Overview

Lesson Procedure

60-65 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up5 minutes
2. Direct Instruction20 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15-20 minutes
5. Closure5 minutes

1. Warm-Up5 minutes

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "Think of an ad, a poster, a video or an announcement that tried to get you to do something this week. Who made it, and what did they want from you?"

   Give students two minutes to write, then list a few examples on the board in three columns without labeling them yet: messages that want you to buy something, messages that want your vote or support for a law or a person, and messages that want you to change a habit for your own good or the community's. At the end of Direct Instruction, label the columns commercial, political and social.

2. Direct Instruction20 minutes

   Part 1: Purpose and motive. Information reaches us in different media (ways of delivering a message, such as radio, video, print or a website) and formats (the form the information takes). SL.8.2 names three formats: visually (pictures, colors, layout, charts), quantitatively (numbers, percentages, graphs) and orally (spoken words). The purpose of a message is what it is meant to do: inform, persuade, sell or entertain. The motive is the reason behind it: what the person or group who made it gains if you believe it or act on it. The standard names three kinds of motive. A social motive aims to change how people live together, for example to improve health or safety. A commercial motive aims to earn money. A political motive aims to win votes or support for a candidate, a law or a policy. To evaluate a motive is to judge how it shapes what the message shows, what it leaves out, and how far you can trust it.

   Clues to each motive, and questions that evaluate it

   Motive	Clues to look and listen for	Questions to evaluate it
   Social	Made by a health department, school, library or volunteer group; asks you to change a habit; asks for no money and no vote	Who made it? Does the group also gain something, such as members or a program to run? Where do its numbers come from?
   Commercial	A logo, a price, "shop now," a sale that ends soon, a product shown helping someone	Who is paid if I believe this? Who was in the survey, and who was left out? What would a buyer want to know that is missing?
   Political	"Vote," "tell the council," "paid for by," a candidate's name, an attack on an opponent	What law or person is this for? Which facts help that side, and which are missing? Is a real fact being used to support a different claim?
   Any motive	The format: a picture that sets a mood, a chart whose scale does not start at 0, a calm or urgent voice	How does the format make the message feel stronger than its evidence? Check the numbers yourself.

   Part 2: The issue under study. The class is studying teens and sleep. One fact in today's sources is real: the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, a group of sleep doctors, recommends that teenagers sleep 8 to 10 hours a night. Everything else, including the town of Ferris Glen, the company, the health department, the candidate and every number, is invented for this lesson, and each source says so. Read Source 1 aloud, pausing at each time stamp, and show Diagram 1.

   10:00-0:04. A girl of about thirteen slumps over a kitchen table at dawn. The clock on the wall reads 6:15. Large white letters fill the screen: TIRED AGAIN?

   20:04-0:09. The same girl, now smiling, jogs to a school bus in bright sunshine. She wears a teal wristband. Upbeat music begins.

   30:09-0:16. A bar chart fills the screen under the title "Sleep with the Lumadrowse Band." A short gray bar labeled "Before" shows 6.8 hours. A tall teal bar labeled "After" shows 7.6 hours. The side of the chart starts at 6.5 hours, not at 0. Small gray print at the bottom stays on screen for two seconds: "Survey of 40 Lumadrowse customers ages 13-17 who chose to answer. Individual results vary."

   40:16-0:24. A calm adult voice says: "You can't control what time the bus comes. You can control your sleep. The Lumadrowse Band tracks your sleep, wakes you gently and helps you build a bedtime routine. Teens who used it slept almost an hour more."

   50:24-0:30. The Lumadrowse logo appears with the price, $89, and a button that says "Shop now." The last line of text reads: "Back-to-school sale ends Sunday."

   1ANNOUNCER: This is a message from the Ferris County Health Department.

   2TEEN VOICE: My alarm goes off at 6:05. By second period, I'm reading the same sentence three times.

