Virginia SOL 7.C.4

7.C.4 is a Standards of Learning standard. These are the knowledge and skills expectations under it.

• 7.C.4.A

  Explain persuasive/informative techniques used in media to sway the audience (e.g., innuendo, card stacking, bandwagon, and appeal to emotions).

• 7.C.4.B

  Analyze media messages for facts, opinions, persuasive messages, word choice, and viewpoint.

• 7.C.4.C

  Compare and contrast the effectiveness of techniques in auditory, visual, and written media messages (e.g., authorship, format, content, purpose) on the intende...

01

What Students Need to Do

Students identify facts, opinions, viewpoint, purpose, audience, and persuasive techniques in media messages. They explain how words, images, sounds, and format shape a message, then compare which version works best.

02

What Mastery Looks Like

Students correctly label facts, opinions, viewpoint, purpose, and persuasive techniques. They cite a specific word, image, or sound and explain how it affects the intended audience.

03

Common Misconceptions

Students may treat opinions as facts when statistics or confident wording appear beside them. They may also name a technique without explaining its effect, or assume every media message is unbiased.

04

How to Assess It

Show a print ad and play an audio ad for the same product. Ask students to identify one technique in each and explain which version better persuades its intended audience.

1. 01

   Print six ad claims on cards, then have students sort them as fact, opinion, emotional appeal, bandwagon, card stacking, or innuendo.

2. 02

   Ask students to write which version of one message, poster, video, or audio clip, would persuade seventh graders most and why.

3. 03

   Play Persuasion Detective by showing short ads and awarding points for naming the technique and citing exact evidence.

4. 04

   Compare two restaurant ads from local websites, then discuss how images, prices, reviews, and word choice target different customers.

• 11.C.4

  The 11th Grade version of this standard.

• 12.C.4

  The 12th Grade version of this standard.

• 6.C.4

  The 6th Grade version of this standard.

• 5.C.4

  The 5th Grade version of this standard.