Creating a CampaignActivities & Teaching Strategies
Active learning works well for campaign creation because students must test their ideas in real time. Brainstorming, role-playing, and designing posters let them immediately see if their reasons and visuals persuade others.
Learning Objectives
- 1Identify the target audience for a persuasive campaign about a school issue.
- 2Select at least two strong reasons to support a campaign message.
- 3Design a poster incorporating words and images to persuade a specific audience.
- 4Explain the purpose of a campaign poster to a peer.
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Small Groups: Brainstorm Reasons
In small groups, students list 3-5 school problems and matching reasons to fix them. Each group selects top reasons and presents to class for voting on the campaign topic. Record class choice on chart paper.
Prepare & details
Who are you trying to convince with your message?
Facilitation Tip: During the small-group brainstorm, ask guiding questions like 'Which reasons would matter most to a kindergartner?' to push students beyond obvious answers.
Setup: Flexible workspace with access to materials and technology
Materials: Project brief with driving question, Planning template and timeline, Rubric with milestones, Presentation materials
Pairs: Audience Role-Play
Pairs practice pitching campaign ideas: one student presents poster draft as campaigner, the other responds as audience (principal, peer, teacher). Switch roles and note what convinces best. Share one insight per pair.
Prepare & details
What are the best reasons to share to help people agree with you?
Facilitation Tip: For the audience role-play, give students role cards with specific concerns to make the practice more realistic and focused.
Setup: Flexible workspace with access to materials and technology
Materials: Project brief with driving question, Planning template and timeline, Rubric with milestones, Presentation materials
Individual: Poster Creation
Students design personal posters with bold title, 2-3 reasons, pictures, and call to action. Use markers for emphasis and test by reading aloud to a partner. Display for class review.
Prepare & details
Can you design a poster that uses pictures and words to share your message?
Facilitation Tip: When students create posters, provide a checklist of persuasive elements to include, such as a clear message, reasons, and a call to action.
Setup: Flexible workspace with access to materials and technology
Materials: Project brief with driving question, Planning template and timeline, Rubric with milestones, Presentation materials
Whole Class: Feedback Walk
Posters around room; students walk and add sticky-note comments on strong elements or suggestions. Hold group discussion to vote favorites and explain why certain features persuade.
Prepare & details
Who are you trying to convince with your message?
Setup: Flexible workspace with access to materials and technology
Materials: Project brief with driving question, Planning template and timeline, Rubric with milestones, Presentation materials
Teaching This Topic
Teachers should model how to test reasons by asking students to rank them from strongest to weakest. Avoid letting students rely solely on fun or novelty as reasons. Research shows that children persuade best when they connect reasons to their audience's values and needs, so structure activities that require them to consider those connections.
What to Expect
Successful learning looks like students identifying an audience, selecting strong evidence-based reasons, and designing posters that blend words and images to convince that audience. Peer feedback should help refine their messages.
These activities are a starting point. A full mission is the experience.
- Complete facilitation script with teacher dialogue
- Printable student materials, ready for class
- Differentiation strategies for every learner
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Common MisconceptionDuring the Small Groups: Brainstorm Reasons activity, watch for students accepting weak reasons like 'it would be fun' without evidence.
What to Teach Instead
After the brainstorm, have groups rank their reasons by strength and vote on the top three. Require each group to explain why their top reason is convincing to their audience.
Common MisconceptionDuring the Individual: Poster Creation activity, watch for students assuming pictures alone will persuade the audience.
What to Teach Instead
Before designing, have students cover the text on three sample posters and ask partners if they understand the message. Use this to emphasize the need for balanced words and images.
Common MisconceptionDuring the Pairs: Audience Role-Play activity, watch for students creating messages meant only for one person, like the principal.
What to Teach Instead
Provide role cards for different audiences (students, teachers, parents) and require students to adapt their messages during the role-play to fit each group's concerns.
Assessment Ideas
After the Small Groups: Brainstorm Reasons activity, ask each student to point to or name one person or group they want to convince and share one reason why that group should agree. Record responses on a checklist to assess audience awareness.
During the Whole Class: Feedback Walk, have students display draft posters and, in pairs, answer: 'Who do you think this poster is trying to convince?' and 'What is one thing that makes you want to agree with the message?' Use their responses to assess persuasive effectiveness.
After the Individual: Poster Creation activity, provide students with a small card. Ask them to draw one picture that helps persuade someone to join their campaign and write one word that tells people what to do. Collect cards to evaluate their ability to combine visual and written persuasion.
Extensions & Scaffolding
- Challenge students who finish early to create a second poster targeting a different audience, adjusting their reasons and visuals accordingly.
- For students who struggle, provide sentence starters for reasons and a word bank for calls to action to scaffold their poster creation.
- Deeper exploration: Have students research a real school campaign, analyze its persuasive techniques, and present findings to the class.
Key Vocabulary
| Campaign | A planned series of activities designed to persuade people to do or buy something, or to support a cause. |
| Audience | The group of people you are trying to convince with your message. |
| Persuade | To make someone believe something or agree to do something. |
| Reason | A statement that explains why something is true or why something should happen. |
| Poster | A large printed picture or notice put on a wall or in a public place. |
Suggested Methodologies
Planning templates for English
More in Persuasion and Opinion
Expressing an Opinion
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Persuasive Devices: Strong Words
Identifying words that make an argument stronger, like 'must', 'best', and 'important'.
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Identifying Persuasive Techniques
Recognizing simple persuasive techniques in advertisements and everyday language.
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