   3ANNOUNCER: Sleep doctors at the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommend that teenagers sleep 8 to 10 hours every night. In our county's student health survey last spring, 6 out of 10 eighth graders said they sleep less than 8 hours on a school night. Too little sleep affects mood, memory and attention.

   4TEEN VOICE: So now I charge my phone in the kitchen.

   5ANNOUNCER: Here are three things families can do tonight. Keep the same bedtime every night, even on weekends. Put phones and tablets outside the bedroom. And keep the room dark and cool. Sleep is part of the school day. A message from the Ferris County Health Department.

   1[Music. Councilmember Lena Marsh stands on Main Street at night, under a streetlight. Text on screen: LENA MARSH FOR MAYOR.]

   2MARSH: It's 11 o'clock on a Tuesday, and there are thirteen-year-olds on this corner. They should be asleep. Sleep doctors say teenagers need 8 to 10 hours a night. Kids who are out at 11 aren't getting it.

   3[A bar chart appears, titled "Late-night calls about teens downtown." The bar for two years ago shows 30 calls; the bar for last year shows 38 and is colored red. The side of the chart starts at 25. Small print: "Ferris Glen police log."]

   4MARSH: Calls about teens downtown after 10 p.m. are rising. My plan is simple: a 10 p.m. school-night curfew for anyone under 16. It keeps kids safe, and it gets them home to bed. My opponent says wait and see. I say our kids can't wait.

   5[Photo of a boy yawning at a school desk. Text: VOTE MARSH ON NOVEMBER 3. Paid for by Marsh for Mayor.]

   • Visual format, commercial motive (Source 1, paragraphs 1-2 and 5)

     A tired girl at dawn becomes a smiling girl in sunshine, wearing a teal wristband, and the ad ends with a price and a "Shop now" button.

     Result: Purpose: to sell the Lumadrowse Band. Motive: commercial; the company earns $89 for each sale. The before-and-after pictures do the persuading before any fact is given, and the sale that "ends Sunday" pushes viewers to buy quickly.

   • Quantitative format, evaluated (Source 1, paragraphs 3-4, and Diagram 1)

     The chart shows 6.8 hours before and 7.6 hours after, on a scale that starts at 6.5. The voice says teens "slept almost an hour more."

     Result: 7.6 - 6.8 = 0.8 hours, which is 48 minutes, not "almost an hour." From the 6.5 line, the bars are 0.3 and 1.1 hours tall, so After looks about 3.7 times as tall though it is only about 12 percent more. The survey asked 40 customers "who chose to answer," so happy buyers are more likely to be counted. The ad also leaves out that 7.6 hours is still under the 8-10 hours sleep doctors recommend.

   • Oral format, social motive (Source 2)

     A radio announcement from the health department gives the sleep doctors' advice, a county survey result and three tips, and asks for no money and no vote.

     Result: Purpose: to inform families and persuade them to change habits. Motive: social; the department's job is public health. It names the group behind its advice, and its tips cost nothing. It is still worth asking where the county survey came from, but nothing in the message pays the department if you follow it.

   • Oral and visual formats, political motive (Source 3, paragraphs 2-4)

     Lena Marsh, a candidate for mayor, uses the 8-10 hour advice and a chart of late-night calls to argue for a 10 p.m. curfew for anyone under 16.

     Result: Purpose: to win support for a curfew and votes for Marsh. Motive: political; "Paid for by Marsh for Mayor." The sleep fact is real, but it does not show that a curfew would make teens sleep more. The chart's scale starts at 25, so 30 to 38 calls looks like a big jump, and a call about teens is not proof that teens did anything wrong.

   • One fact, three motives (Sources 1-3)

     All three sources are about teen sleep. Source 2 states the 8-10 hour advice to change habits, Source 3 uses it to support a law, and Source 1 never mentions it.

     Result: Evaluating motive means asking what each maker does with the facts. The health department shows the advice directly. The candidate attaches it to her plan. The company leaves it out, because 7.6 hours would fall short. A motive does not make a message false, but it tells you which facts to check and what might be missing.

