What's the Author's Purpose? Animal Shelter

Learning Resource Type

Classroom Resource

Subject Area

English Language Arts

Grade(s)

3, 5

Overview

Students will learn how to determine an author's purpose. The author may be trying to inform, entertain, persuade, or describe. Students will be better able to draw conclusions and make inferences from this lesson.

Overview
Using a 2-column chart, students scaffold their thinking and draw conclusions about the author's purpose.

Why is this an important concept?
When students can identify whether an author's purpose for writing a text is to inform, persuade, entertain, or describe, they are better equipped to evaluate its content as they make inferences and draw conclusions.

English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 3

ELA21.3.20

Establish a purpose before reading literary and informational texts to enhance comprehension, including identifying background knowledge and generating questions about the topic or characters.

UP:ELA21.3.20

Vocabulary

  • Establish
  • Purpose
  • Literary text
  • Informational text
  • Comprehension
  • Identify
  • Background knowledge
  • Generating questions
  • Topic
  • Characters

Knowledge

Students know:
  • There are different purposes for reading.
  • Authors write text for different purposes.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Establish a purpose for reading literary and informational text, such as reading for pleasure, application, or information; to identify a theme or an author's purpose.
  • Establish a purpose for reading by identifying their current background knowledge and generating questions about the topic or characters in the text.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • There are different purposes for reading, and establishing their purpose before engaging in reading can improve their overall comprehension of literary and informational text.
  • To establish a purpose for reading, they can reflect upon their current background knowledge of a topic or generate questions about the topic or characters in the text.
English Language Arts (2021) Grade(s): 5

ELA21.5.6

Read grade-level text orally with accuracy, automaticity, appropriate prosody or expression, purpose, and understanding, self-correcting and rereading as necessary.

UP:ELA21.5.6

Vocabulary

  • Accuracy
  • Automaticity
  • Prosody
  • Expression
  • Purpose
  • Understanding
  • Self-correcting
  • Rereading

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Accurately means reading without mistakes, and automatically means knowing the words immediately without sounding them out.
  • Prosody is reading aloud with appropriate changes in voice, pitch, and expression.
  • Reading can occur for different purposes and setting a purpose for reading can improve comprehension.
  • Rereading is a strategy that aids in word recognition and comprehension.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Set a purpose prior to reading aloud.
  • Read aloud accurately, automatically, while using appropriate expression.
  • Self-correct and reread when necessary.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Identifying their purpose for reading prior to beginning to read can improve their comprehension of the text.
  • Fluent readers are accurate, automatic, and use appropriate voice expression.
  • If a word is misread, they need to self-correct and reread.
  • If their comprehension begins to break down, they need to reread to improve their understanding.

CR Resource Type

Lesson/Unit Plan

Resource Provider

PBS

License Type

Custom
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