Reading the Ads

A free, ready-to-teach media literacy lesson using the real campaign ads your students are already seeing. For grades 9–12 and first-year college: English, civics, government, journalism, media studies.

Semblen marks the exact words in political ads where a persuasion technique is at work (loaded language, name calling, appeal to fear and others) and says why in one line. It does not say what is true, and it shows every side of each race. The model is wrong sometimes. That is the point of the lesson: students check the machine's work.

One 45-minute lesson, with an optional activity for each day of U.S. Media Literacy Week (October 26–30, 2026). One device per pair of students and a projector. No student accounts, no sign-ups, no student data, no advertising.

The 45-minute lesson

Students will be able to name a persuasion technique and point to the exact words that carry it; tell apart how something is worded from whether it is true; and disagree, with reasons, with a machine's judgment.

Before class. Open the race pages and choose your state's Senate race, or a neighbouring state's. Check it has ads from at least two sponsors. State the ground rule out loud: we are judging wording, not candidates.

Hook (5 min). Put one flagged phrase on the board with the sponsor hidden. What is it trying to make you feel? Who is it about? Did it tell you a fact? Then reveal it is from a real ad, and that the class will look at ads from both sides.
Six techniques (8 min). Loaded language, name calling, appeal to fear, false urgency, glittering generalities, card stacking, with one example each (definitions and examples). The line that matters all lesson: a technique is about wording. An ad can use a technique and be true. An ad can use none and be false.
Pairs: find and judge (17 min). Each pair picks two ads from different sponsors on the race page (the "Paid for by" line is on every ad). For each: the flagged phrase, the technique the site named, agree or disagree, and one sentence why. The best question to ask a pair: "If you changed that word to a neutral one, what would the sentence say?"
Decide what counts (7 min). On the projector, scroll to "Decide what counts" on the race page. Untick loaded language and watch the share of flagged ads change. Which techniques would the class untick, and why? The headline number depends on a judgment someone made.
Exit ticket (8 min). Three sentences: one flag I agreed with and why; one I disagreed with and why; one thing the site cannot tell me about an ad.

One activity for each day of Media Literacy Week

The 2026 theme is "Access, Analyze, Evaluate, Create, and Act".

Access. Who paid? Open "Money in this race", find the largest outside spender and trace its named donors. Where does the trail stop, and why?
Analyze. The lesson above.
Evaluate. Press "Check this ad's claims" on one ad. What did the check find, what could it not find, and which sources did it use? Is "no authoritative evidence found" the same as "false"?
Create. Rewrite one flagged ad in neutral language, keeping every fact. Then write the most manipulative honest version of a school announcement. Paste both into the analyzer and compare.
Act. Each student brings one thing they read or watched outside class and reports in a minute: what was the technique, and did noticing it change what they thought?

Keeping it fair

Require one ad from each side in every pair's work, and never ask students which candidate they support.
When a student says "that's just true", say: "It might be. Is it also worded to make you feel something?"
If a flag looks wrong to you, say so. Students trust the lesson more when the adult disagrees with the machine.

The classroom pack: $49 per teacher, for all your classes

Student worksheet and teacher notes, ready to print: definitions, a fill-in table, an exit ticket, a grading rubric, the two mistakes students make, and an honest list of where the tool is weak.
A class key for the weeks around Media Literacy Week. In the "Create" activity students paste their own writing into the analyzer. A school network is limited to 30 analyses a day; the class key lifts that for your classes.
A 20-minute video call with the builder for your class, if you want one: how the model was made and how it gets things wrong.

If the pack is not useful, say so within the week and the $49 is refunded. Schools that need an invoice or a purchase order: ask below and one will be sent.

Tell us you're interested and Jason will email you the pack and how to pay:

Semblen LLC is a small company in Austin, Texas. It is not a nonprofit and is not affiliated with any campaign or party. Some ads contain harsh language about real people; preview the race you choose.