards and markers
• Planning templates for adverts
• Headphones

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Lesson Structure

1. Introduction (7 minutes)

• Engage pupils with a short, energetic welcoming activity:
  Ask: “Imagine you are a holiday advertisement maker – what kind of places or activities do you think make people want to visit somewhere?”
• Show two contrasting examples (30 sec clips each) of holiday destination adverts emphasising different persuasive techniques (e.g., emotional appeal, exciting visuals).
• Whole-class discussion: “What do you notice about these adverts? What words, images or sounds make them persuasive?”
• Targeted questioning:
  • Bloom’s Level: Understanding & Analyzing
    • “What is the main message of this advert?”
    • “How do the images and music work together to convince you?”
    • “Why do you think the advertisers chose these specific words?”
    • Encourage pupils to explain their ideas fully.

AfL Checkpoint:

• Use mini whiteboards to jot down one persuasive technique pupils identify; share some responses to check understanding.

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2. Modelling & Teaching (10 minutes)

• Introduce the challenge: “We are going to make a short persuasive holiday advert for our city using iMovie!”
• Show an iMovie clip demonstrating: how to arrange scenes, add voice-over, insert pictures or videos, and use music.
• Model planning a short script paragraph using persuasive language focusing on:
  • Attractive adjectives (e.g., stunning, breathtaking)
  • Imperative verbs (e.g., visit, explore)
  • Rhetorical questions (e.g., Why not come here?)
• Highlight the importance of choosing features that will appeal to tourists.
• Targeted questioning while modelling:
  • “Why did I choose this word instead of another? How might that affect the audience?” (Applying, Evaluating)
  • “If our audience was families, how might our language change?” (Applying, Creating)
  • “What might happen if we didn’t add music or images? Would our advert be as strong?” (Evaluating)

AfL Checkpoint:

• Ask a few pupils to explain their reasoning on the persuasive word or the video editing choice using sentence starters like:
  “I chose this because...” or “This will persuade visitors by...”

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3. Group Activity - Planning (12 minutes)

• Pupils split into groups of 3. Using the planning sheet, they:
  1. Decide 3 key selling points about our city.
  2. Write a short persuasive script using persuasive techniques.
  3. Plan what images, video clips or music they will use in iMovie to support their script.
• Teacher circulates: asking groups to justify their choices.
• Whole-class probing questions:
  • “How does your script make our city sound exciting or unique?”
  • “Can you think of another way to say that to make it even more persuasive?”
  • “Why did your group choose this music? How does it make the advert feel?”
  • “What would you add to convince someone who doesn’t know anything about our city?”
• Groups use mini whiteboards to share persuasive phrases or ideas.

AfL Checkpoint:

• Use observational assessment and questioning to clarify and extend thinking within groups.
• Collect planning templates after the activity to assess understanding.

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4. Plenary (6 minutes)

• Invite 2-3 groups to share their planned scripts and talk through their persuasive choices and iMovie ideas.
• Class gives positive feedback using sentence stems:
  “I like how you used... because...” or “Your advert would persuade me because...”
• Teacher revisits success criteria, explicitly connecting what pupils did well and what they could improve next time.
• Final thinking question to whole class: “Which persuasive technique do you think is the most powerful and why?” – encourage full explanations referencing adverts seen.

AfL Checkpoint:

• Use pupil self-assessment: “Tick the success criteria you think you met today and explain to your partner why.”

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Extension Ideas (if time permits or for further lessons)

• Record voice-overs and add to iMovie projects.
• Peer assessment of adverts focusing on language and persuasive impact.
• Write a reflection paragraph: “How did using iMovie help make your advert more persuasive?”

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Notes for Teacher

• Ensure digital devices are ready beforehand with iMovie installed for smooth transition.
• Differentiation: Provide sentence starters and word banks for pupils needing additional support.
• Encourage collaboration and equal participation within groups.
• Use expressive language modelling to inspire pupils when planning their script.

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This lesson plan not only meets the Year 4 expectations from the National Curriculum for England in English but also integrates speaking and listening, composition, and digital literacy skills to engage students interactively. The use of iMovie introduces creativity with technology and real-world communication purpose. The questioning and AFL points are designed to build deeper understanding and higher order thinking throughout.