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1st grade · English Language Arts · Unit 14 of 17

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.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 1.9(F); 1.10(C) · what pictures, words and other media tell us

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 Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 14 of 17 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: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

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 one is trying to sell something?

    • an ad for new shoes
    • an Exit sign
    • a map of the park
    • a story about a bear

  2. Question 2

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

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

  3. Question 3

    An ad says a toy is “the best ever!” Is that a fact?

    • no, it is what the ad wants you to think
    • yes, because it is loud
    • yes, because it is on a screen
    • yes, ads are always right

  4. Question 4

    A video shows how to tie shoes. Why was it made?

    • to teach you
    • to tell a joke
    • to scare you
    • to sell shoes

  5. Question 5

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

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

  6. Question 6

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

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

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