Commercial Success with Sensory Adjectives

Engagement (Day 1): Teacher (T) should pre-record a commercial for a kid related product or food item. (T) will review what an adjective is, and ask students (S)to watch the commercial and try to remember all of the adjectives they heard (or saw if there were words) in the commercial. (S) will Think, Pair, and Share with a partner or small group and list adjectives. Whole class share out will follow (T should record adjectives on chart paper for English Language Learners or those with special needs).

Activity 1 (Group rotations Day 1, listing adjectives): T will select several products both toys and food items for as many cooperative groups they decide to create (For this part of the lesson I chose nacho flavored potato chips, jolly ranchers without wrappers so students had to identify flavors, pudding cups, a slinky, stuffed animal/doll, a jump rope. I had 6 groups) T will place each item at a different station with a graphic organizer to list adjectives.

T will review engagement activity from earlier and review what and adjective is. T will explain to students that they will have 3 minutes at each station to list as many adjectives as they can. S are allowed to see, touch, taste, smell, and listen to each product, so have enough samples (i.e. break up the Jolly Rancher into small pieces, or place pudding in dixie cups with a popsicle stick) T will also tell students that they cannot repeat adjectives already listed for that product (from previous groups as they rotate), they must work together to think of new adjectives. After each group rotates through each product, T will have the groups come up and read the adjectives to help with any misconceptions about adjectives (This time can also be used for T to take anecdotal notes on what presentation skills need to be covered before the final activity). Each adjective list should be kept, as it will be used for Day 2 activity and as a reference sheet in class for final activity.

Activity 2 (Day 2, sorting sensory adjectives): T will now define sensory adjectives (adjectives that allow someone to hear, feel, taste, smell, or see things in a story, song, or poem). T will shout out a sensory adjectives and have students categorize them under which sense you use to visualize the object. For example, if the T shouts out "cold" students could categorize under touch/feel. T should use a sorting graphic organizer for this activity. Students will then be placed back in their cooperative groups and given one of the adjective lists from the previous day's lesson (where they rotated with products) and a sorting graphic organizer and sort the adjectives on the list onto the organizer. T can collect sorts as a way to assess misconceptions and review accordingly.

Activity 3 (Days 3-6, creating and filming commercials): T should explain to students their group needs to select one of the products and that they will create a 1-2 minute commercial that will entice someone to buy their product. T will film the commercial using a FLIP video camera. The following criteria must be met:

1. A written script must be turned in before filming the commercial.
2. Each group member must say at least one sentence in the commercial.
3. Sensory adjectives that appeal to at least 3 of the senses must be used.
4. Students must create their own props for the commercial.
5. Students will get three takes (3 tries to get the best commercial)
6. Commercial must be between 1 and 2 minutes only.
7. Each group will select a recess period for filming the commercial and must be ready on that date and time


T should create a rubric that includes adjective use and presentation skills. S should be given a copy and T should go over each level of the rubric.

***I recorded additional commercials and allowed groups to watch on my laptop if they wanted ideas, and also suggested watching commercials in between Saturday cartoons.

***I also gave students a Sample Script of a short commercial and selected students to act out the script correctly and incorrectly. I then asked students to grade both sample commericials, and back up why they gave the grade they did. You may want to have a peer evaluation as criteria.

Students should have 3 lesson periods (30 minutes each) to work on scripts and practice commercials.

Activity 4 ( Day 7: Viewing Commercials) After each commercial is filmed T will show each commercial (on DVD/VCR or projector) to all students and have students self evaluate their own commercials. They will state 3 things that went well, and 3 things their group needs to continue to work on. T will grade each commercial using the rubric and write notes on why a rubric score was given. T may also want to have commercials played during Open House for parents or have a "Viewing Party" for other staff and parents.