Summary
In this lesson, students analyze internet memes in order to discuss the elements that combine to create persuasive media. After this lesson on persuasiveness, students read a brief introduction to the causes of the Spanish American War. Using this reading and the class discussion on the characteristics of persuasive media, students create an internet meme that could have been used during the 1890’s to influence American public perception of Spain. The students write a short analysis of their meme and post these explanations along with their visual media to a Schoolspace Discussion Board. Students view the work of their classmates, give feedback to each other on the persuasiveness of their work, and reflect on their own creative process. The students’ work with memes up to this point prepares them for a short discussion on the use of yellow journalism during the Spanish American War. After this discussion, the students analyze primary documents (political cartoons and images) related to the causes of the Spanish American War. Students discuss how the circulation of these images through the American press affected American public perception of the relationship between the United States and Spain during the late 19th century. As a culminating activity, students are asked to find examples of yellow journalism from the present day. The students use these articles to draw conclusions about persuasive media and source evaluation techniques in a classroom discussion.
TIPC Ratings
Approaching – 4
For the extension activity of the assignment, the students use a variety of online news websites (people.com, nationalenquirer.com, cnn.com, usatoday.com, etc.) to research a current event of their choosing. In this step of the assignment, the students select information sources and content that are relevant and appropriate for their own interests and the interests of their classmates. Students contribute to a Google Spreadsheet that allows all students to respond to class discussion questions on yellow journalism and source evaluation. Students also use their research and information fluency skills to select and locate an appropriate image for the final product.
Approaching – 4
Throughout the assignment, students use digital tools to communicate and collaborate with their classmates. The Google Doc Spreadsheet, ActivEngage results, and the Blog or Schoolspace Discussion Board allow the students to share ideas. Some aspects of collaboration are evident within the lesson because the students use the aforementioned digital tools to not only communicate and express ideas, but to help each other strengthen individual work and understanding of concepts (such as persuasive techniques). If the teacher wishes to emphasize this strand further, students can truly collaborate in groups by forming roles, dividing tasks, and making common decisions about one meme. Ultimately, this could make the memes stronger, but would likely take more class time to complete.
Ideal – 7
The main goal or problem of the assignment is for students to be able to influence each other’s perceptions and opinions through use of persuasive techniques. Students select and apply the tools that best complete this task. Students may use Photoshop, Paint, or another tool of their choice that creates an appropriate product. The students also select and apply the most appropriate persuasive strategies. Students may focus on humor in their memes, reference pop culture topics, or use contrasting elements within the image to create a sense of irony. Students justify their choice of strategies and tools within their individual discussion board/blog posts. At the end of the lesson, the students think critically and use the knowledge gained throughout the lesson to reflect on the existence of yellow journalism in today’s media. This task is authentic because the topics of research are relevant and interesting to the students, the students post their work for an outside audience, and the students practice and refine a skill that can be put to use outside of the classroom – Persuasion. Additionally, students discuss the topic of yellow journalism in the context of today’s media. To further strengthen the critical thinking strand and bring an effective close to the assignment, the teacher could poll the students at the end of the lesson as to which memes were most persuasive, similar to how the teacher completes the first activity with the “pepper spray cop” memes. The students could generate conclusions and discuss the strongest and weakest memes in the class, further increasing their understanding persuasive techniques.
Ideal – 7
Creativity and Innovation are a main focus of this lesson. During the whole class portion of the assignment, the students use the Wordseed feature of ActivEngage to analyze trends that occur in the most persuasive and least persuasive forms of media. Ultimately, the students complete the assignment by creating a product that is displayed for a wide audience. In order to create this product, the students must select the most appropriate digital tools and persuasive techniques to use. Students may choose to use Photoshop, Paint, or another tool based on their experience with the tool, the image they wish to create, and the persuasive techniques that they employ. Within this assignment, many students take risks in creating their final product. A large number of the student memes focus on humor and controversial topics, which are generally not emphasized in the school classroom. In responding to other students and editing their original posts, students reflect on their own creativity and artistic abilities. However, in order to strengthen this strand even further, the design cycle could be further emphasized within the lesson. The teacher could focus on the specific parts of the design cycle (investigate, design/plan, create, evaluate), and have the students reflect specifically on each of these steps.
Student Artifact
Download Files
Media and the Spanish American War – H21 Lesson Materials – Lesson 5452
Contents:
- Causes of the Spanish American War – Graphic Organizer (Word Document)
- H21 Lesson Plan – Media and the Spanish American War
- Media and Persuasion Flipchart
- Spanish American War Meme Instructions and Rubric (Word Document)
- Spanish American War Causes Reading (Word Document)
- Spanish American War Photo Analysis Worksheet (Word Document)
- UC Davis – 99% Protest Reading (Word Document)
- Yellow Journalism and the Spanish American War (PowerPoint)
- Student Work Samples
