Teacher Notes
These notes support a five-week unit with Year 9 students. The packet is generic and public: it does not contain a class program, a school calendar, student data or any formal reporting instrument. Adapt the sequence to your context.
Purpose and scope
The unit teaches students to analyse persuasive texts and to design an ethical campaign about a school or community issue. It deliberately avoids prescribing a political position. The central discipline is the shift from naming a technique to explaining how a specific choice affects a specific audience for a specific purpose.
The packet contains 16 public pages: this overview and 15 resources. The index states the count, and the sources and provenance page records the copyright position.
Before the unit
- Decide how students will form campaign groups and how long they will stay in them.
- Check the school's policy on photographing students, publishing names and contacting outside organisations.
- Prepare two or three local issues as examples, without disclosing personal information.
- Book any devices, cameras or display space the campaign might need.
- Identify a colleague or leader who can review campaign claims and ethical risks.
- Decide how you will store drafts and audience-test responses securely.
Pacing
| Week | Core sequence | If time is short | If time allows |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rhetorical situation, audience, ethos/pathos/logos. | Combine the audience profile and appeal analysis into one lesson. | Add a comparison of two campaign texts aimed at different audiences. |
| 2 | Argument, evidence, counterargument, source evaluation. | Teach the because test and the five evidence tests; set the source log as homework. | Run a structured disagreement or a source-checking clinic. |
| 3 | Strategy, devices, visual rhetoric, campaign brief. | Keep the one-page brief; analyse one supplied image together. | Invite a graphic designer or media teacher to critique drafts. |
| 4 | Drafting, redrafting, audience test, ethics review. | Protect the audience test and ethics review; shorten the second redraft. | Run two rounds of testing with different audiences. |
| 5 | Pitch, questions, ethics reflection, transfer. | Keep the pitch and one transfer analysis; move reflection to a written exit note. | Publish the campaigns within the school, with permissions. |
Lesson routines
| Routine | Time | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Claim check | 5 minutes | Students test whether a sentence is a topic, an opinion or a contestable claim. |
| Choice, effect, audience, purpose | 10 minutes | A four-part frame for analysing any persuasive choice. |
| Because test | 5 minutes | Two distinct reasons for a claim, without repeating it. |
| Source check | 10 minutes | Who, when, why, what it shows and what it cannot show. |
| One change | 5 minutes | Each group makes one evidence-based revision after feedback. |
Differentiation
Differentiation is built into the task design rather than published as a separate student page. The same core concepts apply to all students; the amount of scaffolding, the choice of medium and the complexity of the audience can vary.
| Need | Support | Extension |
|---|---|---|
| Understanding the rhetorical situation | Provide a partly completed situation map with the audience and purpose already identified. | Ask students to map a campaign that addresses two audiences at once and explain the tension. |
| Writing a claim | Give a sentence frame: "The [who] should [what] because [why] and [why]." | Ask for a claim with a qualifier and a stated condition under which it would be revised. |
| Finding evidence | Supply a short, checked source set with the key information highlighted. | Ask students to find a source that challenges their position and incorporate it honestly. |
| Handling counterarguments | Provide three possible objections and ask students to choose the strongest. | Ask students to argue the opposing case in one paragraph before rebutting it. |
| Visual design | Provide a template with a fixed grid and a small type palette. | Ask students to design for two audiences and justify the differences. |
| Speaking | Allow a recorded pitch, a small-group pitch or a co-presented pitch. | Ask for an unscripted question segment and a longer pitch. |
| Vocabulary | Provide a glossary of the core terms with one example each. | Ask students to explain the terms using their own campaign examples. |
| Organisation | Provide the one-page brief as a checklist with deadlines set by the student. | Ask students to plan a campaign timeline with dependencies and risks. |
Sensitive content
- Issue choice. Some issues involve personal experience, identity, family circumstances or community conflict. Allow students to choose a lower-risk issue and do not require disclosure.
- Images and stories. Do not use real people's hardship as material without consent and a clear purpose. Avoid identifying anyone in a sensitive context.
- Persuasive fear and shame. Monitor drafts for messages that stigmatise a group or pressure the audience. Redirect to a feasible, respectful action.
- Public contact. Do not require students to contact politicians, businesses or media. If they do, follow school policy and supervise.
- Online publication. Check permissions, comments and personal information before anything goes public. A campaign can attract unwanted attention.
- Political neutrality. The packet does not endorse a party, candidate or campaign. Students should analyse arguments rather than adopt a prescribed position.
Formative feedback
| Look for | Feedback that moves learning forward |
|---|---|
| A list of techniques without effect | "Choose one device and explain what it makes this audience think or feel." |
| A claim that no one would dispute | "Who could reasonably disagree with this? Rewrite it so they could." |
| Evidence that is not explained | "What does this number show, and what does it not show?" |
| A token counterargument | "What is the strongest reason someone might oppose this, and how would you answer it?" |
| A design choice justified by taste | "What did you want the audience to notice first, and did the layout achieve it?" |
| A draft that avoids the audience test | "What would you need to hear from a real audience member before you changed this?" |
Materials
- Printed or projected copies of the packet pages students need.
- Two or three supplied campaign texts for analysis; use public-domain, openly licensed or self-made examples.
- Access to a document editor, a slide tool and a simple image editor.
- Paper, markers and a noticeboard for low-tech posters.
- A secure folder for drafts, consent notes and anonymous audience-test responses.
Checking the campaign
- Does every factual claim have a traceable source?
- Is the audience specific, and is the action achievable?
- Is the strongest objection stated fairly and answered?
- Are images, names and quotations used with consent?
- Does the campaign avoid shame, fear and false urgency?
- Is the message accessible in the intended medium?
- Is there a plan to correct errors and respond to feedback?
This packet is a teaching resource, not a formal reporting instrument. It contains no marks, bands, weightings or confidential school material.