Modes and Their Audiences

Sort texts as written, spoken, visual, digital, or multimodal, and how a mode reaches its audience (a podcast versus a poster versus a website).

Warm-up, learn, try it together, practice, then a quick check. About 15 minutes.

What children learn in Level 64

Texts come in different modes. Written texts use words on a page. Spoken texts are heard, like a speech.
Visual texts are mostly pictures, like a photo or a map. Digital texts are on a screen, like an email.
Multimodal texts mix modes: a music video has words, pictures, and sound. A picture book has words and drawings.
Authors choose a mode to reach their audience. A poster reaches people walking by. A podcast reaches people who are busy driving.
The mode changes what goes in. A lost-dog poster needs a big photo and a phone number, not a long story!

Georgia's K-12 English Language Arts Standards:

4.T.C.1.b — Classify various texts by mode and describe how the author's choice of mode influences audiences and contributes to the overall purpose and effect. (I)
4.T.C.1.c — Create multimodal texts, using features of pre-selected modes for a specific purpose and audience. (C)
4.P.AC.3.a — Explore and create texts in various modes and genres, developing and applying knowledge of how specific features impact meaning, tone, style, purpose, and audience. (I/C)
4.P.AC.3.b — Apply knowledge of how mode and genre impact what kinds of ideas and information are included in texts. (I/C)