Advertising/Design Pitch

Number of Players
2+
Materials
  • Arts supplies as needed
What Is It and Why Use It?

The Advertising/Design Pitch invites students to help a character solve a problem through the creation of an advertising campaign or the application of content to some sort of real world design question. This strategy gives students the opportunity to apply specific design skills including aesthetic vocabulary and layout, and the communication of a message. 

Directions

Content and form preparation:

To prepare to explore this dramatic dilemma, engage students in background research about the advertising form/s being explored in the inquiry through concrete examples. Students may need an introduction to key elements of persuasion used in different forms of advertisement (e.g., message, slogan, celebrity endorsement, music, visual design) as well as common forms of advertisement (e.g., print, TV commercial, radio, etc.). 

 

Directions: 

Begin by reviewing prior knowledge about content and introduce a procedure for problem solving that will be explored within the lesson. Next, set up the conflict, a character needs students’ to use their content and procedural knowledge to help solve a problem. Step into role as the character. Bring students into role as “experts” ready to help the character. Introduce the problem and answer student questions with information about how they can help. Give students a clear process to prepare their advertising or design pitch solution to the character’s problem.  Invite students to work individually or in small groups and time to prepare their ideas and/or presentation. Students share their work–individually or in small groups—and receive feedback from the teacher in role and their fellow students.

Reflection

(To guide responses to the work that is shared, if students worked in small groups)

  • What is the main message of this pitch? (Ask for each presentation)
  • What made this poster/pitch/commercial effective in persuading their audience?
  • What similarities or differences did you see in the ways each group approached the task?
Possible Side-Coaching
  • Who is your target audience?
  • How can you synthesize your message into a single slogan
  • What are some of the methods advertisers use to sell a project or pitch an idea?
Possible Variations/Applications
  • Math: Have students design a floor plan for each of the houses that the 3 little pigs build using shapes and perimeter to note the size of the house. 
  • Science or Math: Have students work individually or in groups to design a new roller coaster for an amusement park that will close unless it brings in new visitors. 
  • Reading/Writing or Social Studies: Have students design a historically accurate advocacy campaign for the Women’s Suffrage Movement or construct a leadership campaign for various characters in Shakespeare’s Macbeth.
Source Citations

DFS