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2nd grade · English Language Arts · Unit 12 of 12

Media Detectives

Purposes, parts and who made it

What your child practices

Children compare ads, signs, posters, books and videos, tell what each one is for, notice the choices their makers made, and pick good sources for a research question.

Alaska content standards learning standard: W.2.8; RI.2.6; SL.2.2 · gathering information to answer questions and naming what a text or message is for

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Every message has a purpose: to sell, to teach, to tell news or to entertain.
  2. Videos use pictures, words and music to show feelings.
  3. People can feel differently about the same message, and that's okay.

Example: How are a toy ad and a book about bears different? The ad wants you to buy the toy. The book teaches you about bears. Answer: the ad wants to sell; the book teaches

Media Detectives in Alaska

In the Alaska content standards, this is unit 12 of 12 in 2nd grade English Language Arts, after Asking Questions and Finding 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: Alaska Department of Education and Early Development

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

    Who chooses the music in a cartoon?

    • the people who make the cartoon
    • the TV
    • the characters
    • the viewers

  2. Question 2

    How are a toy ad and a book about bears different?

    • the book sells toys
    • the ad teaches about bears
    • the ad wants to sell; the book teaches
    • they are the same

  3. Question 3

    A game ad shows only the most exciting part. Why?

    • to tell the whole truth
    • to make the game look fun
    • by accident
    • to teach about games

  4. Question 4

    A video shows how a seed grows. What is its purpose?

    • to sell seeds
    • to warn you
    • to teach
    • to make you laugh

  5. Question 5

    Why do signs use pictures as well as words?

    • to sell pictures
    • to be pretty only
    • to hide the rule
    • so more people can understand quickly

  6. Question 6

    You ask “Who made this, and why?” about a message. What are you doing?

    • buying it
    • copying it
    • thinking like a media detective
    • ignoring it

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