How to Teach About the Author’s Purpose
An important part of reading is learning about the author’s purpose. When an author writes something, they are most likely going to have a purpose of some sort. Don’t worry, that purpose is not narrowed down in one reason. Sometimes the author’s purpose may be to persuade the reader. Other times it may be to inform the reader. Let’s talk about how to teach author’s purpose.
General Purpose
It’s safe to say that an author can have many purposes in mind whenever they are writing something. I want to narrow down the four main purposes.
- Persuasive – An author’s purpose may be a persuasive one. The author might be trying to convince you of something.
- Inform/Expository – This may be a more confusing one for someone to understand, but it can still be an author’s purpose. If you plan on teaching or informing the reader, then this is the approach you want to take.
- Descriptive – When an author wants to explain what something looks like or feels like, then they may use a descriptive approach.
- Entertain/Narrative – Another author’s purpose approach, but this purpose is to tell a story or recount events.
A good way to help teach about the author’s purpose is this: Let’s say that the author is trying to convince you to eat ice cream for breakfast, they will make several persuasive points trying to get you to see their side.
Activities for Teaching the Author’s Purpose
If you’re going to spend time teaching about the author’s purpose, then I have a few fun teaching methods for you.
Ask Questions
One of my favorite things to do, when teaching about the author’s purpose is to ask why. Take the time to ask your students WHY. A good and solid question you can ask is why did the author write this writing piece?
Let Your Students Write
As you know, doing is one of the best things ways you can teach a student anything. Give your student’s a chance to write and their writing to have an author’s purpose. Allow them to bounce ideas off of you!
Practice Makes Perfect
If you follow my blog, then you know I’m all about practice. Grab my learning packet that teaches about the author’s purpose. Your student will be able to go through this packet learning more about the author’s purpose and how it works in text. This resource includes nonfiction text features too. This resource is part of a bundle that helps focus on particular reading standards. You can find more information about the bundle by clicking here.
Have a Conversation
Hear me out for a second. When students are able to study the text and the author, then they are able to understand the author’s purpose even more. If there is a non-fiction text an author has written, allow your students to pull out information on that author. Allow your students to spend time learning about the author and draw conclusions about why they might have written the text.
Teaching about the author’s purpose may be a lot easier than you thought possible. Now, which activity will you use to teach this important concept used in reading and writing?
If you are interested in this resource you can check it out here on this blog or in my Teachers Pay Teachers shop.
If you are wanting to make sure that you are hitting all your reading standards, especially with your small group. Be sure to check out the year long bundle. Get everything you need for the year at a discounted price. You can find the bundle here on this website or in my Teachers Pay Teachers shop.
Thank you for stopping by and taking a peek! If you have any fun ideas for teaching author’s purpose I would love to hear from you.
