Grade by Grade
A. Literacy Connections and Applications / C. Comprehension: Understanding and Responding to Texts · Understanding and Responding to Texts

Images, Graphics and Design: Reading Visuals and Media

C1.4 A2.4 A2.5About 35 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can describe how images, graphics and design are used in a text.
  • I can explain how a labelled diagram, a caption or a map helps me understand the words.
  • I can name some techniques that media texts use, like big fonts, bright colours and slogans.
  • I can ask who made a media text, who it is for, and why.

Words to know

image
A picture, such as a photo or a drawing.
graphic
A drawing that shows information, such as a diagram, map, chart or icon.
labelled diagram
A drawing with words and lines that name the parts of something.
caption
A sentence under a picture that tells what it shows.
visual design
How a page is planned: the size of words, the colours, and where things are placed.
media text
A text made to reach many people, like an ad, a poster, a website, a video or a cereal box.
audience
The people a text is made for.
slogan
A short, catchy phrase that is easy to remember, often used in ads.

Remember from Grade 2

In Grade 2 you learned that pictures and design add meaning, and that posters and boxes use colour, big letters and pictures to send a message.

In Grade 3 you will explain how each visual connects to the words, and you will think about who made a media text, who it is for, and why.

Hook: Words alone, or words plus a picture?

Read this: A plant has roots under the soil, a stem that holds it up, leaves that make food and a flower that makes seeds.

Now look at the diagram below. Which one helps you see where each part is? Most people say the diagram! But the best is both together.

flowerleafstemrootssoil
A labelled diagram of a plant. Lines connect each label (flower, leaf, stem, roots) to its part. The line across the middle is the top of the soil.

How visuals help

Images and graphics are not just decoration. They have a purpose, and they connect to the words.

  • Photos show what something really looks like.
  • Labelled diagrams name the parts of something and show where they are.
  • Captions tell what a picture shows, so you don't have to guess.
  • Maps show where places are.
  • Charts and tables organize numbers and facts so you can compare.
  • Icons are tiny pictures that stand for something, like a 🔍 for search.

Always ask: What does this visual show? How does it connect to the words?

Worked example

Let's read a labelled diagram

Use the plant diagram. Which part is under the soil? What does the text say it does?

  1. Find the line that shows the top of the soil (the long line across the middle).
  2. Look below the line. The label there says roots.
  3. Go back to the words: A plant has roots under the soil.
  4. The diagram shows where the roots are; the words tell what they are. Together, you understand more.

The roots are under the soil. The diagram shows where they are, and the words name them.

Visual design

Visual design is how a page is planned. Designers make choices on purpose:

  • Big, bold words are seen first, so the most important message goes there.
  • Colour catches your eye and can show a feeling.
  • Layout (where things are placed): the top and the middle get noticed first. Small print is often at the bottom.
  • White space (empty space) makes a page easy to read.
READ-A-THON!Read for 20 minutes a dayMaple Street Public SchoolLibrary, Room 12
A school poster. The biggest word, READ-A-THON!, is at the top in a shaded box. A picture of an open book is in the middle. Smaller words below give the details.
Worked example

Let's read a poster

Look at the Read-a-thon poster. What do you notice first? Why did the designer plan it that way?

  1. The first thing most people see is READ-A-THON! It is the biggest word, in bold, at the top, in a shaded box.
  2. The open book picture shows the poster is about reading, even for people who don't read the words.
  3. The medium-size words tell what to do: Read for 20 minutes a day.
  4. The smallest words at the bottom are details: the school and the room.
  5. The design follows order of importance: biggest and first = most important!

You notice READ-A-THON! first because it is biggest, boldest and at the top. The design leads your eyes from the main message to the details.

Media texts: Who made it? For whom? Why?

A media text is made to reach lots of people: ads, posters, websites, videos, apps, packages. Every media text has:

  • a creator (who made it),
  • an audience (who it is for),
  • a purpose (why it was made: to sell, inform, entertain or persuade),
  • a form (poster, video, ad, website),
  • a message (what it wants you to think or do).

These parts all work together. A toy company (creator) makes a bright video ad (form) for kids (audience) to sell a toy (purpose).

