Melissa Schlegel

KenmoreMiddle School

Grade 8 ELA

Propaganda Lesson (2 days)

Purpose and Description: The purpose of this lesson is to introduce the students to propaganda and how it is used in real life and in the novel. The students will be introduced to the topic of propaganda through a PowerPoint and a Word Wall addition. They will be shown and told how propaganda is the use of false or over exaggerated information to intentionally harm a person or group. They will be shown examples of real propaganda and will be told how it was used to spread rumors to support someone’s cause. In this lesson they will be shown examples of Nazi propaganda from World War II. I will explain to them how Hitler and the Nazis tried to show the Jewish race and American soldiers in a negative light in an effort to support their own cause. After our discussion of propaganda in real life, I will ask the students how the government in Among the Hidden has enforced its Population Law. I will ask what the initial reason for the law was and if it is really true. They will respond with a shortage of food and that it is not really true. On page 83, we will look at a statement made by Jen which asserts that there really is no shortage of food; it was merely something the government said to try to keep the population in check.

After we look at the passage, I will ask the students to list the ways that the government enforces the Population Law; what methods does the government take to ensure the citizens will not disobey the law? Our list will include a $5000000 fine, execution if found harboring a shadow child, death of the shadow child, shortage of food, and the use of the Population Police. These methods are all used to induce fear in the population and ensure that no third children are born. I will then explain to the students that all of these tactics are examples of propaganda. The government asserts that there is a shortage of food and that third children are detriments to the society. They keep enforcing this belief and use scare tactics to ensure the law is followed.

After the students have been familiarized with propaganda and its uses in real life and its presence in the novel, the students will be allowed to create their own propaganda posters for the novel. In small groups of four or five students, they will create a poster which enforces the Population Law. They must also write a paragraph which explains what their poster means and why they feel it would be effective in enforcing the Population Law.

The students will be given the remainder of the period to finish their posters. They will also be permitted to work on it the next day for approximately 20 minutes. It must be finished by the first half of the period on the next day because the groups will then be asked to present their posters and read their paragraphs to the class.

Constituent Group: This lesson will be taught in five eighth grade English classes at KenmoreMiddle School. There are nine students with IEPs, one student with a 504 plan, and 4 ESL students. There are varying degrees abilities throughout all five classes.

Common Core Standards:

W.8.2d: Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.(Propaganda poster and paragraph)
W.8.4: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.(Propaganda paragraph)
W.8.11b: Create a presentation, artwork, or text in response to a literary work with commentary that identifies connections and explains divergences from the original. (Propaganda poster)

b. Create poetry, stories, plays and other literary forms (e.g. videos, art

work).

SL.8.1d: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly. (Group work and class discussion)

d. Acknowledge new information expressed by others, and, when warranted, qualify or justify their own views in light of the evidence presented.

SL.8.2: Analyze the purpose of information presented in diverse media and formats (e.g. visually, quantitatively, and orally) and evaluate the motives (e.g. social, commercial, political) behind its presentation. (PowerPoint Presentation and class discussion)

Objectives:

Students will asses the validity of the Population Law by examining a passage in the text and creating a list of tactics the government uses to enforce the law. The students will be led to the conclusion that the list is a scare tactic and the law has no basis; it is propaganda.
Students will understand propaganda and its uses by creating a propaganda poster which enforces the Population Law from Among the Hidden.
Students will write a paragraph which explains their propaganda poster and why they feel it would be effective.

Anticipatory Set: To begin, I will ask the students if there are anyone would like to make an addition to the Word Wall. Next, the students will be shown a slide in a PowerPoint presentation which has a propaganda poster from World War II. They will be asked to write in their journals what they think the poster is an example of. I will ask the students to share their ideas with their groups; the students will also be asked to share their answers with the class. If we receive the correct answer of propaganda, we will move on to the next slide which asks a student to give the definition of propaganda. I will call on a few students to share their ideas. We will then move to the next slide which gives a definition that they will need to write in their journals. I will also bring to the students’ attention that I created a Word Wall definition for propaganda. Finally, I will ask the students to try to think of reasons why people would use propaganda. We will discuss these reasons as a class.

Lesson Plan:

After we discuss propaganda in the real world, we will move on to a discussion of how it is used in our novel, Among the Hidden. I will ask the students to tell me why the Population Law was put into effect and if the reasoning is truly valid. We will read a statement from Jen on pg. 83 in which she states that there is no need for the law because there really is no food shortage. We will then create a class list which will also be written in their journals of all the ways the government enforces the law. We will discuss how all of these methods are merely scare tactics that the government uses to ensure that the citizens obey they law.

After our discussion, the students will then be told that they will need to create a Propaganda poster. It will need to enforce the Population Law using one of the methods we discussed (fine, death, food shortage, etc.). They will also need to write a paragraph which explains their poster and why they feel that it would be effective. They will have the rest of the class period and part of the next day to complete this project.

Closure: As a closure activity, the students will present their posters and read their paragraphs to the class. The posters will be displayed throughout the classroom after being graded.

Name:______Group: _____

Propaganda Poster RubricELA 8

4 / 3 / 2 / 1
Poster / --Our poster is neat, colorful, and creative.
-- It is easy to understand the meaning of the poster without reading our paragraph. / -- Our poster is messy.
-- Our poster is not creative.
-- It is difficult to understand the poster’s meaning without reading our paragraph. / -- Our poster is very sloppy.
-- Our poster lacks thought and effort.
-- Our poster cannot be understood without reading our paragraph. / -- Our poster is not colored in.
-- Our poster is a copy of someone else’s idea.
-- Our poster is unreadable.
Or
-- Our group did not complete a poster.
Paragraph / -- Our paragraph explains our poster and its meaning with detail.
-- We describe why we believe the poster is effective with detail.
-- Our paragraph is neat.
-- Our paragraph has correct grammar and spelling / -- Our paragraph describes and explains our poster, but we need more detail.
-- We have minor spelling and grammar errors. / -- We forgot a description or an explanation of the poster in our paragraph.
-- We have significant spelling and grammar errors that affect the reading. / -- We did not complete a paragraph.
Or
-- Our paragraph has so many errors that it is unreadable.
Participation / -- I participated in planning, designing, and presenting. This is reflected in the way my group graded me.
-- My teacher noticed me participating in each part of the project. / -- My group’s grade shows that I participated most of the time, but I could have helped more.
-- My teacher noticed my effort, but also noticed I was sometimes distracted. / -- I should have participated more in creating our poster. My group’s grade of my participation shows this.
-- My teacher noticed that I was often distracted. / -- I did not participate at all This is reflected in the way my group graded me.
-- My teacher noticed that I did not help my group. I either let everyone else do the work or was distracted doing other work or talking.