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3rd grade · English Language Arts · Unit 13 of 13

Media Messages

Inform, persuade or entertain?

What your child practices

Children sort media by purpose (to inform, persuade or entertain), notice how ads use music, famous people and strong words, tell facts from opinions, and choose good sources for research questions.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 3.25; 3.39; 3.R4 · facts and opinions, what a message is for and choosing sources

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Media can inform (teach), persuade (convince) or entertain (amuse).
  2. Ads use music, famous people and strong words to make you want things.
  3. A good research question asks something you can find out, like how or why.

Example: A poster says “Vote for Kenji for class helper!” What is its purpose? It asks people to do something. Trying to change what people do is persuading. Answer: to persuade

Media Messages in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 13 of 13 in 3rd grade English Language Arts, after Wonder & Find Out.

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

    An ad uses the words “amazing” and “awesome.” Why?

    • to teach new words
    • to make you feel excited about the product
    • to tell you the price
    • to give exact facts

  2. Question 2

    A website has a moving box that says “Click to win a prize!” What is it most likely?

    • a school lesson
    • an ad trying to get you to click
    • a true fact
    • a weather report

  3. Question 3

    What are the three main purposes of media messages?

    • to inform, to persuade and to entertain
    • to sleep, to eat and to run
    • to buy, to sell and to trade
    • to spell, to add and to draw

  4. Question 4

    Who decides what goes into a news report?

    • the reporters and editors who make it
    • the readers
    • the computer
    • the weather

  5. Question 5

    Why is the headline bigger than the rest of the article?

    • to save paper
    • because it is the least important
    • to catch the reader's attention
    • to hide the story

  6. Question 6

    Which question should you ask about any message?

    • Who made this, and why?
    • How many letters are in it?
    • What font is it?
    • Is it long?

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