The September project was an amalgamation of argument writing, our Edge C Unit on "Moment of Truth" about finding value, and general persuasive language and research in debate. Students had to make a public service campaign to promote a student-chosen social issue. Groups had to make a hashtag, a 30-second video, posters, and individual essays that all correspond with the same message.

Through this multidisciplinary project, students first learned about social issues like food waste, conserving energy, clean water, phone addiction and many others. Then they had to translate those hard facts and statistics into one core message that had to be produced visually and verbally in a video, poster, presentation, and essay.

The students started with brainstorming about various topics and researching current campaigns about food waste, bullying, obesity, women's rights, slavery, and education. We watched PSAs and discussed the use of emotion - humor, anger, sadness, happiness, fear - to persuade the viewer.

Then they had to agree on an idea, brainstorm ideas, make a mascot, and make a detailed storyboard where they had to plot out the shots of their video.

The next step was filming. The groups used a variety of techniques, including live action and stop motion. Students learned the difficulties of directing and conveying ideas to get the images in their heads onto the screen.

While the video was the highlight of the project, out of respect for students' privacy, they were not uploaded. They produced thoughtful, detailed, and creative videos.

Below are a selection of hashtags and posters.

The project concluded with a group presentation and a persuasive essay on the importance of their issue. They are in the process of revising their essay now.

Overall, most of the groups worked well together towards a common purpose. They rose to the challenge of researching a cause, creating an original idea, and filming.

Project: PSA