This is a really fun interdisciplinary activity that combines English, social studies, and visual design.
For this activity, students will need to be familiar with some different design elements; depending on my particular students, we either go over these as a class, learn about them independently, or I let them explore the different elements while completing this activity. The best guideline I have found for design elements is here: http://www.usability.gov/what-and-why/visual-design.html
This activity includes six different WWII propaganda posters. These examples all happen to be American, which I chose purposefully because we sometimes tend to focus on propaganda of the "opposing side" rather than examining our own propaganda attempts.
This activity also includes a one-page worksheet template for groups (two to a sheet for printing purposes), although it can easily be modified for individual work. I typically divide my students into six groups with each group working on one of the posters, although you can divide your groups however you like. The worksheet asks students to determine the poster's message, come up with six different design elements they see in the poster (line, color, unity, space, etc), and analyze how each element impacts or shapes the poster's message.
This activity focuses on image analysis, critical thinking skills, and concepts of visual design, and it would fit easily into an English class (where I use it in a visual analysis unit), a social studies class, an art class, and others.
Created for Ms Moore's English Classroom