Grade: 4

Unit Name: Create a Story

1-3 Specific Language Expectation(s)

Media Literacy:
Audience Responses
1.4 explain why different audiences might respond differently to specific media
texts (e.g., examine childrens books or
video games that have been rated as suitable for different age groups
and suggest reasons for the ratings)
Purpose and Audience
3.1 describe in detail the topic, purpose, and audience for media texts they plan
to create (e.g., an album of camera shots to help classmates understand
the uses of different camera angles and distances in photography
and/or film)
Producing Media Texts
3.4 produce media texts for specific purposes and audiences, using a few simple
media forms and appropriate conventions and techniques.

1-2 Specific Cross-curricular Expectation(s)

Big Ideas/Desired Results

What do I want students to learn? These
ideas must align with each of your chosen
Curriculum Expectations and your planned
activities.
By the end of the unit students will:
1) Each piece of media is targeted
towards a particular audience who
will respond in a particular way.
2) The purpose of various media
forms vary ex. Inform, persuade,
entertain
3) Certain media techniques are
more effective depending on the
purpose/type of the media
4) Personal interests and experiences
have an effective on the
artistic/creative process.

Art- Visual Arts:

D1.1 create two- and three-dimensional works of art that express feelings and
ideas inspired by their interests and experiences (e.g., a comic strip or a
storyboard featuring a space voyage; an oil pastel drawing of peers in
sports or dance poses; a painted still life)

Evidence of Learning

What final evidence of student learning will I accept? Create and include exemplar(s).

The culminating task of the unit will be to create a childrens book for a grade level that is lower than their own which will be
5-8 pages long with illustrations and a cover page. Students will create their story while keeping their purpose and intended

audience in mind. Who is the book for? What age group? What is the book trying to do? They will also include their work
from their brainstorming session from Day 2. They must choose a topic they are passionate about and present it accordingly.

Assessment Tool
Include a tool for assessment of instruction to be used at the end of the unit. Describe what tool you are
using to assess and what aspects of learning it will assess. Submit this tool with your assignment.
Students will be assessed on:
1) Their cover page: does it properly reflect what is in the story? Would it appeal to their target audience?
2) Their text: can the vocabulary be followed by the intended audience?
3) Their overall plot: does the topic of the story lend itself well to the purpose of the book and its intended audience?
4) Their illustrations: do the illustrations directly content on each page and are they neatly presented? (Visual Arts cross
curricular)
Categories of achievement: Knowledge and Understanding, Thinking, Communication
*Rubric found on the final page

Describe the skills, knowledge and resources required of students to provide evidence of their learning.
What was required when you created the final artifact/exemplar/product/evidence of learning?
Materials required: Blank paper, pencil, pencil crayons/markers/crayons, hole-puncher
Skills and knowledge required:
a. Being able to write fully formed sentences.
b. The ability to create illustrations that directly relate to their own writing
c. Basic understanding of media techniques for their desired audience ex. bright colours and easily understood
vocabulary.
d. Personal interests can be presented in a way that causes various audiences to react differently.
e. An understanding the purpose of childrens books. They can inform, entertain or even persuade.

Projected Learning Experiences:

Day 1
*prior knowledgestudents have already
learned and displayed
their understanding of
purpose, intention and
audience in a previous
unit and have been
asked to bring in one
of their favourite
books. 3.1- purpose
and audience.
This lesson will
focus on media
literacy 1.4Audience Responses

Minds on

The teacher shares

his/her favourite book
with the class. Do you
think this book is
fiction or nonfiction?
Who can tell me what
that means? What
type of audience do
you think this book is
directed to?
The teacher will lead a

Day 2
Media literacy 1.4Audience Responses
continued.

