Commercials In Class
Ads are everywhere. Teachers need to work with students so they understand what's happening with them.
ELT Pros On Linkedin | Video Library | Our Blog | ELT Buzz News | TpTs
Commercials are a strong material to use in the language classroom. Not only are they masterly produced but they are free and they want you to watch them!
Use commercials for these 5 reasons.
1. A clear, concise message. Great as context for language learning.
2. They are short!
3. They are hip. Cultural translatable and current.
4. Easy to spin off into other areas of learning. Great for engagement.
5. Wonderful for teaching media literacy, and critical thinking!
Edutopia has its own list of reasons.
My educator handbook - Using Commercials In The Classroom offers a lot more info. about using commercials for teaching language.
One activity I particularly like is what I call “Commercial Analysis”. It’s like “appreciative” style lessons where you play a video, a song, and students rate different aspects of it.
Students are given a list of criteria and while watching commercials, to note its qualities. Criteria to discuss for each commercial could be:
Effectiveness? Did it do a good job at selling you the product?
Audience? Who was the message directed at mainly.
Hook? What was the hook - music? mood? actors? surprise ending?
Message? If you buy this … you’ll …. What was the message they were sending?
Watch some commercials. After, discuss and compare, student analysis. Download below our pre-made templates with criteria, to use in class.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to ELT Buzz Teaching Resources to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.