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7th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 12 of 13

Framing the Message

Framing, loaded words and sponsored posts

What your child practices

Children look at how headlines, graphs, camera angles, loaded words and sponsored posts shape a message, and how a reader's community and feelings affect their reaction.

Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 7.RI.6; 7.SL.2 · how headlines, images and word choice frame a message

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Framing is how a message is shaped: headlines, camera angles, graphs and loaded words.
  2. Sponsored posts are ads, and apps show more of what you like to keep you watching.
  3. Ask what is left out, and why some people react differently.

Example: Why might a documentary interview only people who agree with the filmmaker? Leaving out the other side makes one view look stronger. That shapes the viewer’s opinion. Answer: to make the argument seem stronger

Framing the Message in Arizona

In the Arizona Academic Standards, this is unit 12 of 13 in 7th grade English Language Arts, after Research Skills and before Spelling: Prefixes and Patterns.

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

    A reporter interviews only people who were happy about a new law. What is missing?

    • quotations
    • a headline
    • a date
    • the views of people who disagreed

  2. Question 2

    What is the goal of a political campaign ad?

    • to sell toys
    • to teach grammar
    • to persuade people to vote for a candidate or idea
    • to report sports

  3. Question 3

    How does a person's community affect their reaction to a news story?

    • it can shape what they care about and how they feel
    • it decides the facts
    • it has no effect
    • it changes the story's words

  4. Question 4

    What is the purpose of a movie trailer?

    • to review the movie fairly
    • to persuade people to watch the movie
    • to tell the whole plot
    • to list the crew

  5. Question 5

    Why might a documentary interview only people who agree with the filmmaker?

    • because no one disagrees
    • to be balanced
    • to make the argument seem stronger
    • to save time only

  6. Question 6

    Which question best uncovers a media message's purpose?

    • Who benefits if I believe this?
    • Is it on my phone?
    • What color is the logo?
    • Is it long?

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