   Label the warm-up columns commercial, political and social, and ask students to add Sources 1-3 to the right columns.

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Pairs read Source 4, a flyer about the curfew. For each part of the flyer, they note the format (visual, quantitative or oral), the purpose and the clues to the motive, using the questions in the table.

   1FRONT. A color photo shows four smiling teenagers sharing a pizza in a bright restaurant. The headline, in large blue letters, reads: DON'T PUNISH GOOD KIDS.

   2Under the photo: "9 out of 10 teens downtown after 10 p.m. are doing nothing wrong. A curfew treats every one of them like a suspect." No source is given for the number.

   3BACK. A list titled "Where Ferris Glen teens spend their evenings" names the movie theater, the bowling alley, the pizza place and the ice-cream shop. Below it, in smaller print: "Our members estimate that customers under 16 spend about $12,000 a week in downtown businesses after 8 p.m."

   4At the bottom: "Tell the council: no curfew. Public comment, October 14, City Hall." In the smallest print: "Paid for by the Ferris Glen Downtown Merchants Association."

   Debrief with three questions. (1) What does the flyer seem to be at first? A social message about fairness to teenagers: the photo shows friendly teens and the headline says "DON'T PUNISH GOOD KIDS." (2) What clues show another motive? Paragraph 3 lists only businesses and says customers under 16 spend "about $12,000 a week" downtown, and paragraph 4 names the maker, the Downtown Merchants Association. The motive is at least partly commercial: a curfew would cost its members money. (3) How should that change the way we judge its numbers? The "9 out of 10" in paragraph 2 has no source, and the $12,000 is the members' own estimate. The flyer may still be right that most teens downtown do nothing wrong, but a listener should check that claim somewhere else before trusting it.

4. Independent Practice15-20 minutes

   Students work alone on a new issue. The invented town of Wren Valley will vote on Measure T, a plan to turn an old rail line into a walking and biking trail. They read Sources 5-7 and the fact sheet below, look at Diagram 2, and answer quiz questions 1-10. Then they answer questions 11-20, which apply the same steps to new messages.

   Source 8: Measure T fact sheet from the Wren Valley city clerk (invented)

   Item	Amount
   Total cost to build the 3.2-mile trail	$640,000
   Paid by a state trails grant	$400,000
   Paid by the town (a bond repaid through property taxes)	$240,000
   Households in Wren Valley	about 6,000
   One-time cost per household, added to the property tax bill	about $40
   Yearly upkeep, paid from the parks budget	$18,000

   1FRONT. A color photo shows Councilmember Jo Pemberton, smiling, holding a bicycle on the old rail line at sunset. The headline reads: MEASURE T: A TRAIL FOR ALL OF US.

   2A graphic shows four people in a row. Three are bright orange and one is gray. Beside them, in large letters: "3 out of 4 residents agree!" Small print under the graphic: "Pemberton newsletter reader survey: 36 yes out of 48 replies."

   3BACK. "I fought to bring $400,000 in state grant money home to Wren Valley. Measure T builds the trail with no new taxes on your paycheck."

   4At the bottom: "Re-elect Jo Pemberton, City Council, District 2. Paid for by Pemberton for Council."

   1SOUND: Bike wheels clicking along a gravel path.

   2TEEN VOICE: Where are we supposed to ride? On the shoulder of Route 9? Again?

   3ANNOUNCER: Wren Valley, a real trail could be coming to the old rail line. And when it does, Two Spoke Cycles has you covered: bikes fitted to your height, tune-ups, and helmets from $45. Vote yes on T, then come see us. Show your "Yes on T" sticker and get 20 percent off any helmet through November. Two Spoke Cycles, 14 Main Street. Ride safe.

   1[Video. Two teenagers ride bikes along the narrow shoulder of Route 9 at dusk while a truck passes close beside them.]

