Subscribe

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.

Maine Learning Results learning standard: Reading 9; Writing 1 · 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 Maine

In the Maine Learning Results, 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: Maine 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

    Who decides what goes into a news report?

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

  2. Question 2

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

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

  3. Question 3

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

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

  4. Question 4

    A cereal ad shows a sports star eating the cereal. What technique is this?

    • showing a map
    • listing the ingredients
    • giving a recipe
    • using a famous person

  5. Question 5

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

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

  6. Question 6

    Which source is most likely to be reliable for a report on frogs?

    • a science website from a museum
    • a post from someone selling frog toys
    • a cartoon about frogs
    • a joke about frogs

More 3rd grade