Interpret a letter, an audio interview, a video, a table and an infographic, then present findings clearly

Learning goal: This lesson teaches Ohio's 2026 standards SL.6.2 and SL.6.4, first implemented in 2027-28. You will interpret information presented in diverse media (such as video, audio and a primary source document) and in other formats (such as charts, tables and infographics), and explain how each piece of information contributes to the topic or issue under study. Then you will present claims and findings using logically sequenced ideas; relevant descriptions, facts and details to support main ideas or themes; appropriate eye contact; and clear speech at an understandable pace.

Media and formats. A medium is the way information reaches you: print, audio (sound only, such as a podcast or recorded interview), video (moving images with sound), or a primary source document (something created at the time by someone who was there, such as a letter, diary, photograph or official record). A format is how the information is arranged: a chart or graph shows a pattern visually; a table lines up exact numbers in rows and columns; an infographic combines short text, numbers and pictures to make a few points quickly. Each one is good at showing some things and weak at others.

How to interpret each one. Ask four questions of every item: Who made it, and when? What does it show or say? What can it show that the others cannot? What does it leave out? A primary source shows how people saw things at the time, but only one person's view. Audio carries a speaker's tone, which print loses. Video shows places and actions, but the person who filmed it chose what to include. A table gives exact numbers but no explanation. A chart shows a trend at a glance but can hide exact values. An infographic is fast to read but usually simplifies.

Explaining how information contributes. It is not enough to summarize each item. You must explain what it adds to the topic under study: The letter shows why people wanted a library in the first place; the table shows how many used it later; the interview explains how the library reached people who could not come in. That sentence connects each item to the topic.

The topic under study: How has the invented Ridgefield Public Library served its town? All of the items below are invented for this lesson.

Item 1 — Simulated primary source document (invented, written in the style of 1911): a letter to the town council.

To the Honorable Members of the Council: We, the undersigned mothers of Ridgefield, ask that the empty room above the fire station be made a public reading room. Our children have no books but their school readers, and the nearest library is a day's journey. We will lend our own books to begin it. Respectfully, Mrs. Clara Hoyt and forty-one others. March 3, 1911.

This page cannot play recordings, so Items 2 and 3 are described in writing and are for practice only. The independent performance requires a real audio or video recording that you listen to or watch yourself.

Item 2 — Audio interview (transcript of an invented two-minute recording) with retired librarian Ruth Okafor. "In 1975 we bought an old bread truck and filled it with shelves. That was our bookmobile. Every Tuesday I drove it out to the farms on the east side. Some of those kids had never had a library card. You could hear them coming before the truck stopped." In the recording, her voice speeds up and she laughs at the last line.

Item 3 — Video (an invented 90-second tour, described). The camera starts outside the brick building, moves through the front doors, pans across a children's room with beanbags and a fish tank, then shows a teenager using a computer and a woman printing a job application. It ends on a close-up of a framed copy of the 1911 letter.

Item 4 — Table (invented figures): library card holders. 1920: 300. 1950: 1,100. 1980: 2,600. 2020: 4,200.

Item 5 — Infographic (invented): "One Year at Ridgefield Library." Icons and numbers: 52 story times, 1,300 computer sessions, 9,800 books borrowed, 1 bookmobile still running.

Interpreting, modeled. The letter (primary source) shows the reason the library began: children had few books and the nearest library was far away. The audio interview shows how the library later reached people who could not come to it, and Ms. Okafor's laughter and quickening voice show the pride and excitement a transcript alone would flatten. The video shows what the library is used for today, including computers and job applications, which none of the older sources could show. The table shows growth: card holders rose from 300 to 4,200. The chart in this lesson's diagram shows the same numbers as a rising line, making the trend visible at once. The infographic shows the range of services in one year but gives no comparison with other years. Together they support a main idea: the library began as a small reading room that parents asked for and grew into a place that serves the whole town in new ways.

