Goal-directed Instructional Design Plan - Civics--Interest Groups Author - Annie Blaauw 1.

A problem or a need Students often pose the questions to me, What can we do about it?
They are implying that they are helpless--just kids. They need to understand that they have a voice, and in this age of the Internet and globalization, it is easier than ever for their voices to be heard. In addition, with the world becoming increasingly interconnected, it is easy for students to get lost in the noise of differing opinions, statements, and facts. This is particularly an issue during an election year. Students need to be able to discern the purpose behind political ads, posters, and rhetoric. A real-world performance Learn how to use technology skills to get their opinions heard and to learn how to use their own voice to work towards a goal. Also, understanding how and why advertisers try to sway opinions is a necessary skill in order to become smart consumers and thinkers. Experiencing this first-hand is a good way to address that topic.

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An instructional objective Explain the role of television, radio, the press, and the Internet in political communication. Research an interest group focused on a local public policy issue of their choice. Evaluate, take, and defend positions about the formation and implementation of a current A set of essential content
public policy issue, and examine ways to participate in the decision making process about the issue. Create a Commercial and Political Poster around their policy issue.

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In the days prior to this lesson, we will have worked as a class to understand the majority of the content for this unit, including what political parties and interest groups are, and what purposes they serve. Students will already have learned about the political spectrum, mass media, public policy, and techniques of propaganda that can sway opinions. They must know these before being successful in this lesson, as this is the final product of the unit. Students will also have seen demonstrations of videos and ads similar to the ones they will be making, as a model and demonstration of expectations (Yelon). Because it is the end of the semester, students will also have practiced researching online using credible sources and fair-to-use images. In addition, they will already have had guided practice with making films using VoiceThread, Animoto (Some may have experience with iMovie or other film tools, but it is not required or expected). They will have used Glogster and Popplet before in my class. They will also be familiar with using my class website as a forum to post links and comments. (Guided practice and learning skills that can be applied to the subject matter.--Kintsch)

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An evaluation consisting of a test or observation

Students will research a local interest group of their choice and write a bullet-point summary of its key beliefs and actions that demonstrate its beliefs. Students will determine a policy topic to focus on as a group and will create an outline of their commercial mapping what arguments and points they will make via Popplet. Students will create a political poster using Glogster representing their policy issue clearly Students will develop a short commercial to advertise their policy issue.

A method to help participants learn

As homework the night before, students would individually have researched one interest group of their choice and summarized its focus, arguments, and ways of spreading its message. The purpose is to get students thinking about the goals of interest groups, and the choices they make when advertising. In the computer lab, students in groups will have 5-8 minutes to discuss an issue they care about (must be local, and can be school-related). Once they determine what issue to focus on, they will brainstorm and list the reasons why their concern IS an issue, list why it matters, and what solutions they think will improve it. This will be organized in a Popplet web and posted on our class website.

Michigan State University, Educational Technology Programs http://edutech.msu.edu

Students will then use Glogster to create a political poster to advertise their beliefs about their issue. They will need to complete this part of the activity in class--this is the core of the lesson for today. Students will need to consider all aspects of mass media and public policy delivery we have discussed in this unit--how to get your point across, how to seem professional, how to make your message sound the most interesting. They will post their Glogster to the class website for their peers to view and comment on. They must also pay attention that they are only using images that are fair-to-use.
(Their last step will be to create a commercial representing their issue and their solutions for it. The work on this may begin today, depending on how long students have left as the hour ends, but will be the majority of tomorrows activity. They will have time to work in the lab or my classroom (they are right next to each other) to work on filming or creating their video from images.)

At the beginning of class tomorrow, students will present their Glogsters to one another in class. After the films are created and viewed, we will discuss as a class how we might spread our word further--could we post the videos somewhere? Send them to the local newspaper? This will help students realize that their voice can travel. Motivation: Meaningfulness Students will be able to see that their opinions have value and will

learn how to effectively voice their opinions. Their opinion can have power and be public. Pleasant consequences They will be more confident in expressing their ideas in eloquent and organized ways, because they realize they can create a product for public consumption using their own opinions. The activity validates their opinions on an issue. Novelty The incorporation of technology into this unit will be novel to my students and get their attention. Getting to use technology to promote their opinions will be fun. In addition, they will know from the beginning that they will be showing their videos to their classmates. I encourage humor and creativity, and as long as they are taking their assignment seriously they can be as funny as they want. The chance to be humorous while making a final product should motivate them. In addition to the above, this lesson reaches both the R and M level of the SAMR model. Previously in this lesson, students created physical paper posters about their interest groups. Now, not only are they creating digital posters in Glogster, but I have been able to implement the new task of creating a video, which I had not considered as a possibility before. I had the pedagogy and content prepared already for this lesson, but believe I was able to incorporate technology in meaningful ways (the TPACK model).

Socialization - Students are working together to create a product. In addition, they are working
with technology, which will provide them with the chance to help one another and be leaders, depending on who is more comfortable with what technology. Also, student groups will be interacting with one another through discussions, posting products and comments on the class website, and through viewing each others posters and videos.

Audience Age--10th grade Civics, generally 14-16 years old. Skill level (including technology skills)-- Students will be able to form an argumentative

opinion and create an outline. We will have worked with Glogster, Popplet, and creating movies from images using tools such as VoiceThread or Animoto. Some more advanced students may know how to make their own live action movies, but not all will. Prerequisite knowledge (including technology background)-- Students will be familiar with my class routines and expectations. This is the final activity in one of the last units of the semester, so students should be well-versed and familiar with the topics at hand. They will have been in simulations where the must state their opinions, and will have learned about interest groups and the influential power of media on a persons beliefs. Also, they will have an understanding of digital citizenship and proper use of media/images. Technology Needs We will need 2 days in the computer lab with Internet access for this overall project, 1 of which is for todays lesson. Students will need access to Popplet, Glogster, my teaching website, and Animoto and/or VoiceThread. If students are choosing to make a live-action film, they will need a video camera (I have 2 Flips for classroom use) and availability of video editing software such as iMovie at home.

Michigan State University, Educational Technology Programs http://edutech.msu.edu