From the Editor:

The PSA Project

This project was funded in part by a Corporation for National and Community Service Learning, and the Serve America Grant administered by KIDS Consortium.

The Public Service Announcement Project is an assignment students worked on over a few months in various stages: individually, in partnerships, then as an entire class working toward a consolidated goal.

1. Students analyzed commercials and public service announcements for their use of rhetorical strategies in targeting a specific audience.
2. Then students analyzed how the PSA producers sculpt arguments using specific examples and reasons that will persuade that audience to take the desired action.
3. Next, students studied their school community for problems they think they could have an influence over using the form of a public service announcement. From those we chose 5 problems to focus on, each class working with one of them.
4. From those problems students worked in collaborative partnerships to target the specific audience that could accomplish what they believe needed to be done; developed strategies on how to best influence that audience (i.e. what examples and reasons to use, how that information will be conveyed, etc.); and developed a PSA concept that would reach and influence their target audience (including scripting, storyboarding, and pitching their idea to the entire class).
5. Finally, each class chose one of the concepts to produce. Everyone took on a different role in the production: script revision, tagline revision, costumers, choreographers, props, special effects, set design, music, acting, dancing, voice-overs, etc.

By learning rhetorical strategies students will be able to adapt these techniques to every aspect of their lives (conversations, arguments, reading, writing, movies, commercials, music, etc.), and understand how others try to manipulate them. 

[to watch videos left-click / or right-click and choose "save as" to download the video to the file folder of your choice]

Play Outside the Box

The challenge this class faced was getting kids to be more healthy. Their appoach was to persuade game players to unplug from their consoles once in a while, and do things whenever possible in the real world: play football, guitar, basketball, dance. They aren't trying to get gamers to quit playing video games, but to also have a healthy real life.

Play Outside the Box (high resolution video)

Play Outside the Box (med resolution video)

Hugging Tree

The challenge this class faced was getting their audience to change their perception of the world. Easy. In this psa they put forth the philosophy that human beings aren't apart from nature, but rather we're a part of nature, and when we hurt the environment we're actually hurting ourselves. A slurp, a slap, and a talking tree later they've created a memorable commercial that will stick with their audience.

Hugging Tree (high resolution video)

Hugging Tree (med resolution video)

The Perspectives Magazine

Below you can peruse our class magazine featuring "Would You Rather?" essays. Left-click to view, or save the magazine to your computer by right-clicking and choosing "save as" to save Perspectives to the folder of your choice.

Download Perspectives Magazine Winter 2008 edition