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Determining Author’s Purpose

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Subject: ESL/ELL (English Language Learning)

Lesson Length: 30 - 45 mins

Topic: Author’s Purpose

Grade Level: 2, 6, 7

Standards / Framework:

Brief Description: In this lesson students will be able to determine the author’s purpose of a text.

Know Before You Start:

  • You will need a variety of texts for students to read. These texts should have different purposes: to entertain, to inform, to persuade. 

  • This lesson can be used to reinforce the language to explain the author's purpose. Teachers can utilize Pixton comics to assess student understanding and ability to determine author’s purpose.

Hook: Read and discuss the sample comic. Share examples of different author’s purposes e.g., to entertain, to inform, to persuade.

Activity:

  • Have students choose a text on their independent reading level.

  • Have students create a Pixton comic that introduces the text and explains the author’s purpose. 

  • Encourage students to explain how they determined the author’s purpose within their comic. 

  • Extension: Encourage students to find three texts with different purposes and create a panel for each purpose e.g., to entertain, persuade, and inform.

Closure: Have students share their comics with the class or with a partner. Display the comics on a bulletin board as a reference.

Differentiation: Allow students to work with a partner as needed.

Resources:

  • Comic to print or display: Comic.

Suggested Content Pack(s):

Related Ideas

Main Idea and Details

Students will determine the main idea and at least two supporting details of a passage.

Analyzing Authors’ Work

Students will create a comic to demonstrate how two authors present different information about the same topic.

I Used to Think/Now I Think

Students will use the I Used to Think/Now I Think strategy to help them determine specific text evidence and infer information drawn from text. They will create a comic to demonstrate their understanding before and after reading.