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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.

Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 1.SL.2; 1.RI.6 · 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 Arizona

In the Arizona Academic Standards, 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: Arizona Department of Education

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

    Which one is trying to sell something?

    • a map of the park
    • an ad for new shoes
    • a story about a bear
    • an Exit sign

  2. Question 2

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

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

  3. Question 3

    Why does a poster use big words and a big picture?

    • so you notice it
    • so it is hard to read
    • so it is quiet
    • so it stays secret

  4. Question 4

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

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

  5. Question 5

    Two kids see the same ad. Can they feel different about it?

    • only on Monday
    • yes, people can feel different
    • no, never
    • only grown-ups feel things

  6. Question 6

    How can sad music in a movie make people feel?

    • ready to run
    • very hungry
    • sad or quiet inside
    • like laughing

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