Lesson Plan Grade 8: ELA

Standard: Grade 8, Intergration of Knowlage and Ideas: 7. Evaluate the advantages and
disadvantages of using different mediums (e.g., print or digital text, video, multimedia) to
present a particular topic or idea.

Objective: The students will be able to list the advantages and disadvantages of using
different mediums to spread information with 80% accuracy.

Materials: Students will need access to cellphones or computers, paper, and writing
utensils. Teachers should have a coulple of preprinted news areticals from a variety or
sources newspapers, online publications, magazine articles, and flyers. Teachers should
also have a pre-selected piece of news to share with the students that is not true.

Procedure:

● Orient-
○ Vocabulary and concepts to go over: Information mediums, multimedia,
news circulation, news distribution, target audience.
○ Teacher will proide differnt examples of how news and information can be
spred. Highlight how media is gears towards targeted audiences and
information is spread using different medias to gain different results.
○ Students will learn how using different mediums to spread information
results in more or less people and certain people receiving the information.
● Prerequisites/Review-
○ Vocabulary review
○ Knowlage about how people in soceiy receive news. Ex: online, newspapers,
television, or radio.
● Introduce-
○ Ask students how they receive information or news. Ask how they think
their parents or grandparents receive information. Take a poll to see how
many of them read or listen to the news. Talk about why they think using the
tv for certain informatio is better or worse than using a written way to
circulate information.
● Teach-
○ Tell the students that you will be learning about the advantages and
disadvantages in the different ways information could be spread.
○ Provide examples and discuss that in certain large scale situations such as
weather emergencies news would need to be broadcasted everywhere,
online, on t.v. and on the radio. Give other examples to support that
 information such as sports, entertainment, or niche topics could be
distribyuted in many different ways. These include magazines, newspapers,
social medias, and online publications. Show students these examples.
○ Ask students why it is more likely for someone their age to get news from
social media while their grandparents may get it from a more traditional
news source.
○ Explain that information distribution is not just fro news. These different
meduims share information to targeted audiences. Ex: pet stores want to
advertise and get information out to pet owners. What medium do they use
to be sure they are reaching the target audience?
○ Explain that using different meduimd has advantages and disadvantages
such as cost, publicity or product exaggeration.

Check for Understanding: Began a round robin style quetion and answer session about
what the students understand about the conversation so far and what needs more
clarification. Ask if students what to use there own words to explain to their peers what is
being discussed.

Practice:

● Independent or Group practice for mainstream learners:

○ Each small group of 3-4 students will design an ad or a piece of information
to circulate. They will write the information and state on what mediums the
infromation will be presented on. They will state the target audience for the
information and list the advantages and disadvantages of the mediums they
chose.
● Modifications for Students with special needs:
○ Gifted - Ask these students to put their topics/ideas to the test. Make flyers
to hang around school, utilize the school announcements, and their out
social medias to experiment with information circulation. If they recive the
wanted feedback/participation they have succeeded in finding a meduim
that presents their topic or idea.
○ Learning Disabled - These students will be placed in groups that will help
support their needs. These students will be given extra time on this
assignment if needed.
○ English Language Learners - These students will be placed in groups that
will help support their needs. These students will be given extra time on this
assignment if needed and given the option to do a topic in their first
language and then translate it to english with assistance.
Assess Performance/Provide Feedback: Students will be asked to present their topics
and ideas for information distribution. The list of medium advantages and disadvantages
will be graded. Students will be given written feedback on their presentation and
conetent. If students do poorly at listing advantages/disadvantages they will be given he
oppurtunity to try again so that they may reach 80% accuracy.