How can determining why the author wrote an article help you understand it better?

Voice: Let’s review. We’ve been reading the article, Ever Wondered What Washington Was Like as a Kid? In previous lessons, we’ve been learning strategies to help us prepare for reading as well as strategies to help us as we read. We know before reading, it’s important to gather information from nonfiction text features such as photos and captions and information boxes.

As we read, we’ve learned how to actively read by considering how our thinking has changed and how to wonder about the new information we come across. We’ve also learned how to find a stand out sentence which summarizes the main idea and how to create a mental image from descriptive words. In this lesson, we will learn a strategy to apply after reading an article.

Voice: Let’s talk about a common mistake Voice: Let’s talk about a common mistake. Oftentimes readers will finish reading an article and are unsure how to check their understanding of the new information- so they pick a new text without taking time to think about the information. In this lesson, we will talk about one way to check our understanding of an article after we finish reading, which is to determine the author’s purpose.

Voice: Let’s get started Voice: Let’s get started. What does it mean when you are asked to determine an author’s purpose? To make it simple, think about a time when you’ve done some writing- did you have a reason to write? Of course! For example, you might have written a letter to someone sharing an entertaining experience you had with a crab at the beach… or maybe you wrote a paper about sharks to teach new information to others. Author’s are the same and do the same thing! Author’s purpose is the reason an author writes. Author’s write for several reasons- here are a few of the reasons an author may write: to teach new information on a topic, to persuade (or convince) you to do something (For example, an author could write an article to persuade you to eat carrots!). And finally, an author may write to entertain you. By deciding why an author chose to write, we are thinking about the information and what an author wanted us to know.

What was it like to grow up in the year 1732? I wonder…? What was it like to grow up in the year 1732? Voice: Can you determine why the author wrote Ever Wondered What Washington Was like as A Kid? To help you determine author’s purpose and to check your understanding of an article, we will go through a few simple steps in this lesson. The first step is to review your notes. You may be wondering, what notes should I review? Here are some examples of notes I’ve collected from previous lessons: Sticky notes with information I jotted from our nonfiction text features…and sticky notes with what I was wondering as I read the article. I also took notes on how my thinking changed as I read the article. Let’s review these notes: “This article is about a person, George Washington, when he was a child…before reading I thought George Washington was different than me but after reading I learned we both like math and horses…and I wonder what was it like to grow up in the year 1732?

Voice: I also took notes on the main idea of each paragraph Voice: I also took notes on the main idea of each paragraph. On this piece of paper, I wrote: this part teaches me that US presidents were once kids, just like me. Hmm…now that I’ve reviewed my notes, I need to think – what did I learn? Listen as I think aloud about what I learned: I learned about George Washington and what his life was like as a kid…I learned what activities he liked to do, like riding horses…I learned about his brothers and sisters…I learned about how he went to school until he was 15 and liked math. I learned that George Washington did many kid-things, just like me.

Now that we’ve reviewed our notes and asked ourselves what we learned, let’s consider our last step: why the author wrote this article. Why did the author want me to know about George Washington as a kid? From my notes , I know the author wanted to show the reader how George Washington, a president, was once a kid- just like me. The author was giving me information on a topic! By determining author’s purpose, I was able to check my understanding of the article I read.

So readers, after you read an article, check your understanding by following these steps 1) Review your notes 2) Ask, What did I learn? And 3) Ask, why did the author want me to know this? Answering these questions will help you better understand what you read. You can also use the information you read to teach other! and do more research.

In this lesson you have learned how to check your understanding of an article by determining the author’s purpose.

Check your understanding of an article by determining author’s purpose. Using “Ever Wondered What Washington Was Like as a Kid” or another article you’ve read, practice determining author’s choice Review your notes Ask, What did I learn? Ask, Why did the author want me to know this?

Nonfiction article hunt Nonfiction article hunt! Can you find an article to show each example of author’s purpose? To give information To persuade you (to do or buy something) To explain how to do something To entertain you Be able to explain WHY you chose each article.

George Washington as a kid…what about another president as a kid? You just read an article which told you about George Washington as a kid…what about the kid years of another president? Choose a president and research their life growing up. Where was that president born? What did he like to do? What was his family like? Write your findings in your reader’s notebook and share with others!

Can you determine another reason the author wrote “Ever Wondered What Washington Was Like as a Kid?” Use the notes collected from previous lessons to help you determine author’s purpose. (Notes on the following slides)