Overview:
This is the seventh lesson in the Reading Ads with a Social Justice Lens series.
Once children have been introduced to the idea of
representation in advertisements, they can begin to consider its effects. Being
well represented in advertising may be positive or negative, and it is
important for children to form their own opinions on the impact of advertising
representation. Children must also be given the language for expressing the
strong emotions these discussions may evoke.
Objectives
Activities will helps students:
- Take on different perspectives and consider other
people’s experiences;
- Apply historical knowledge to understand current
events; and
- Draw conclusions about how being over- or
underrepresented by advertisements might affect people’s lives and self-concepts.
Essential
Questions
- Who is well represented by advertisements? Who is less
well represented?
- What are some reasons for disparate representations of
different groups of people?
- How might representation or underrepresentation in
advertisements affect people?
Activities
- Remind students
of the meaning of representation
discussed in lesson 6 . Explain that they will be debating the reasons
for and effects of representation in advertisements.
- Have students
refer back to their individual or whole-class charts (lesson 6) describing the
representation they observed in advertisements. Break students into teams. Have
each team focus on one well represented group and one underrepresented group. For
instance, one team might focus on temporarily able-bodied people and the other
on people with visible disabilities. Once students have made their selections,
encourage them to use their knowledge of history and daily life to form a list
of reasons why the groups receive different levels of representation in advertisements.
Students may do additional research or rely on prior knowledge, but they should
work collaboratively. Preliterate students may draw pictures or icons.
- Once students
have completed their lists, have them switch with another team. Now they are
thinking about a group of people their classmates were previously analyzing. They
may review their classmates’ lists. Have them write a speech or letter from the
point of view of one of their groups addressing the effect of under- or
overrepresentation on their lives. Encourage them to think about advantages as
well as disadvantages in both cases. Preliterate students may choose to draw
pictures, give speeches orally or perform a skit.
- Encourage
students to share their work with their classmates.
Reflection
Taking on someone else’s point of
view is an important skill. Extend this experience by asking students to imagine
how advertisements they encounter outside of school might affect someone from a
different race, a different gender or a different country. Encourage them to
try out several different points of view and report back on their discoveries
next time you meet.
