Lesson 4 — True Information or Selling?

Summary

Learners tell whether a simple message is trying to give true information or to sell something. They use clues: a selling message asks you to buy, shows a price, and says “best ever!” or “buy now!”; a true-information message tells a fact and asks for nothing. They learn that selling is not bad — grown-ups buy things they need — but noticing when a message wants our money is a power everyone can have.

Objectives

• Tell whether a simple message is trying to give you true information or to sell you something. (D10.S2.02.02)

Connection

Think of a message you saw today — a sign in a shop, a label on a packet, a picture on a screen. Some messages tell you a true fact: “Brushing your teeth twice a day helps keep them clean.” Other messages want you to buy: “BUY Sparkle Paste — the BEST ever! Only five coins!” One gives information; the other is selling. We can tell them apart by their clues.

Materials

• Message cards (pairs of a true-information message and a selling message)
• Paper and crayons

Preparation

• Prepare or write message pairs: a true-information message (a fact, no price) and a selling message (asks to buy, shows a price, says “best ever”).
• Prepare the clue list: asks you to buy · shows a price · “best ever!” · “buy now!”
• Set out paper and crayons.

Facilitator note

This lesson is written to the learner (“you”). Keep it fair and warm: selling is not bad, and noticing it is not suspicion. People buy food, soap, and shoes, and sellers help them find these things. The skill is simply to notice when a message wants our money rather than only telling us a fact. That skill matters everywhere, and it protects families with little to spend just as much as anyone else — knowing the clue is a kind of fairness. Hold the curriculum’s stance: media is met with judgment, not fear. Use simple, everyday examples with no wealth assumption — a market stall, a street sign, a label on rice or soap — so every learner recognizes a selling message from their own life. Distinguish evidence from values: “this message shows a price” is a fact; “selling is bad” is a value judgment we do not make. Honor every body: read each message aloud for a learner who is blind or has low vision, and let them name the clue by voice; a non-speaking learner points to “buy,” “price,” or “fact” on a clue chart. A learner who is Deaf or hard of hearing can read the printed messages and sign “buy” or “fact” to answer.

Procedure

1. Gather (5 min). Some messages tell you a fact; some want you to buy. How can you tell them apart?
2. Meet the clues (10 min). A message that is selling asks you to buy, shows a price, and may say “best ever!” or “buy now!” A message of true information tells a fact and asks for nothing.
3. Sort the messages (10 min). For each message card, say which it is and give one clue: “This is selling because it shows a price.” Or: “This is true information because it tells a fact and asks for nothing.”
4. Make one of each (12 min). Write or draw one true-information message (a fact you know is true) and one selling message (about something you would like to sell), with a price and a “buy” word. Label each: true information or selling.
5. Close (3 min). Selling is not bad — but noticing it is a power. A careful reader sees the price and the “buy now!” and says: “This is selling. Do I need this, or am I just being asked to buy?”

Differentiation

• Support: Sort one pair and name one clue together aloud, using the clue chart.
• Blind/low vision: Hear each message read aloud and name the clue by voice (price, buy, or fact).
• Deaf/hard of hearing / non-speaking: Read the printed messages and point to “buy,” “price,” or “fact” on a clue chart to answer.
• Motor differences: Direct a partner’s hands to write and draw while the learner says or points to which message is true information and which is selling.
• Extension: Tell why a family might buy something even when the message is selling (they truly need it), and name one clue that helped you see it was selling.

Assessment

• Formative (observation): Can the learner tell whether a simple message is giving true information or selling, and give one clue?
• Artifact (portfolio): The “true information” and “selling” message pair, labeled.

Home connection

At home, find one message on a packet, a sign, or a screen. Tell a grown-up whether it is true information or selling, and give one clue. Ask the grown-up how they decide when something is worth buying.

Resources

• Common Sense Media (Common Sense Education), “News & Media Literacy” — recognizing the difference between information and persuasion, including the clues that a message is trying to sell. https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship/topic/news-and-media-literacy