Minds on

The teacher once

again opens the lesson
by sharing one of
his/her favourite
books, however this
time the teacher has
purposely selected a
book for a lower grade
level (grade 3 and
below) The teacher
then initiates a
discussion regarding
who the intended
audience is and how
the students know
that. Is the book
difficult to read? Are
there a lot of
illustrations? Is it
very colourful? How
do you think a person
who is younger than
you would react to this

Day 3
This lesson will
focus on media
literacy 3.4Producing Media
Texts

Day 4
This lesson will
briefly review all
specific
expectations
visited.

Minds on

Minds on
The teacher will share
their own cover page
for their childrens
book and lead a
discussion. The
students will identify
the intended audience
and purpose in order
to judge whether or
not it would be
successful in getting
its desired response.
The teacher will outline
all of the necessary
features of a cover
page.

The teacher will share

examples of story
boards from famous
movies and fairy tales
as the hook.
Together the class will
describe the features
of the book that make
it appropriate for
children. The teacher
will also explain the
basic elements
required in a
storyboard.

Action

The students will begin

working on their
storyboards. They
should include simple
script with illustrations

Action
Students will create a
basic outline with brief
notations for their

Day 5

Minds on

The teacher reads

his/her childrens story
to the class and uses
before, during and
after questions to keep
the students engaged.
The questions will
focus on the purpose
and intended audience
of the book.

Action

A brief period of the

lesson will be allotted
for students to
complete any final
touches on their book.
Students will share
their stories in small
groups with the
intention of later
reading their books in
primary classrooms.

Consolidation

After regrouping, the

discussion and talk

about how the
purpose, target
audience and intention
of the book can affect
how someone absorbs
content. Maybe it
would bore you or
maybe you would
completely ignore it.
Perhaps it needs to
meet your specific
interests or maybe just
be more colourful.
The teacher introduces
the action for the
lesson: the students
sharing their books
with their peers.

Action

The students break

into pairs and share all
or parts of their
favourite books and
document the
following: intended
audience (what age
group), the kind of
book, the intention of
the book (entertain,
inform or persuade)
but focusing on their
personal opinions of
the book. If they are
the intended audience,
they should briefly
explain why they liked
it, and if they are not

book? etc.
The teacher introduces
the action:
brainstorming ideas for
their own childrens
book.

Action

Students will work

individually on
brainstorming their
story ideas for younger
children. They can try:
word webs, bullet
points, free writing or
answering the Big 6
(who, what, when etc.)
The goal is to have
enough ideas
regarding their
characters and story in
order to begin forming
a plot.
They are also asked to
leave brief notes with
their ideas to explain
why kids might enjoy
their ideas. Kids love
superheroes!
Younger kids like
simple stories. Etc.
Before beginning, the
teacher explains that
the students are free
to help themselves to
any resources in the
class, ex, other
childrens books or
fiction books for

that directly reflect the

text. The students will
use the results of their
brainstorming session
from the lesson prior.

Consolidation

Students will take part

in a gallery walk where
the students can use
post-it notes to leave a
star and a wish on as
many story boards as
they can. The teacher
will interject with
guiding questions ex.
Does the story lend
itself well to a young
audience? Does the
story have a happy
ending or a lesson a
child can learn?
Cross curricularD1.1 create twoand threedimensional works
of art
During their art lesson
Students can now use
their basic story board
to create more
detailed illustrations
for their book.

desired title page. It

should reflect their
ideas from their
brainstorming session.
The teacher will
reassure them that
these ideas can still be
changed in the next
lesson.

Consolidation

Students will complete

a personal checklist
(that will be written on
the board) to ensure
that their submission
includes all of the
following:
a. the age of the
intended audience and
its purpose (written on
the back).
b. a cover page
c. their brainstorm
notes (which include
WHY they believe the
audience will respond
well)
Cross curricularD1.1 create twoand threedimensional works
of art
During Visual arts,
students will now
begin working on their
cover page, using their
ideas from the

teacher will collect all

culminating tasks and
with the remaining
time students will
share their favourite
aspects of the books
they enjoyed.
*note- any incomplete
assignments can be
finished in the
following art lesson.

the intended audience,

why they did not enjoy
it. These notes will be
collected by the
teacher as an
assessment for
learning and evaluated
via checbric.

