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7th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 12 of 15

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.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 7.8(F); 7.12(H) · 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 Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 12 of 15 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: 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

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

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

  2. Question 2

    Why might a documentary interview only people who agree with the filmmaker?

    • to make the argument seem stronger
    • to save time only
    • to be balanced
    • because no one disagrees

  3. Question 3

    What is satire?

    • a kind of ad
    • a poem with rhyme
    • humor that makes fun of something to make a point
    • a factual report

  4. Question 4

    A reporter interviews only people who were happy about a new law. What is missing?

    • quotations
    • a date
    • a headline
    • the views of people who disagreed

  5. Question 5

    What is the purpose of an editorial?

    • to sell ads
    • to report facts only
    • to tell a fictional story
    • to share the publication's opinion and persuade

  6. Question 6

    Which question best uncovers a media message's purpose?

    • Is it long?
    • What color is the logo?
    • Is it on my phone?
    • Who benefits if I believe this?

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