Create Your Own Company

Subject Area
Language Arts

Activity Overview
A small company in Syracuse, New York called Transgenic Pets(see http://www.transgenicpets.com) is in the process of developing a genetically engineered cat which will be allergen free. They hope to have produced the first allergen-free cats by 2003, which will allow people who are now allergic to cats to become cat owners.

In this activity, students will work in pairs or small groups to create and market their own genetically engineered product which will be useful to society in some way.

Activity Outline

  • Brainstorm a genetically engineered product that could be useful to society.
  • Create a company name.
  • Write a persuasive essay or letter to potential investors.
  • Create a bumper sticker advertising your company or product.
  • Write and produce either a television or radio commercial marketing your new product.

Assessment Options
Create a rubric to assess overall mini-unit.
Assess persuasive essay/letter based on elements of persuasion.
Assess final commercial for good marketing value.
Have students write a summary of each commercial they view or listen to.

Standards and Benchmarks
Writing
Standard 1: Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process

  1. Prewriting: Uses a variety of prewriting strategies (e.g., makes outlines, uses published pieces as writing models, constructs critical standards, brainstorms, builds background knowledge)
  2. Drafting and Revising: Uses a variety of strategies to draft and revise written work (e.g., analyzes and clarifies meaning, makes structural and syntactical changes, uses an organizational scheme, uses sensory words and figurative language, rethinks and rewrites for different audiences and purposes, check for a consistent point of view and for transitions between paragraphs, uses direct feedback to revise compositions)
  3. Editing and Publishing: Uses a variety of strategies to edit and publish written work (e.g., eliminates slang; edits for grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling at a developmentally appropriate level; proofreads using reference materials, word processor, and other resources; edits for clarity, word choice, and language usage; uses a word processor or other technology to publish written work)
  4. Evaluates own and others' writing (e.g., applies criteria generated by self and others, uses self-assessment to set and achieve goals as a writer, participates in peer response groups)
  5. Uses content, style, and structure (e.g., formal or informal language, genre, organization) appropriate for specific audiences (e.g., public, private) and purposes (e.g., to entertain, to influence, to inform)
  6. Writes persuasive compositions (e.g., engages the reader by establishing a context, creating a persona, and otherwise developing reader interest; develops a controlling idea that conveys a judgment; creates and organizes a structure appropriate to the needs and interests of a specific audience; arranges details, reasons, examples, and/or anecdotes persuasively; excludes information and arguments that are irrelevant; anticipates and addresses reader concerns and counter arguments; supports arguments with detailed evidence, citing sources of information as appropriate)
  7. Writes business letters and letters of request and response (e.g., uses business letter format; states purpose of the letter; relates opinions, problems, requests, or compliments; uses precise vocabulary)

Standard 2: Uses the stylistic and rhetorical aspects of writing

Uses paragraph form in writing (e.g., arranges sentences in sequential order, uses supporting and follow-up sentences, establishes coherence within and among paragraphs)

Standard 3: Uses grammatical and mechanical conventions in written compositions

  1. Uses simple and compound sentences in written compositions
  2. Uses pronouns in written compositions (e.g., relative, demonstrative, personal [i.e., possessive, subject, object]
  3. Uses nouns in written compositions (e.g., forms possessives of nouns; forms irregular plural nouns)
  4. Uses verbs in written compositions (e.g., uses linking and auxiliary verbs, verb phrases, and correct forms of regular and irregular verbs)
  5. Uses adjectives in written compositions (e.g., pronominal, positive, comparative, superlative)
  6. Uses adverbs in written compositions (e.g., chooses between forms of adjectives and adverbs)
  7. Uses prepositions and coordinating conjunctions in written compositions
    (e.g., uses prepositional phrases, combines and embeds ideas using conjunctions)
  8. Uses interjections in written compositions
  9. Uses conventions of spelling in written compositions (e.g., spells high frequency, commonly misspelled words from appropriate grade-level list, uses a dictionary and other resources to spell words, uses common prefixes and suffixes as aids to spelling, applies rules for irregular structural changes)
  10. Uses conventions of capitalization in written compositions (e.g., titles [books, stories, poems, magazines, newspapers, songs, works of art], proper nouns [team names, companies, schools and institutions, departments of government, religions, school subjects], proper adjectives, nationalities, brand names of products)
  11. Uses conventions of punctuation in written compositions (e.g., uses exclamation marks after exclamatory sentences and interjections; uses periods in decimals, dollars, and cents; uses commas with nouns of address and after mild interjections; uses quotation marks with poems, songs, and chapters; uses colons in business letter salutations; uses hyphens to divide words between syllables at the end of line)


Listening and Speaking
Standard 8: Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes

  1. Plays a variety of roles in group discussions (e.g., active listener, discussion leader, facilitator)
  2. Asks questions to seek elaboration and clarification of ideas
  3. Uses strategies to enhance listening comprehension (e.g., takes notes; organizes, summarizes, and paraphrases spoken ideas and details)
  4. Listens in order to understand topic, purpose, and perspective in spoken texts (e.g., of a guest speaker, of an informational video, of a televised interview, of radio news programs)
  5. Makes oral presentations to the class (e.g., uses notes and outlines; uses organizational pattern that includes preview, introduction, body, transitions, conclusion; and point of view; uses evidence and arguments to support opinions; uses visual media)
  6. Understands elements of persuasion and appeal in spoken texts (e.g., purpose and impact of pace, volume, tone, stress, music in radio announcements; images conveyed by vocabulary and ideas)

Viewing
Standard 9: Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media

  1. Understands a variety of messages conveyed by visual media (e.g., main concept, details, themes or lessons, viewpoints)
  2. Understands how language choice is used to enhance visual media (e.g., language of particular television or film genres, the use of emotional or logical arguments in commercials)
  3. Understands techniques used in visual media to influence or appeal to a particular audience (e.g., production techniques, such as designing a news program as entertainment; persuasive techniques, such as exaggerated claims, portrayal of appealing lifestyles, bandwagon, glittering generalities; subliminal messages; narrative style)

Media
Standard 10: Understands the characteristics and components of the media

Understands the different purposes of various media (e.g., to provide entertainment or information, to persuade, to transmit culture, to focus attention on an issue)