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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.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 1.3.1.2; 1.1.5.3 · asking questions about what a message says and how its pictures add to it

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 Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 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: Minnesota Department of Education (MDE)

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

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

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

  2. Question 2

    Why do toy ads use bright colors?

    • to make it quiet
    • to make it smell nice
    • to catch your eye
    • to hide the toy

  3. Question 3

    Which part of a poster do you read?

    • the smell
    • the sound
    • the words
    • the music

  4. Question 4

    A message makes you feel scared. What can you do?

    • shout at the screen
    • keep it a secret
    • tell a grown-up you trust
    • watch it again and again

  5. Question 5

    Who most likely made a poster for the school bake sale?

    • a cloud
    • the cookies
    • people at the school
    • a dog

  6. Question 6

    An ad shows a toy flying. The real toy can't fly. Why?

    • to tell the truth
    • to make the toy look more fun
    • by mistake
    • to teach about planes

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