Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Author's Purpose

Understanding the author's purpose for writing a story seems like the easiest skill to me, but year after year, my kids have trouble with it. They can tell me whether it was to inform or entertain, but if I ask them WHY they thought that, they look like they don't have a clue. I decided to do a little mini lesson on this today and use some text to text comparison. We started with a blank chart this morning:

 Then, throughout the day, we read 3 different read alouds. I picked two fiction stories and 1 nonfiction. The nonfiction text was one we had already read and did an activity with. I did this so they could concentrate more on the facts and not the content. I didn't want to overwhelm them with new info. 



 At the end of each read aloud, the kids told me what the author's purpose was. They also had to find evidence in the story that supported their choice. I feel like this was helpful in teaching this skill. We could still use more practice, but I like the way they can refer back to this chart when they work on completing a graphic organizer using a leveled text. 

Happy Tuesday! :)
  

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing, we are working on that also!

    Angela
    The Daily Alphabet

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  2. Just curious. But how much time do you have set aside for reading each day? I feel as though we do not have enough time at my school.

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  3. Yes! Author's purpose with book covers.... LOVE LOVE LOVE!

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