Have you ever thought about how social media might affect people’s spending behaviors? In the activity ANALYZE: The Influence of Social Media, students will explore various tactics that influencers and brands use to market products through social media. 

At a time where many schools have transitioned to offering synchronous and asynchronous learning, we’ve listed some adaptations and ideas that may work for your current classroom environment. 

Synchronous Environment Ideas:

• Start by having students read the article in Part I of the activity titled “Terms of the Trade” from Humble Dollar to learn about 20 different techniques used by advertisers and social media influencers. Have students answer Question #1 in the activity as they read.
• Put students into small group Breakout Rooms to have them work collaboratively on Part II of the activity where they find examples from public social media posts. 
• You could also have students post their social media advertisement examples to a shared platform such as Padlet.
• Bring students back together as a class to share their advertisements and answer the reflection questions in Part III of the activity. 

Asynchronous Environment Ideas:

• Assign the activity as written, however, consider having students post their social media examples to a shared platform such as Padlet or Google Slides. 

Concerned about students accessing social media websites during class?

• Here is a Google Form version of this activity where students read the article, analyze specific advertisements, and answer the reflection questions. 
• You can be creative in your teaching approach with this version too! Consider using Breakout Rooms to have students work together to share ideas and work collaboratively. 

Have you created an amazing virtual adaptation of an existing NGPF activity? Email Amanda at [email protected] to share your ideas! 

View NGPF's Virtual Adaptation Series if you're looking for additional resources with suggestions on how to facilitate in a virtual environment. 

About the Author

Amanda Volz

Amanda joins the NGPF Team with over 20 years of experience teaching personal finance. During that time, she led her students to hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships, won multiple awards, and most importantly, impacted the financial lives of thousands of high school students. Amanda prides herself on being an educational leader and is constantly looking for innovative ways to make the classroom relevant, rigorous, and fun. She is a passionate advocate for financial education and has been a long-time member of the NGPF community. Fun fact - Amanda was NGPF’s first teacher account! When Amanda isn’t working, she enjoys cooking, gardening, and traveling with her husband and two children.

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