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Infomercials as Arguments

When teaching argument writing, I find connecting concepts to advertisements helps students understand the basic elements of persuasion. After my developing writers put together a mini persuasive argument that focuses on solving a problem in their lives, they also create a video in the informercial style to go along with it. Students create these infomercials in iMovie or Clips and have really learned to incorporate more than the five elements of argument: they really tap into the wacky, awakward, and overly dramatic tone found in many infomercials. Check out the assignment and some great student examples here.

And if you want to official pitch for this idea, I gave a showcase presentation at the 2017 ADE Academy in Houston, which you can check out here.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/llnifbEfPUI?showinfo=0&enablejsapi=1


Clips iMovie Teaching & Learning

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3 replies

August 18, 2023

Alfred, you infomercial is wonderful - so funny (I remember it from 2017! Your students examples are great as well. Super way to introduce and practice persuasive writing! Thanks!

October 17, 2024

Alfred, I can see how this must be an engaging 'level up' to a persuasive writing piece. It allows for differentiation in sharing learning as well. Thanks for sharing!

October 17, 2024

Hi Alfred,

2017 was my first Academy, and your showcase was one of the highlights—I enjoyed watching it again!

For our next writing assignment, we'll be focusing on crafting arguments, and I can already see the students having fun with this project. Your students put a lot of effort into their video projects. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with having fun in the classroom!

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