Presenting claims and findings. A claim is what you want the audience to accept; findings are what you discovered. A strong short presentation has four features. (a) Logically sequenced ideas: order your points so each leads to the next. Chronological order fits this topic: beginning, growth, today. (b) Relevant descriptions, facts and details: each detail supports the main idea; the fish tank in the video is a detail, but it does not directly support the claim about serving the whole town, so a stronger detail should take its place. (c) Appropriate eye contact: look up from your notes at the end of each sentence and move your gaze across the whole room; if eye contact is difficult for you, look toward listeners' foreheads or just over their heads, which most listeners cannot tell apart from direct eye contact. (d) Clear speech at an understandable pace: speak each word fully, pause after every number and at the end of each point, and slow down for names and dates. A useful test: if a listener can repeat your key numbers back to you, your pace was understandable.

The misconception. Students often think the more items they show, the better the presentation. A presentation that flashes all five items without explaining what each contributes leaves the audience with pictures, not findings. Choose the items that support your claim and say why each one matters.

Worked example 1 — interpreting a primary source document. The 1911 letter (invented) was written by people who wanted the library, at the time they wanted it. What it contributes: the reason the library began and who asked for it. What it cannot show: whether the council agreed, or how many people used the reading room. A presenter should say "According to a 1911 letter to the council" rather than "In 1911 everyone wanted a library," because the letter shows one group's view.

Worked example 2 — comparing audio with a transcript. The transcript says "You could hear them coming before the truck stopped." In the audio, Ms. Okafor laughs and speeds up. The words give the fact; the recording adds the feeling, pride and delight, that helps an audience understand what the bookmobile meant to her. That is how the audio medium contributes something print cannot.

Worked example 3 — a table versus a chart. The table gives exact values (1,100 in 1950, 2,600 in 1980). The line graph of the same numbers makes the trend clear at once: every point is higher than the one before. From 1950 to 1980 the number rose by 1,500, and from 1980 to 2020 by 1,600. Use the table when you need exact numbers and the chart when you want the audience to see the pattern.

Worked example 4 — a logically sequenced script, with relevant details only. "(Claim) Ridgefield's library has changed how it serves the town for over a hundred years. (Beginning) In 1911, forty-two parents asked the council for a reading room because the nearest library was a day away. (Growth) By 1980 the library had 2,600 card holders, and its bookmobile carried books to farms that were too far to visit. (Today) Now it also offers computers; in one year, people used them 1,300 times, including to apply for jobs. (Conclusion) The library still does what those parents asked: it brings reading to people who could not reach it." Each detail supports the claim, and the order moves from past to present.

Worked example 5 — delivery. The speaker rehearses with a partner, who holds up a hand whenever a number goes by too fast. The speaker marks a slash after each number in the script as a pause reminder, looks up at the end of each sentence, and moves her gaze from the left side of the room to the right during the conclusion. The partner repeats back "forty-two parents, 2,600 card holders, 1,300 computer sessions," which shows the pace was understandable.

Media interpretation grid (representation task): Make a table with a row for each of the five items and columns for Medium or format, What it shows, What only it can show, What it leaves out and How it contributes to the topic. Then write one sentence that combines at least three items into a main idea.

Presentation plan: Write a claim; list three findings in a logical order; beside each finding, write one relevant fact or detail and the item it came from; cross out one interesting detail that does not support your claim and explain why.

Independent performance: Deliver a two-minute presentation to a small group on a local topic your teacher provides with at least three media or formats, at least one of them a real audio or video recording (for example an oral-history clip or a recorded interview) that you listen to or watch yourself. Success criteria: (1) you explain how at least three different media or formats (for example a primary source document, audio, video, a chart, a table or an infographic) each contribute to the topic, and for the recording you name one thing you heard or saw that a transcript or description would not give; (2) ideas are logically sequenced, and you can name your order (chronological, problem/solution, or most to least important); (3) every description, fact and detail supports your main idea; (4) you make eye contact with each part of the audience, or look toward listeners' foreheads or just over their heads, at least at the end of each point; (5) your speech is clear and at an understandable pace: a listener can repeat your key numbers afterward. A partner scores each criterion 0, 1 or 2 and writes one specific suggestion.