Mini-Lesson Planning For Author'S Purpose (Page 2 of 5) in pdf

Suggested Read-Aloud:

Through My Eyes (Ruby Bridges) and The Story of Ruby Bridges by

Robert Coles

Pre-read the book, Through My Eyes and The Story of Ruby Bridges (or other appropriate piece of text).

Anticipate where background knowledge needs to be built. Highlight places to stop, question, make

predictions or make connections. Identify the author, title, setting, characters, etc. Activate prior or

common knowledge. Take a picture walk. List the important words in the story. During oral reading,

conduct several teacher think-alouds. Include statements like, “This reminds me of…” “This part is like…”

“This character ____ is like____ because…” “This is similar to…” Students need to hear your thinking so

they can do this as they read independently.

Ask questions:

”What do you notice about the front cover?” What do you think the title means?” Why did the author write

this anyhow?” “What was the reason this piece was written?” “The article was written mainly to…”

Did the author try to make me laugh? (Entertain)

Did the author want to tell me a story? (Entertain)

Did the author try to amuse me? (Entertain)

Did the author give me facts? (Inform)

Did the author try to teach me something? (Inform)

Did the author try to convince me? (Persuade)

Did the author want to change my opinion? (Persuade)

Special Note: This is a suggested piece of text. Use any other story, informational text, literature from

Trophies, or other familiar text that is appropriate for your students. The format for presentation would be

similar.

Activating Strategy:

Author’s Purpose Acrostic

Students spell author’s purpose down the side of the page. They generate a word or phrase for each letter

to tell something they think they know about the topic. (This may be challenging.)

Mini-Lesson Delivery for Author’s Purpose

Day One: Explicit Instruction

(through Read-Aloud) How will I focus my students on what they need to

learn? What important vocabulary will I introduce/review?

Explain that an author writes for many reasons. An author may give you facts or true information about a

subject. Some authors write fiction stories or stories to entertain you. Some authors may write to persuade

or to try to get you to do or think something.

Examples:

Life Found on Mars. Scientists Discover New Forms of Life that Once Lived on Mars

A Laugh a Minute

America’s Best Educational Software

The Secret of the Mysterious Pendant

Use the titles from newspapers (or others) above as examples for doing a think-aloud for determining the

author’s purpose. Tell students that the title can usually help the reader understand or determine the

author’s purpose. Use the graphic organizers to list the titles under the appropriate author’s purpose.

Model with students as you write AND do think-alouds with each example.

Persuade

Inform

Entertain

Reference:

Circle Map-Defining Author’s Purpose

Mini-Lesson Planning For Author'S Purpose Page 2

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