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= = = = = = =**2009 Greek God Political Commercials** = Students try their hand at replicating some of the same "tricks of the trade"  politicians employ in their quest to gain political power.

Marianne Malmstrom - Middle School Tech Teacher
Background: ==

==== Using Tricks of the Trade on the PBS website, 6th graders viewed various editing techniques that are commonly used in political commercials to influence viewers. Step by step, students saw how the same 10 second video clip could be manipulated with special effects to be either positive or negative. T he concept was quite simple, but extremely effective. ==== = =

Objective The 6th grade assignment: construct political commercials for Greek gods using lessons learned in Tricks of the Trade Scenario: 12 gods sit on Mt. Olympus, but one must go in order to avoid having any tied votes. Commercials will either support a god staying on Mt Olympus or cal l for their removal.
 * View & discuss PBS's Tricks of the Trade
 * View political commercials & identify how they were manipulated
 * Break in to (predetermined) groups of 3 and receive assigned Greek god
 * Use Google Docs to identify assigned god's strengths & weaknesses
 * Draft ideas for both positive & negative commercials
 * Create story boards & identify any animations needed from 8th graders
 * Choose best commercial idea for production
 * Communicate any specific instructions on Animation Requests Doc
 * Record voice overs
 * Create music
 * Construct any additional required artwork
 * Construct final commercial incorporating learned "Tricks of the Trade"

The 8th grade assignment: Provide animations as ordered by 6th graders
 * Build sets: Mt. Olympus & temple with 12 thrones
 * Create avatars for all 12 gods
 * Create system for dividing & managing projects
 * Work together to created need shots according to storyboards

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<span style="color: #000080; display: block; font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive; text-align: left;"><span class="wiki_link_ext">View 2008 Greek Gods Project Archive = = <span style="color: #000080; display: block; font-family: "Comic Sans MS",cursive; text-align: left;">