Brochure projects require students to use varied critical thinking skills simultaneously.
Having students create their own brochures as part of a lesson plan is essentially a highly creative way of assigning a research paper. Regardless of the specific focus of your lesson, your students will still need to engage in research and persuasive writing. They will also need to become familiar enough with brochure design to tailor their writing to this sort of format.
Arguably, brochure projects require students to keep potential audiences in mind more than traditional research papers do. Further, critical thinking skills are utilized in regard to choosing and arranging artwork and recognizing common media techniques.
Instructions
1. Split your class into small, manageable groups and hand out various subject-relevant brochures to each group. For instance, if your groups are working on a geography project in the form of a travel brochure, you will be giving them brochures from a local travel agency. Health education projects would require medical pamphlets from local physicians' offices, and art projects would require museum and/or gallery pamphlets.
Give your students time to closely examine the brochures, and to assign duties to each member of the group. For example, one group member could volunteer to choose the artwork, while two members choose to research the data for the brochure and another two members opt to collaborate on the writing. The team effort will result in one brochure from each group.
2. Lead a class discussion as to what makes an effective brochure, and write responses down where they can be seen and reviewed. Have students pay particular attention to the style and tone of the persuasive writing in the brochures, as the crux of the project is the research and writing aspect.
Explain that persuasive writing requires formulating a goal or thesis, and identifying valid reasons why their argument is supportable. Have your students itemize what information will need to be included to create a focused, well-founded brochure, and write these responses where they can be seen during the work process.
3. Instruct your students to begin researching towards the thesis of their brochure once they've determined it. Periodically remind them as they're working of what they previously determined makes for an effective brochure, and keep them focused on defending their thesis as they collect data.
Inform your students that they will need to find at least three different references. Explain the importance of discerning which research resources are credible, particularly if your students are researching on the Internet. Instruct your students to list the resources they cited at the bottom of the last page of their group brochures.
4. Instruct your students to enter and arrange their text using design software. They should have the sample brochures you handed out to them close by for reference with textual and artwork layouts. Text and photos should be arranged in such a way that they form three equal-sized columns on a landscape-oriented 8.5 x 11 inch, double-sided template.
Circle around the room, making sure that your students are using only the most relevant brochure images from royalty- and copyright-free image websites that you have directed them to use.
5. Select the double-sided printing setting on your color printer and print out the group brochures on both sides of the glossy printer sheets. Fold the printout on the column margins to form a standard foldout brochure.
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