Author's Purpose

In reading this week we learned how to identify the Author's Purpose as we read. We discovered that authors usually write to inform, persuade, or entertain. We made an anchor chart to help us look for clues about each purpose in our own books.

After some guided practice in selecting a purpose for books we had previously read as a class, the children had a chance to practice independently. They each brought a book from their book boxes and briefly shared what they thought the author's purpose was for writing that book. They also had to prove it to us by finding evidence in their book. We discovered that sometimes author's have more than one purpose, and that sometimes we predict the purpose before we read, and then change our minds during the story.