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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.

Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards benchmark: 3.2.7.1; 3.1.9.2 · telling fact from opinion and judging 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 Minnesota

In the Minnesota K-12 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: 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

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

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

  2. Question 2

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

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

  3. Question 3

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

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

  4. Question 4

    Why do ads often repeat a catchy jingle?

    • so you remember the product
    • to make you sleepy
    • to teach music
    • to tell the news

  5. Question 5

    Why is the headline bigger than the rest of the article?

    • to catch the reader's attention
    • to save paper
    • to hide the story
    • because it is the least important

  6. Question 6

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

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

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