Author's Purpose | Review Lesson
Students review the concept of author’s purpose by connecting it to coding decisions, where every message in a program has a purpose: to inform, persuade, entertain, or instruct. In a fast-paced review, students identify purpose in short examples and justify their thinking using programming language and logic.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Author’s Purpose | The reason an author creates a text: to inform, persuade, entertain, or instruct. |
| Audience | The person or group the message is meant for. |
| Message | The main idea or meaning the creator wants the audience to understand. |
| Tone | The attitude or feeling the author or creator shows through words and style. |
| Instruction | Directions that tell someone how to do something, often step by step. |
Display 4 short examples: a tutorial comment, a warning message, a funny game text, and an ad-like prompt. Ask students to name the purpose of each in one word and justify with one clue.
Students quickly classify each example and share brief evidence using purpose vocabulary.
Review the four purposes and connect each to code-related communication: comments instruct, alerts inform, pop-ups persuade, game text entertains. Highlight how audience changes the language used.
Students listen, annotate key words, and add one example from their own coding or digital experience.
Give pairs 3 new examples. Ask them to identify the purpose and explain why the wording, formatting, or structure reveals that purpose. Push advanced students to distinguish between similar purposes, such as inform vs. instruct or persuade vs. entertain.
Pairs discuss, decide, and write a one-sentence justification for each example using evidence.
Call on a few pairs to defend one response. Ask follow-up questions like, 'What makes this instructional rather than informational?' or 'How does the audience affect the purpose?'
Students respond, compare answers, and revise if needed.
Ask students to complete the prompt: 'One clue I use to identify author’s purpose is ___.’ Collect responses verbally or on paper.
Students state or write a final takeaway.
Reinforce that both writing and coding communicate with a purpose, and strong readers notice clues in wording, structure, and audience. End by asking students to name one clue they will look for next time they analyze a message.
Find one example of author’s purpose in a digital space at home—such as a game message, app notification, website banner, or tutorial—and write 2-3 sentences explaining its purpose and the clues that reveal it.