We are a nation of consumers, and advertising is the engine that makes it all happen.

Thinking Critically About Advertising is part of Walch Education's acclaimed Media Literacy series. Authored by Peyton Paxson, a professor who specializes in understanding the relationship between the media and the classroom, Thinking Critically About Advertising contains 51 lessons and activities that examine who sells, what they sell, how they sell - and how we respond to it all.

Sample lessons include:

• The Best Class Activity in the Entire World!
• So Many Shampoos!
• Are You Tough Enough to Drive a Truck?
• Lights! Cameras! Tunes!
• Newspapers Vs. Magazines - You Decide
• A Portal for Teenagers, by Teenagers

Teenagers in the U.S. spend an average of $107 each week.  In 2006, that added up to $179 billion, and that's just for teens between 12 and 17.

Beyond their discretionary spending, teenagers influence enormously the messages and content of advertising across all fo the media, even for adults and young children. Thinking Critically About Advertising helps teenagers to step back and think clearly about how advertising affects all of us. 

Thinking Critically About Advertising is ideal:

• In a media, design, or computer classroom titles
• As an inter-disciplinary resource in language arts or social studies classes
• To address the National Educational Technology Standards issued by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)

See other Media Literacy titles (9-book series)