Author's Purpose

This is a lesson I did with my third graders on author's purpose. With the anchor chart, I introduced the three main author's purposes: inform, entertain, persuade. Students glued a copy of the anchor chart into their reader's notebooks. On future days, students referred to the anchor chart to refresh their memories. I like to encourage students to use their resources to find the answers to their questions.

Together we identified the author's purpose for last week's informational text. (to inform) Then, I read aloud: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems. This book provided a great example of the author's purpose persuade. Together we completed the author's purpose graphic organizer for this book. The free graphic organizer can be found here: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Open-Ended-Authors-Purpose-Graphic-Organizer

The next day, we read Jimmy's Boa and the Big Splash Birthday Bash by Trinka Hakes Noble. After making predictions and reading/discussing the text, we completed the author's purpose graphic organizer for the story. (entertain) For their reasoning, students explained that the book was a story with characters and a plot. Also, this book was funny and clearly meant to be entertaining! When finished, students completed a written response in their reader's notebooks about whether they think the narrator exaggerated the events. Again, students must support their thinking!