Consolidation

After regrouping, the

teacher asks the class
how they felt when
they were not the
intended audience.
Do you think a group
of people who are
older or younger than
the intended audience
would like the book
any less or more?
How would you feel
with interests more
relative to that book?
The teacher will
introduce the
culminating task to
give students a better
understanding of their
final goal for the unit.

further research on a
topic. The idea is to
draw from their own
interests and present
them in a way that is
interesting to younger
audiences.
*this rough word web
will be handed in with
their books in order to
demonstrate their
growth of learning in
regards to
understanding
audience responses.

previous media literacy

lesson.

Consolidation

After regrouping, the

teacher will hold a
council where he/she
will call attention to
the characters and
other ideas the
students have created.

Further Considerations
1. How will I build student choice into this unit?
Although the first lesson is fairly well divided between teacher and student direction, it is not where student choice
will take place. Student choice will begin during lesson 2 where students are asked to bring in their favourite book. The
book can be any genre or reading level. During lesson 3 students can brainstorm their ideas in any way they like,

whether it be in the form of a word web, free-writing, etc. however, they will also have the option to record their voices
with different available devices. During the fourth lesson, students begin to bring their ideas together but the only
restriction to their work is that the book be for a younger reading level. All other aspects of the book are left up to their
own creativity for example, they may choose to use a word processor to type their story and use any medium of two
dimensional visuals arts to create their illustrations.
2. List three questions to build into instruction to promote analytical thinking (refer to a Q-chart and the Big
Ideas for help).
a. How can the intended audience of books, change their appearance and script?
b. What is the media in question trying to do, persuade, inform or entertain?
c. What kinds of media techniques are more appropriate for books than they are for newspapers?
3. How will I build in opportunities for guided and independent practice?
Guided:

Facilitation of several discussions found in the minds on and consolidation portion of the lessons.

Independent:

Students are free to choose their own books to bring into class.
A lot of freedom with how they brainstorm their ideas for a story board.
Students are free to choose any form of two dimensional medium to create their artwork.

4. How can I build in assessment as instruction (peer- and self-assessment)?

Day 3 consolidation: Students will take part in a gallery walk where the students can use post-it notes to leave a star and
a wish on as many story boards as they can
Day 4 consolidation: Students will complete a personal checklist (that will be written on the board) to ensure that their
submission includes all of the following: a. the age of the intended audience and its purpose (written on the back). b. a
cover page c. their brainstorm notes (which include WHY they believe the audience will respond well)
Day 5 consolidation: students will share their favourite aspects of the books they enjoyed. This can also be adjusted to
have students write what they enjoyed about the books in note form to leave behind the last page.
Resources- Include 2 related websites for students to explore:
1. http://www.storylineonline.net/ - A great website to gather ideas where authors read their books with accompanying
animated illustrations and sound effects.

2. http://www.chompchomp.com/ - Although at first glance the website seems to merely focus on grammar, it also
contains other resources that can help students reach their target audience. (Appropriate Words and Expressions in
the presentation section of the site)
List 5 books to place in your classroom library:
The choice of books was made in order to show the students a variety of different writing styles and artistic direction.
This would hopefully inspire them to be creative with their stories and let them know that they are encouraged to think
outside of the box. The students are being assessed on how well they create a book according to their intended audience
and its purpose so they are encouraged to be imaginative otherwise.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Dragons Loves Tacos

The Hungry Caterpillar
How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?
I Wish You More
Georges Secret Key to the Universe

Other additional resources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsDTKCSkHZw The most popular commercials for children of 2015
http://www.allposters.com/-sm/Children-s-Movies-Posters_c66200_.htm A database of posters for popular childrens
movies

