Unit 2

How Do Advertisements Influence People?

Lesson 14

Reader's Notebook

The Kid from the Commercial

Pages 110 to 117 of Literacy in Action 5A.


The Kid from the Commercial is not like the others you have read in this unit. This type of selection is known as a script. A script is the printed version of a stage play, movie screenplay, or radio or television broadcast, including the words to be spoken and often the actions of the characters.   A narrator is the person who tells the story.
Click each coloured row for information about the activity.

Stage Directions


Open your Literacy in Action 5A book to page 110 and preview the selection, paying close attention to the visuals, and skimming pages 111 to 113 to read the words in parentheses. These words give stage directions. They tell the character how to act and what type of expression to add when saying the words out loud.

  1. Answer the Before Reading section of questions on the Reader's Notebook: The Kid from the Commercial.
  2. Remember to use what you know from previewing the visuals and texts to make a prediction about this selection in Question 3 of Reader's Notebook: The Kid from the Commercial.




Document: Reader's Notebook: The Kid from the Commercial
Click here to download

Download PDF


  1. Download the document Reader's Notebook: The Kid from the Commercial.
  2. IMPORTANT NOTE: When the download screen opens: 
      • Click the "Open with" button.
      • Select "Adobe Reader".
      • Click "OK".
      • You will then be able to view the document Reader's Notebook: The Kid from the Commercial.

  3. Print the document.
  1. Drop down to the After You Read Questions Section of this lesson and read the questions you will be answering.
      • This will help you to focus on the selection.
      • When you are done reading only the questions, return to this section of the lesson.

  2. After you have read the selection by yourself, ask someone (mom, dad, brother, sister, aunt, uncle, or a friend) to reread the script with you.
      • Each of you should read the lines of a character or narrator.
      • Try to use the stage directions when you are reading aloud to add expression to your voice.

  3. Evaluate the prediction you made before you started to read (in the Reader's Notebook: The Kid from the Commercial.)
      • Did you predict correctly?
      • Remember that you are not wrong if your prediction did not match what happened in the selection.

Visuals are important in this selection because they reinforce an idea.


The words used by characters in this selection communicate their attitude. Like an ad, this selection has used words and visuals to communicate ideas.

  1. Answer the After Reading section of questions in the Reader's Notebook: The Kid from the Commercial.
  2. Has your answer changed to Question 1: "Why do you think this selection was included?" How has it changed?

Think About It


How have the skills you have developed in viewing ads critically helped you understand and interpret the words and attitudes of the characters in this selection?

Save

How to save a file:

  1. Scan the document to your computer.
  2. Have the file open and select Save As from the File menu.
  3. Name your Reader's Notebook: The Kid from the Commercial file in this format: jsmith_rnkidcommercial and save the file to your Documents folder.
Compare your responses to those in the Key by clicking here. This activity is not for marks.