 0601.6.9 Use text features to locate information and make meaning
from text (e.g., headings, key words, captions, tables of contents,
footnotes, illustrations).
 0601.3.10 Use accurate and precise language to convey meaning.
SPI 0601.7.3 Identify the purpose of a medium (i.e., to inform, to
persuade, to entertain, to describe).
SPI 0601.7.4 Draw an inference from a non-print medium.
 A caption is a short explanation or
description of a picture located near
the picture.
 It can be on either side of the picture,
above the picture, or below the picture.
 The information included in a caption is
very detailed and specific, but short
and to the point. A caption doesn’t
always tell the whole story. A caption
often accompanies a story.
EXAMPLE OF A CAPTION
Cast members Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart attend
the premiere of the movie "Twilight" at the Mann Village
and Bruin theatres in Westwood, California November 17,
2008. The movie is based on the novel of the same name by
Stephenie Meyer and opens in the U.S. on November
21.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
• Newspapers
• Magazines
• Internet
• Books
• TV
• most print material
that has pictures
• Captions describe what the reader sees in
front of him/her.
• People look at headlines and pictures to
decide what they want to read in the
newspaper. If a picture grasps their
attention, they will read the caption. If the
caption is interesting to them, they will read
the article.
• Captions are another way to tell the news.
• Captions add color and make the newspaper
more interesting.
• Captions can also show emotion.
• Who is in the picture? (if 1-5 people, list names
from left to right)
• Where was the picture taken?
• What is happening in the picture? What
happened before or after the picture was taken?
• When did this happen?
• Why did this happen? Why is this picture
important?
• How did this happen?
TIPS FOR WRITING CAPTIONS
• Don’t state the obvious. Give some
information that the reader may not
know.
• If a caption is included with a full story
or article, keep it short, only 1-2
sentences.
• If a caption stands alone, without a
story or article, 3-5 sentences would be
appropriate.
• Don’t assume anything, especially if a
picture includes animals. You don’t know
what someone else or something is
thinking!
ANALYZE
The following 5 slides
are examples of
captions. Check to see
if each caption answers
the five W’s and H and if
it is detailed but short.
Kyle Busch
waves the
checkered flag
to the crowd
after winning
the NASCAR
Nextel Cup
Food City 500
race in Bristol,
Tenn. in 2009.
A South Korean
conservative
activist holds
pictures of US
journalists Laura
Ling and Euna
Lee during a
rally denouncing
the North's
detention of the
journalists in
Seoul on June 4,
2009.
Tiger Woods
celebrates after
chipping in for
eagle on the
11th hole during
the final round
of the Memorial
golf tournament
on Sunday in
Dublin, Ohio.
Woods won the
event.
In Mexico
City in
May, a
student
wore a
mask to
protect
himself
against
swine flu.
Onlookers and wouldbe rescuers survey 65
long-finned pilot whales
lying dead on Monday on
Rheban Beach, east of
Hobart, Australia, after a
mass stranding on
Sunday. Normally at
home in deep oceanic
waters, the thin, blackskinned four-metre
whales were out of their
usual habitat when 150
became stranded on two
beaches on the southern
island state of Tasmania.
Rescuers saved 40.
ASSIGNMENT
You will now use the worksheet
(don’t forget to write your name
on your paper!) to write your
own captions for the rest of the
pictures in this PowerPoint.
Remember to use everything
you have learned!