I'm the Best

I'm the Best

The food we eat, the places we go, the movies we see and the books we read are usually the result of our perception of them. A review or advertisement made them sound interesting, possibly even good for us. This activity gives kids a chance to be creative in presenting an animal of their choice in the "best" light.

Objective: to create a positive image of an animal using writing and presentation skills.

Background:	Some animals have a poor image. The snake, skunk, and turkey to name a few. What if we only concentrated on the good or positive aspects of animals. Would there be any "bad" ones?
Skills:	Ability to write, construct sentences, draw or cut out pictures.
Age:	Grades 3 – adult
Materials:	Poster board, magazines, glue, scissors, reference books or field guides.
Activity:	Discuss which animals have a poor image and which ones have a good image. Have each child select a different animal (bird, reptile). Using the reference books or field guides, they should find as much information as they can on their selected animal. Next, they should develop an ad campaign that shows the animal’s best features. They can use the poster board to create posters that show why their animal is great. They should also write a short campaign report citing the virtues of the animal. Display the posters and have each child read his campaign report.
Discussion:	Was this an easy or difficult task? Did the poster or campaign report tell the "whole" story? If they chose an animal with a bad reputation, was the animal really as bad as they thought? Have the students decide which animals have not always shown in the best light. With older children, you may want to tie these findings with advertisements. Do they tell the whole story or only the part that the company wants you to know?
Adaptations:	A very creative group may want to make their own commercial. They could video tape it and play it together for their group.

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