Create a Soda

After a trip to the Coca Cola Museum in Atlanta, GA, I began thinking about the creative designs and labeling the company has used over the years. Knowing my students, and most kiddos I have taught over the years, I know that they are creative and expressive and love to have any opportunity to use both aspects in an assignment. So, I came up with a creative writing assignment geared toward both their love of writing and art. 
Using the pictures of the various Coca Cola bottles, signs, and advertisements, the students are to brainstorm in groups of two or three to come up with their own brand of soda. They will design the label and bottle, and then write an advertisement to sell their new brand of soda. They will create a poster that "sells" their new product, and then attach their written description of the soda to it. As a group they will present their new soda to the rest of the class. This could be expanded upon in many different ways such as creating their own commercial, to coming up with a cost for the soda and then figuring out how much money they would make selling their soda to various amounts of individuals. 
The original lesson would be graded as follows (feel free to adjust points based upon your needs).

Poster:  
Slogan 10pts.
Colorful Picture and Label Design 30pts.
Neatness 10pts.
Group Effort/Participation 10pts (this part varies per individual student)

Written Description:
Complete Sentences 10pts
Correct Punctuation 10pts
Spelling 10pts

Presentation:
Voice 10pts
Eye Contact 10pts
Group Participation 10pts (again this varies per individual student)

This is a basic outline of a lesson that can be adapted in many different ways, and expanded upon. Sometimes the best lessons come when the creativity flows free with the kids and they are able to truly get excited about their project. I have done other lessons similar to this, and have enjoyed watching my students apply their skills to the activity, and enjoy what they are doing. A fun learning experience on the teacher's part and on the students' part make for a great lesson!