Wall Display- A bare bulletin board has been reserved for your unit. Describe how you would use the space.
I would use the space to display a different form of media for each type of purpose and various audiences with
colorful annotations that distinguish them as such. The display can include a book cover and excerpt for separate age
groups: youth, teen and adult. After the initial lesson, the teacher will cleanly divide the newspaper the classed analyzed
together and display it according to purpose and audience with the same use of annotations. The display would also show
the learning goals and big ideas from the unit.
Create a Center Related to Your Unit:
Purpose of the Center

The purpose of the center is to display different forms of media and each kind of media is directly affected by its
target audience, for example, the cover of a cereal box is very colourful because it is directed towards children.
Related Ontario Curriculum Expectation
Audience Responses
1.4 explain why different audiences might respond differently to specific media texts (e.g., examine childrens books or
video games that have been rated as suitable for different age groups and suggest reasons for the ratings)
Materials Needed

Copy of local newspaper

Copy of Wired magazine
Copy of Popular Mechanics and Popular Mechanics for Kids
i-pad/laptop with a queue or playlist of various commercials (see additional resources for links)
headphones

Estimated Cost
Under $50 (assuming the teacher has access to school laptop or ipad)
How would you introduce this center?
The center would have been introduced at the end of the previous unit where students had learned about purpose and
audience. The center would help bridge the gap to the current unit.
What ongoing management or maintenance does the center require?

Updating i-pad with newer videos or articles

More recent newspapers and magazines
Ensuring students are using headphones to prevent them from disrupting the class or disturbing other students.

Day 1 Assessment for learning Checklist

Students
Name
Bruce Wayne
Clark Kent
Kathy Kane
Selina Kyle

No understanding of
audience response to media

Basic understanding

Strong understanding

Donna Troy
Childrens Storybook Rubric
Cover Page

Text
Plot

Illustrations

Audience
Response
/Brainstorm

Personal
Interest

Level 1
The cover page does not
reflect what is in the story
and shows no features that
appeal to a young audience
The text cannot be
understood by young children
(age 6 and below)
The topic and plot of the
story do not reflect the
purpose of the book or the
intended audience.
The illustrations are
incomplete and/or do not
connect to the text on each
page.
Few ideas are found in the
brainstorm. The final product
does not demonstrate an
understanding of how
children will respond to the
work.
Personal interests are not
apparent within the book
and/or are not adapted for a
younger audience.

Level 2
The cover page somewhat
reflects what is in the story and
has few features that appeal to
a young audience.
The text can be somewhat be
understood by young children
(age 6 and below)
The topic and plot of the story
somewhat reflect the purpose
selected and the intended
audience.
The illustrations somewhat
connect to the text on each
page and are somewhat
appealing to the target
audience ex. very bright and
colourful.
The ideas in the brainstorm
and in the final product
somewhat reflect a strong
understanding of how children
will respond to the work.

Level 3
The cover page strongly
reflects what is in the story
and has some features that
appeal to a young audience.
The text can be easily
understood by young children
(age 6 and below)
The topic and plot of the story
reflect the purpose selected
and the intended audience.

Personal interests are within

the book and are somewhat
adapted for a younger
audience.

Personal interests are

apparent within the book and
are adapted well for a younger
audience.

The illustrations connect to

the text on each page, are
neatly presented and are
appealing to the target
audience ex. very bright and
colourful.
The ideas in the brainstorm
and in the final product reflect
a strong understanding of how
children will respond to their
work.

Level 4
The cover page directly
reflects what is in the story
and has many features that
appeal to a young audience.
The text can very easily be
understood by young children
(age 6 and below)
The topic and plot of the story
directly reflect the purpose
selected and the intended
audience.
The illustrations directly
connect to the text on each
page, are neatly presented,
are appealing to the target
audience and are very
creative.
The ideas in the brainstorm
and in the final product reflect
a strong understanding of how
children will respond to their
work and how other audience
may respond poorly.
Personal interests are very
apparent within the book and
are strongly adapted for a
younger audience.