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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.

Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 3.RI.6; 3.W.8 · 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 Arizona

In the Arizona Academic Standards, 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: 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

    Ravi takes notes from a book. What should he also write down?

    • the weather
    • his favorite color
    • the title and author of the book
    • what he ate for lunch

  2. Question 2

    A comic strip about a silly dog is mostly made to…

    • warn
    • sell a dog
    • persuade
    • entertain

  3. Question 3

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

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

  4. Question 4

    A video explains how volcanoes erupt. What is its purpose?

    • to persuade
    • to inform
    • to sell a volcano
    • to tell a joke

  5. Question 5

    You want to know how tall giraffes grow. Which source is best?

    • a giraffe cartoon
    • an animal encyclopedia
    • a giraffe toy ad
    • a joke book

  6. Question 6

    Which question should you ask about any message?

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

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