Media Literacy: Persuasive Techniques

This lesson could be taught in all middle school levels, but the following standards are pulled from Texas's TEKS for 7th grade students.

The following are the TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills for 7th grade):

§110.18. English Language Arts and Reading, Grade 6, Beginning with School Year 2009-2010.

(b)  Knowledge and skills.

(13)  Reading/Media Literacy. Students use comprehension skills to analyze how words, images, graphics, and sounds work together in various forms to impact meaning. Students will continue to apply earlier standards with greater depth in increasingly more complex texts. Students are expected to:

(B)  recognize how various techniques influence viewers' emotions;

(C)  critique persuasive techniques (e.g., testimonials, bandwagon appeal) used in media messages; and

Images for this WebQuest are taken from Google Images. See Resources below for the URL for each image.