📖 ReadingLevel 1Lesson 17
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Reading Signs and Labels

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Learning Objectives

  • 1Read common everyday signs and labels
  • 2Explain what each one means
  • 3Match a sign to its purpose — safety, warning, information, or direction
  • 4Recognize that signs use shape, color, and words together to communicate quickly
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Mini Lesson

Reading is not just for books! Every day, you walk past words that give you important information. These are called signs and labels. Being able to read them keeps you safe, helps you find things, and tells you what to do.

What is a sign?

  • A sign is a short message — usually just a few words or even one word.
  • Signs use shape and color to help communicate quickly: red = danger or stop; green = go or safe; yellow = caution; blue = information.
  • Signs can be on walls, doors, roads, or shelves.

What is a label?

  • A label names or describes something — on a food package, a bottle, a bookshelf, or a diagram.
  • Labels help you know what something is or what it contains.

Types of signs you see every day

  • Safety signs (red) — STOP · DO NOT ENTER · DANGER · FIRE EXIT
  • Warning signs (yellow) — WET FLOOR · CAUTION · HANDLE WITH CARE
  • Information signs (blue) — TOILET · EXIT · PUSH · PULL · OPEN · CLOSED
  • Direction signs (green) — THIS WAY · ENTRANCE · ← LIBRARY
Common sign shapes and labelsSix common everyday signs — a red octagon STOP sign, a green EXIT sign with an arrow, a blue WC toilet sign, a yellow triangle WET FLOOR warning, a blue PUSH sign, and a food label showing INGREDIENTS.Common signs and labelsSTOPoctagon · redEXIT→rectangle · greenWCinfo · blueWETFLOORtriangle · yellowPUSHdoor · blueINGREDIENTSlabel · package
Six common signs and a food label — each uses a special shape and color.
How to read a food labelA simple product package on the left with arrows pointing to the product name, the weight, the ingredients list, and a warning icon.How to read a labelFRUIT BARS120 gIngredients:oats · applehoney · nutsraisins · salt!Product nameWeight / sizeIngredientsWarning iconLabels tell you WHAT it is and WHAT is inside.
Arrows point to the four main parts of a product label.
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Ask yourself: "What does this sign tell me to do, or where to go, or what to be careful about?"

Vocabulary
Sign
A short message — often one or two words — that tells us what to do, where to go, or what to be careful aboute.g. STOP, EXIT, PUSH, WET FLOOR, NO ENTRY
Label
A word or short phrase that names or describes what something is or containse.g. FICTION on a library shelf; INGREDIENTS on a food package
Color code
The way sign color signals the message type — red danger, yellow caution, blue info, green go/directione.g. A red sign = stop or danger; a green sign = go or direction
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