   2NARRATOR (a high school senior): Last summer, volunteers from Friends of the Wren Valley Trail stood by Route 9 on ten evenings and counted people walking or biking on the shoulder. We counted 112 in all. On seven of those evenings, we saw a truck pass within an arm's length of a rider.

   3[Text on screen: 112 people on the shoulder, 10 evenings. 7 evenings with a close pass.]

   4NARRATOR: Everyone in Wren Valley deserves a safe way to get to school, to work and to the park. The old rail line could give us one, away from traffic. If Measure T passes, our volunteers plan to help run the trail: cleanups, maps and a trail ambassador program.

   5NARRATOR: Learn the facts about Measure T, and talk with your family before you vote.

5. Closure5 minutes

   Exit ticket: "Choose one source from today. Name its purpose and its motive, give one clue, and write one question you would ask before trusting it." Sort the tickets by motive and share one strong question from each pile the next day.

   Teacher note. The only real fact in the sources is the American Academy of Sleep Medicine's advice that teenagers sleep 8 to 10 hours a night. Ferris Glen, Wren Valley, Lumadrowse, Two Spoke Cycles, the health department, the merchants' association, the volunteer group, both candidates, all surveys and all dollar amounts are invented. No real company or person is shown as acting in bad faith. When students bring in real ads, keep the discussion on the clues and the evidence rather than on whether a brand is good or bad.

   Homework. Tonight students analyze one real ad and one public service message they find themselves, evaluate two invented messages, and write a short script with a motive of their own. Go over the directions and rubric before they leave.

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   What is the main purpose of Source 5, Jo Pemberton's mailer?

   ATo give voters the full cost of Measure T and how it will be paid BTo win votes for Pemberton by linking her to a popular trail plan CTo sell bicycles and helmets to families who will use the new trail DTo report the results of a careful survey of every town household

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   The mailer says "3 out of 4 residents agree!" What does its small print, shown in Diagram 2, actually support?

   AThat 3 of every 4 households in Wren Valley support the measure BThat 36 people will vote no on Measure T in the coming election CThat 4 out of 5 newsletter readers who replied said they agreed DThat 36 of 48 newsletter readers who replied said yes

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Paragraph 3 of the mailer says Measure T builds the trail "with no new taxes on your paycheck." What does the fact sheet show?

   ATrue only narrowly: each household pays about $40 on its property tax bill BCompletely true: the state grant pays the whole cost of the new trail CFalse: the town will take money out of every worker's paycheck DThe fact sheet does not give any information about how the trail is paid for

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Why does Two Spoke Cycles (Source 6) tell listeners to vote yes on Measure T?

   ABecause the shop is required by law to share news about every election BBecause the shop wants to inform voters about both sides of the question CBecause a trail would bring the shop more riders as customers DBecause the shop is run by the same volunteers who made Source 7

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   A listener shows a "Yes on T" sticker at Two Spoke Cycles and buys a $45 helmet. What does the helmet cost with the discount?

   A$9 B$36 C$25 D$54

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Source 7 has a social motive: safe routes for everyone. Which detail shows that its group might also gain something if Measure T passes?

   AThe video shows two teenagers riding along the shoulder of Route 9 BThe narrator is a high school senior who speaks for the whole town CThe volunteers counted people on the road shoulder for ten evenings DThe group plans to help run the trail, with cleanups and a program

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Source 7 counts "112 people on the shoulder, 10 evenings." Which statement about that number is accurate?

   AIt is 11.2 per evening, and some riders may be counted twice BIt proves that 112 different people in Wren Valley would use the new trail CIt shows that 7 people were hurt by trucks on Route 9 during the summer DIt is the total from a survey of every household in the town of Wren Valley

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which source's main purpose is to inform voters rather than to persuade them?

