Standard 3

Media Messages: Purposes and Techniques – Standard 3 English

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What you will learn

  • Name the purpose: to inform, to entertain or to persuade.
  • Spot techniques such as colour, size, music, slogans and famous faces.
  • Handle a device safely and respect other people’s work.

Media means the ways messages are made and shared: posters, radio, video, photographs, websites and packaging. A media message is built. Someone chose the words, the pictures, the colours and the sounds.

Every message has a purpose. It may inform, like a weather report. It may entertain, like a cartoon. It may persuade, like an advert that wants you to buy. Some messages do more than one. An advert can entertain and still persuade.

You are old enough to enjoy a message and also to ask who made it and what they want. This lesson also covers the care of equipment, because a tablet or a camera is a tool, not a toy to be left in the sun or near a drink.

Purpose

Ask three questions. Who made this? Who is it for? What do they want me to do or feel?

A school notice about a trip informs. A calypso played for joy entertains. A juice poster with a price persuades you to buy. If you are not sure, look at the last line. “Get yours at break” is a push to buy.

A message can be useful and still be persuasion. A poster about washing hands informs and also persuades you to act. Name both if you see both.

Worked example 1

A short video shows a funny crab, then says “Buy Crab Crisps.” What are the two purposes?

Show me how

The funny crab entertains.

Buy Crab Crisps persuades.

The video does both. The laugh is there to carry the advert.

Techniques

Techniques are the tricks of the making. Big letters shout. Bright colours cheer. A slogan is a short line you remember, such as “Fresh today.” Music can make you feel excited or calm. A famous face suggests that if they like it, you should too.

A bandwagon still works in pictures. A crowd of smiling children says everyone is doing this. You met that idea in the fact and opinion lesson.

What is left out matters too. An advert may not show the sugar, the price, or the mess. Ask what you were not shown.

Worked example 2

A poster uses huge letters, a cricket star and the line “Champions choose it.” Name two techniques.

Show me how

Huge letters are size.

The cricket star is a famous face.

Champions choose it is a slogan, and it also flatters the buyer.

Care and honesty

Dry hands before you touch a tablet. Two hands when you carry it. No food or drink beside the keyboard. Ask before you record a person’s face or voice. Stop if they say no.

Do not copy a whole song, a whole picture or a whole cartoon and pretend you made it. You may describe it, or make your own drawing and your own words. That respect is part of being a media maker.

Put the device back where it belongs, and plug it in if an adult asks you to charge it. Care is a habit, like returning the crab to the water.

Watch out! A common mistake

A common mistake is to say a message has no purpose because it is fun. Fun can be the purpose, or the funnel into a sale. Name it.

Try it

TRY ITMedia lab

Let’s practise

Work each one in your copybook. Open Hint if you are stuck, then open Show answer to check.

1. Name three purposes a media message can have.

Hint

Inform is one.

Show answer

To inform, to entertain and to persuade.

2. A weather report mainly does which job?

Hint

It gives facts.

Show answer

It informs.

3. Why might an advert also try to be funny?

Hint

Think of the crab crisps.

Show answer

The fun keeps you watching so the sale can follow.

4. Name two techniques from a poster with huge letters and a cricket star.

Hint

Size and a person.

Show answer

Size, and a famous face. A slogan can be a third.

5. What is a slogan?

Hint

Short and memorable.

Show answer

A short line made to stick in the memory.

6. What should you do before you record a friend?

Hint

Their face and voice.

Show answer

Ask, and stop if they say no.

7. Name one way to care for a tablet.

Hint

Think of water or hands.

Show answer

Use dry hands, carry it with two hands, or keep drinks away. Any one is fine.

8. May you copy a whole picture and claim you made it?

Hint

Whose work is it?

Show answer

No. Make your own, or describe theirs.

Quiz

Lesson quiz: 10 questions

Answer every question, then press Check my answers. Score 8 or more to earn the Media Reader badge.

Recap

  • Messages inform, entertain, persuade, or mix these.
  • Size, colour, music, slogans, famous faces and crowds are techniques.
  • Ask what was left out.
  • Handle devices carefully, ask before you record, and do not claim someone else’s work.

Words to know

media
Ways of sharing messages, such as posters, video and packaging.
Example: A poster is a media form.
purpose
The reason a message was made.
Example: The purpose was to persuade.
technique
A chosen trick, such as size, colour or a slogan.
Example: Huge letters are a technique.
slogan
A short memorable line.
Example: Fresh today can be a slogan.

Try it at home

  • Collect two adverts and label the purpose and one technique on each.
  • With an adult, look at one video and name what it did not show.
  • Practise the device rules: dry hands, two-hand carry, ask before recording.

Test tips

Tips for class tests

  • If the message says buy, choose persuade even if it is also funny.
  • Name the technique and the feeling it aims for.
  • Care questions want a safe action, not a joke.

For parents and teachers

After this lesson, your child should be able to:

  • Name the purpose of four real messages at home.
  • Point to one technique and one thing the message leaves out.
  • State the rules for recording people and for drinks near devices.

Use adverts they already see. Keep the talk curious, not scornful. The aim is a child who can still enjoy a cartoon and notice a sale.

Quiz scores and badges are saved only in this browser on this device. Nothing is sent anywhere. If the browser data is cleared, or another device is used, the badges will be lost.

Previous: Spelling Rules, Prefixes and Suffixes
Next: Make and Review a Media Text
Course: Standard 3 English

Updates

2026/11/06
– Published this lesson and linked the previous and next lessons.
– First draft of this English lesson, with a hands-on lab, practice, quiz badge and worksheet.

Attributions to media used in this post:

No third-party pictures or recordings. The diagrams in the activity are original drawings for this lesson.

© 2026 Vedesh Kungebeharry. All rights reserved.

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