Worked example

Let's analyze an ad

A TV ad shows smiling kids shooting goo at a target. Bright colours flash. A loud voice shouts: "SUPER SLIME BLASTER! Every kid has one! Only $19.99! Get yours today!"

  1. Creator: a toy company. Form: a TV (video) ad.
  2. Audience: kids. We know because it shows kids and says every kid.
  3. Purpose: to sell the toy.
  4. Techniques: bright colours, loud voice, exclamation marks, happy kids, a slogan (Every kid has one!), and the word Only to make the price sound small.
  5. Think critically: Is it true that every kid has one? No! That is a trick to make you feel left out. The ad also doesn't tell you if the slime is messy or breaks easily.

The ad is made by a toy company to sell to kids. It uses colours, a slogan and happy faces to make the toy look exciting. A smart viewer asks, What are they not telling me?

Just for fun

Why was the poster so calm and easy to read?

It had plenty of white space to relax in!

Visuals can trick us too

Photos on a box may make food look bigger or tastier than it really is. Ads often say Only or Best ever or Everyone loves it. A smart reader looks closely and asks questions.

Hands-on activity

Visual detective

You need: a cereal box or food package, a flyer or magazine, a nonfiction book, paper and a pencil.

  1. Nonfiction book: Find one photo with a caption and one diagram or map. Tell a grown-up what each one shows and how it connects to the words.
  2. Package or flyer: What do you see first? Why? Fill in: Creator: ___ Audience: ___ Purpose: ___ Message: ___.
  3. List 3 techniques the designer used (big words, colours, faces, a slogan, a cartoon character, the word new...).
  4. Make your own: Design a poster for something real at home, like Wash your hands or Recycle here. Put the most important words biggest and at the top. Add a picture that connects to the words.

Your turn

1

What is a caption?

2

How does a labelled diagram help a reader?

3

On the Read-a-thon poster, why is READ-A-THON! the biggest word?

4

In the Slime Blaster ad, who is the audience? How do you know?

5

What is the purpose of the Slime Blaster ad?

6

Name two techniques the ad uses.

7

Which graphic would best show where Toronto, Ottawa and Sudbury are?

More practice: warm-up

1

Is a photo an image or a slogan?

2

What do we call the people a text is made for?

3

Name one kind of media text.

4

What does an icon of a trash can usually mean on a computer?

5

Where on a poster are the details usually found: at the top or the bottom?

More practice: on your own

1

A book about frogs has a photo with no caption. Why could that be confusing?

2

A cereal box shows a cartoon tiger and a free toy inside. Who is the audience? Why do you think so?

3

Why might an ad say Every kid has one! when that is not true?

4

You read A beaver's lodge has an underwater entrance. What visual would help you understand this best? Explain.

5

A public library makes a poster: Free reading club for kids this summer! Name the creator, audience and purpose.

Challenge

1

The same message, Eat more vegetables, could be a poster, a song or a video. Pick one form and explain how it would change the way the message is shared.

2

A website ad says Click here to win a free tablet! What questions should you ask before you do anything?

3

Look at the Read-a-thon poster. What is one thing it is missing that would help the audience? Explain.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

What does a labelled diagram do?

2.

On a poster, what do readers usually notice first?

3.

A toy ad's main purpose is to...

4.

What is a slogan?

5.

Which question helps you think critically about a media text?

6.

A caption is found...

For parents and teachers

What this lesson teaches: Grade 3 students describe how images, graphics and visual design are used and how they connect to the content of a text (C1.4). They begin to analyze media texts' forms, conventions and techniques (A2.4) and how form, message, audience and creator relate (A2.5).

How to help at home:

  • During TV or online videos, pause an ad and ask: "Who made this? Who is it for? What do they want you to do? What are they not telling you?"
  • In nonfiction books, stop at every diagram, map and caption. Ask: "What does this picture tell us that the words don't?"
  • At the grocery store, compare a cereal box picture with the real cereal.

Common difficulties:

  • Children often skip visuals or look only at pictures. Teach them to go back and forth between the words and the picture.
  • Young children tend to believe ads. Gently model doubt: "Hmm, does every kid really have one?"
  • Online: Remind your child never to click "you've won!" ads or pop-ups, and to show you instead.