   ASource 5, the council member's mailer with the "3 out of 4" graphic BSource 6, the Two Spoke Cycles radio ad with the helmet discount CSource 8, the city clerk's fact sheet of costs and who pays DSource 7, the volunteer group's video about riders on Route 9

9. Question 9 of 20 · Short Answer

   Use Diagram 2 and the fact sheet. About what fraction of Wren Valley households replied to the mailer's survey? Explain how the mailer's visual format (the four figures) and the word "residents" make its claim look stronger than its numbers, and write a more accurate caption for the graphic.

   Show model answer

10. Question 10 of 20 · Short Answer

    You want to know how much Measure T will cost your family. Rank Sources 5, 6 and 8 from most to least trustworthy on that question, and explain each placement by naming the source's purpose and motive.

    Show model answer

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    An ad for CellBright, an invented phone company, shows a happy family and says, "Families who switch save $200 a year. Switch today!" What is the motive?

    ACommercial: the company earns money when families switch plans BSocial: the company wants families to spend more time together CPolitical: the company wants families to support a new law DNone: an ad with numbers in it only gives people information

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    A radio spot from an invented state wildlife agency says, "Keep trash in locked bins. A bear that finds food once will come back." What is the motive?

    ACommercial, because the agency wants people to buy new trash bins BSocial, because the agency wants to keep people and bears safe CPolitical, because the agency wants listeners to vote for a law DCommercial, because the radio station is paid to air the spot

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    A video ad for an invented senator, Ruth Hale, shows her at a factory with workers behind her, plays calm music, says, "Ruth Hale cut your taxes," and ends with "Paid for by Hale for Senate." Which clue best shows the ad's political motive?

    AThe factory full of workers shown behind her BThe calm music playing under her voice CThe claim that taxes went down while she served DThe "Paid for by Hale for Senate" line at the end

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    An ad for Crunchwell, an invented cereal, shows fiber per bowl: 52 for its cereal and 56 for the new recipe, on a scale that starts at 50. Which statement is accurate?

    AThe new recipe has three times as much fiber, just as the bars show BThe chart is fine, because every number on it is printed correctly CThe new recipe's bar looks 3 times as tall, but 56 is about 8% more DThe new recipe has 4 times as much fiber, the difference 56 - 52

15. Question 15 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    A documentary called The Juice Advantage was paid for by the National Juice Council, an invented group of juice companies. Which question best evaluates its motive?

    A"Who paid for it, and what would they gain if we believed it?" B"Was the film long enough to cover the topic in real detail?" C"Did the music and the camera work make the film fun to watch?" D"How many people have watched the film since it came out?"

16. Question 16 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    At a town meeting, a speaker says the new trail will "ruin the quiet" of her street. You later learn that she owns the lot next to the rail line and hoped to sell it to a builder. How should that change the way you judge her speech?

    AIt proves that everything she said about the noise is false BHer motive may be partly commercial; check her claims CIt makes no difference, because a spoken message has no motive DIt makes her the best source, because she knows the street well

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    A poster on the gym door, made by the invented student council, shows a basketball player in mid-air and says, "Spirit Night, Friday 6 p.m. Tickets $3. All money goes to new team uniforms." Name its format, its purpose and its motive, give one clue for each, and write one question you would ask before believing it.

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    An ad for Surgewell, an invented sports drink, says, "9 out of 10 athletes prefer Surgewell!" The small print says the 10 athletes are paid by the company to appear in its ads. Evaluate the claim: name the motive and explain two reasons the number is weak evidence.

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    An invented mayor's mailer says, "Park vandalism down 50 percent since I took office!" The city report shows 4 cases the year before and 2 cases last year. Is the percentage correct? Explain what it hides and how the motive shapes the way the number is presented.

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    A news website runs the headline "Trail Fight Turns Ugly" above a story in which 2 of the 30 speakers at a town meeting raised their voices. The site earns money from ads, so more clicks mean more money. What is the purpose of the story, and what motive might explain the headline? Write a more accurate headline.

    Show model answer

These standards connect to SL.8.2: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.

Standard text: Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy. © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.