Lesson 1 – The Key Parts of an Infographic

Lesson 1 – The Key Parts of an Infographic

Materials

Steps in the Lesson

***This lesson was build around an infographic describing the importance of emotional intelligence in the work place. I use it as a way to help students understand why their behaviors in class are so important and how it can have a direct correlation on their ability to work and maintain a job. It is a great way to bring a discussion into your class around emotional intelligence, classroom rules, personal responsibility, etc. I use it as an activity at the beginning of the year to set the tone for the class and it is a theme we refer to throughout the year when behaviors come up in class.

 

Do now

Project the infographic on the board and have the students write answers to the following questions:

  • What is this type of text called?

  • Have you seen something like this before? Where?

  • What is the first thing you notice about this text?

  • Have students share their answers so that you can gain an understanding about how knowledgeable students are about infographics. Guide them to the answer that it is an info-graphic.

  • Explain to students that we are going to be learning about infographics over the next three days. Ask students why it may be important to learn about info-graphics? The answers you want to get across are: It is one of the most prominent ways that information is communicated in the world of technology. It stimulates the brain in multiple ways so that information is easily received and remembered, and finally it satisfies some of the common-core standards that puts them at the same level as their peers across the country.

  • Introduce the four parts of an Infographic:  Break the students into four groups and give them each a section of the four parts, have them create a poster of their section, and present it to the class while other students write the notes for their part. Tell the students they need to have a visual representation or symbol for each of the four parts. Each poster should have the name of the part as the title.

The first impression

  • Gives the reader a first impression of what the text is going to present or argue.

  • Sets a mood for the text using images, color, font, words, and numbers.

  • When analyzing the first impression you want to address what are the first things you notice?

The Story

  • What is the main argument of the infographic? Normally you will find it in the title.

  • What are the main points of the infographic? (You will normally find it is written in larger font)

The Data

  • What are the supporting details for the main arguments?

  • How are they presented? (numbers, images, text, a combination?)

The Strategy

  • How is the information presented?

  • How is color used?

  • How are images used?

  • How is font used?

  • Who is the audience?

Introduce Vocabulary

Give students the definitions of the vocabulary words to write down in their vocabulary worksheets. Have them use the words in a sentence or draw a symbol for the words as homework.

Exit Slip

Have students answer the following questions on their exit slip sheets:

  • What is one difference between the first impression and the story?

Answer: The story presents the facts to support the argument, the first impression gives the reader the tone and setting of the information being presented.

  • How do the data and the strategy relate to each other?

Answer: The strategy is what is used to show or portray the data.

Assessment and/or Extension Ideas

Lesson 1

  • If you do not want to do the assignment in two days you can give the students the infographic and have them try to identify these four parts of an info-graphic as homework if they are more advanced.

  • You can ask students to find an ad in a magazine, newspaper, or online ad and try to identify the four points of a story.

  • You can have students compare and contrast the  four main concepts to what you would look for in a story or literary analysis.

  • Once you have completed this lesson with your students you can use it in a variety of ways around different content in the future. You could use it as a way to introduce new content, it could be a modified assignment for content learning for students with IEP’s, an extra credit assignment, a way for students to demonstrate they have mastery of certain content, and I am sure many others that I have not yet thought of.