Author's Purpose | Independent Practice
Students will identify an author’s purpose in short passages and explain how word choice, tone, and sentence structure support that purpose. The lesson is designed for independent practice with brief teacher check-ins and a short assessment at the end.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| author’s purpose | The reason an author writes a text: to inform, persuade, entertain, explain, or express ideas. |
| inform | To give facts or teach about a topic. |
| persuade | To convince the reader to believe or do something. |
| entertain | To amuse, engage, or interest the reader. |
| tone | The author’s attitude toward the subject or audience. |
| text evidence | Words or phrases from the text that support an answer. |
State the goal: students will independently determine author’s purpose in several short passages. Review the three main purposes and explain how to record evidence. Model one quick example aloud.
Listen, review prior knowledge, and set up materials.
Distribute passages and directions. Remind students to read each passage twice and highlight clues such as facts, opinions, emotional language, or humor. Circulate quietly to answer procedural questions only.
Read passages independently and identify the author’s purpose for each one.
Prompt students to write one or two sentences explaining the evidence for each answer. Encourage use of vocabulary terms such as tone and text evidence.
Justify each choice using specific words, phrases, or grammar features from the text.
Meet briefly with individual students or small groups who need support. Ask clarifying questions and review one item at a time without giving away answers.
Revise responses as needed based on feedback.
Give a short exit assessment with one new passage and two written questions: identify the purpose and explain the evidence. Collect for grading.
Complete the assessment independently and submit it.
Review the three purposes and ask students to share one clue they used to determine purpose. Emphasize that strong readers use evidence from grammar, tone, and word choice.
Share one strategy or clue and reflect on what helped them most.
End by restating that author’s purpose can be uncovered through clues in word choice, tone, facts, opinions, and sentence structure. Ask students to name one strategy they will use on future reading tasks.
Students will complete a short independent exit assessment using a new passage. They must identify the author’s purpose and support their answer with at least one piece of text evidence. The teacher will score responses for accuracy and explanation.
Find a short article, ad, social media post, or excerpt at home. Write 3–5 sentences identifying the author’s purpose and include one quote or detail that supports your answer.