One-Sided Gerald--Using a Political Advertisement Video in a Social Skills Group

Happy Fall Everyone, and Happy Election Season!

The airwaves are full of political ads.  Most I tune out, but I came across one that has been passed around on Facebook which is very funny.  As I watched it, I was reminded of a previous blog post about using videos to teach students the difference between one-sided monologues and two-way conversations.  The video, "Please Re-Elect Gerald" is perfect for this lesson in teaching this concept.


Watch for yourself.

With your students, you can use these questions as talking points:

1.  Which style of talking is Gerald using?  (talking at or talking with)
      Explain why you think this.

2.  Look at the body language and facial expressions of the people around him.
     What do you think they are thinking?

3.  Why does Gerald's wife want him re-elected?

4.  What could Gerald do differently to bring his listeners into the conversation?

5.  How do you choose topics to talk about with people?  Do you think that everyone is interested in Gerald's conversation topics?  What else could he talk about?

I'm sure there are many other talking points in this video.  If you want to get creative, you can take screen shots of this at crucial intervals, project on a Smart Board and draw in thought bubbles. Students could then write the thoughts of the bored family members.

Have fun with this!   I'm rooting for Gerald!  This was an awesome ad.




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