Classromm+Activities



=__Persuasive Images__=

__Rationale__ The goal of this assignment is to have students investigate the use of persuasion outside of a conventional written essay. As a class, we will watch the documentary "KONY 2012" and evaluate it as though it were a persuasive research paper. What question is it trying to answer? Does it make a clear claim? How are texts, images, and music used to support the claim? How were facts and information used to support the claim? The idea is by examining the documentary as a persuasive research paper and eventually moving on to their own non-traditional mini-research project, students will be equipped with the tools they will need to work on multi-genre research project associated with themes found in various texts. The hope is that previous activities in this unit will work in conjunction with this activity to prepare students.

__Objectives__
 * Students will be able to identify and create strong clear claim statements
 * Students will identify strong supporting statements and how to create them.
 * Students will work collaboratively to construct well organized presentations.
 * Students will explore how the documentary uses images to enhance the message in the documentary.
 * Students will discuss how music and sound are used to highlight important points.

__Text__ "KONY 2012" by Jason Russell, Bobby Bailey and Laren Poole [|“For What It's Worth”] by Buffalo Springfield Poster for //Invisible Children// and "KONY 2012"

__Materials__ Computer to show movie "KONY 2012" Viewing Guide Pencil, paper, scissors, glue, magazines, poster boards

__Warm-Up__

=
Students will listen to and be provided the lyrics for [|“For What It’s Worth”] by Buffalo Springfield. Students will be asked “What do you think the song is about?” and “What do you think the author was trying to accomplish with the song?” They will be asked to cite specific lines from the song to back up their claim. ======

__ Activities __ Students will be introduced to the Invisible Children organization and a poster from one of their short films. They will form educated guesses as to the group's message and how it is presented on their poster. They will be asked to consider the images used and how they are positioned for the overall affect.

Next, the class will watch Invisible Children's short film “KONY 2012” with a viewing guide asking them to consider themes that come up during the film, what was particularly memorable or evocative, how the filmmakers accomplished this, etc. based on the images and editing choices used in the film. The class will also discuss the idea of activism in connection to "For What It's Worth" and the role of entertainment (i.e. movies and songs) in advocating for a cause.

After completing the viewing guide, students will get into groups of 3 and come up with a list of themes from the film and how the filmmakers presented them. They will include what kind of persuasive modes the filmmakers used and how effective these modes were in convincing viewers of their claims. Each group will then receive a copy of an article that levies some criticism or "pushback" against the film. The group will analyze the counterpoint put forth by these articles. What claims did they make? How did they support or back-up their claim?

After all of the sides are considered, the groups will take a stance and make their own claim on the effectiveness or impact of "KONY 2012". They will be responsible for creating a podcast, reaction video, or blog column and defend their view on the film. They will be asked to cite specific examples from the film, the pushback articles or any other research they wish to use to support their own claim. The rest of class will be used for the groups to begin drafting their claims and supporting evidence. The actual assignment will be completed later.

__Assessments__ Students will present their final projects to the class at a later date. Projects will be evaluated on students’ ability to make a clear claim and support it using evidence from the materials used in class and/or outside research.

__Viewing Guide__

__Pushback Articles__


 * [|CNN Column]**


 * [|Michael Deibert on The Huffington Post]**