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3rd grade · English Language Arts · Unit 13 of 21

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.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 3R8; 3W7 · 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 New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 13 of 21 in 3rd grade English Language Arts, after Wonder & Find Out and before Word Pictures.

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: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

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

    Which sentence is an opinion?

    • Pizza is the tastiest food.
    • Pizza can have cheese on it.
    • Some pizzas are round.
    • Pizza is often baked in an oven.

  2. Question 2

    What is a headline?

    • a picture
    • the price
    • the last sentence
    • the title at the top of a news story

  3. Question 3

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

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

  4. Question 4

    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

  5. Question 5

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

    • warn
    • entertain
    • sell a dog
    • persuade

  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 post from someone selling frog toys
    • a joke about frogs

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