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7th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 12 of 20

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.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 7R4; 7SL2 · 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 New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 12 of 20 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: 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

    Two headlines: “Students Raise $500” and “Students Fall Short of $1,000 Goal.” What does this show?

    • one is lying
    • headlines have no effect
    • the numbers are wrong
    • the same facts can be framed differently

  2. Question 2

    A satirical news story is shared as if it were real. What can happen?

    • it becomes true
    • it is deleted automatically
    • nothing
    • people may believe something false

  3. Question 3

    What is sponsored content?

    • a school assignment
    • free news
    • a dictionary
    • paid content made to look like regular articles or posts

  4. Question 4

    Why might an ad show a product next to a smiling, healthy athlete?

    • to report sports scores
    • to show the price
    • to explain the rules
    • to link the product with health and success

  5. Question 5

    What is a loaded word?

    • a word with strong positive or negative feelings attached
    • a word with a capital
    • a very long word
    • a word in a heading

  6. Question 6

    An AI-made video shows a famous person saying something they never said. This is called a…

    • headline
    • citation
    • documentary
    • deepfake

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