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1st grade · English Language Arts · Unit 12 of 13

Messages All Around

Who made it, and why?

What your child practices

Children look at everyday messages, like signs, ads, cards and videos, and practice asking who made them, why, and how they make us feel. This is the media literacy part of the standards.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 1.3; 1.R4 · asking and answering questions about everyday messages in pictures, words and other media

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Every message is made by a person or a group.
  2. Ads want you to want something.
  3. Bright colors and big words catch your eye.

Example: An ad says “Kids love it!” What does the ad want? Ads try to make you want things. It wants you to want it too. Answer: for you to want it too

Messages All Around in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 12 of 13 in 1st grade English Language Arts, after Think It Through and before Story or Facts?.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    You want to know when the library opens. What can you check?

    • the sign on the library door
    • a toy ad
    • a joke book
    • a cartoon

  2. Question 2

    Who chose the pictures in a picture book?

    • the reader
    • the people who made the book
    • the bookmark
    • the shelf

  3. Question 3

    Why does an ad use happy music?

    • to make you feel good about it
    • to teach the alphabet
    • to tell the time
    • to make it quiet

  4. Question 4

    A video shows how to tie shoes. Why was it made?

    • to sell shoes
    • to scare you
    • to tell a joke
    • to teach you

  5. Question 5

    An ad says a toy is “the best ever!” Is that a fact?

    • yes, ads are always right
    • no, it is what the ad wants you to think
    • yes, because it is on a screen
    • yes, because it is loud

  6. Question 6

    A message makes you want something right now. What can you do?

    • buy it fast
    • share it with everyone
    • stop and talk to a grown-up first
    • click on it

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