Laura Schad

Subject: Literacy Lesson on Authors Purpose

Grade Level: 6th grade
Anticipated Time: 45 minutes
Lesson Plan
Goals/Objective
Through collaboration students will be able to identify and categorize authors purpose based on
exemplary texts.
Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.R6
Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text (College and
Career Readiness Anchor Standard)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.R1.6.6
Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed
in the text.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.1
Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as
inferences drawn from the text.
Materials
-

TO ENTERTAIN, TO INFORM, TO PERSUADE category cards (4 sets, 12 total)

To Entertain text examples (4 sets, 12 total)
o Narrative
o Poetry
o Drama
To Inform text examples (4 sets, 12 total)
o Instructions
o Non- Fiction
To Persuade text examples (4 sets, 12 total)
o Advertisement
o Persuasive Essay
White Board and magnets
Chart Paper and marker

Classroom arrangement and management issues

This lesson will take place in an empty classroom down the hall from the main classroom. Four
to six students will be taken out of the classroom while the other students continue to have

English class. Students will sit at desks in front of the white board. The desks will be formed in a
square or rectangle (depending on the number of students), with the desks facing each other. In
this way students will be able to participate in full group discussions as well as easily turn and
work with their partner(s). I will sit at a desk at the front of the square or rectangle, closest to the
white board.
Plan
The Hook (5/10 minutes)
The teacher will introduce the concept of authors purpose. Authors purpose will be discussed
as why an author writes as opposed to why a reader reads a text. The teacher will then
introduce three different categories for authors purpose to entertain, to persuade, to inform.
These three categories, written on three different cards, will be placed on the board for students
to refer to throughout the lesson. Below each category a short definition, developed by the
students as a group, will be written. As a whole group, the students will participate in a
conversation to answer any clarifying questions on this central idea.
The Body (20/25 minutes)
The teacher will provide instructions for the activity and answer any question. Following
instructions, a discussion of group work strategies will take place.

Tamika 10/30/2014 5:46 AM

Comment [1]: Think about how you will
elicit these responses from your students. Is
there an exemplary definition for each term
that you will already have formulated? What
guiding questions will you pose to support
students in understanding the distinctions
of each authors purpose?

Students will be given seven text excerpts in total and three purpose cards. The students will
either read each text individually or as a small group.
Using the provided text examples, students will work in small groups to place each text into the
correct category to entertain, to persuade, to inform.
Closure (15/20 minutes)
Students will come back together and put their categories up on the board. The teacher will lead
a discussion comparing the two groups identification and categorization of the texts.

Tamika 10/30/2014 5:48 AM

Comment [2]: Think about time
management for this activity. How much
time will students have for reading each
text, discussing categorization, and thinking
about textual evidence to substantiate their
categorization?

After comparing and discussing, the students and teacher will together create a bullet-point list of
tips for quickly identifying an authors purpose for writing a text.
Assessment of the goals/objectives listed above
Students will self check their identification and categorization work during the whole group
discussion. During the lesson the teacher will be able to keep an on-going assessment of student
work as students work in small groups and then share their identifications at the end of the
lesson. At this time, the teacher will be able to determine what concepts are clear, what concepts
are developing, and what concepts are unclear. The teacher will keep the final clues list
generated by the students as a measurement of what students learned based on the lesson.

Tamika 10/30/2014 5:51 AM

Comment [3]: Think about ways that you
will collect individual student data as well
whole group data. What will this tell you
about their individual vs. collective
understandings? How will you support in
the moment?

Again, think about exemplary responses.
How should students be sorting? What
should they be telling you that reflects
understanding of authors purpose and
these clues?

Assessment of the goals/objectives listed above

Students will self check their identification and categorization work during the whole group
discussion. During the lesson the teacher will be able to keep an on-going assessment of student
work as students work in small groups and then share their identifications at the end of the
lesson. At this time, the teacher will be able to determine what concepts are clear, what concepts
are developing, and what concepts are unclear. The teacher will keep the final clues list
generated by the students as a measurement of what students learned based on the lesson.
Anticipating students responses and your possible responses
Students may have difficulty working in small groups, in which case a fuller discussion of group
work strategies may be discussed.
Students may have additional questions regarding the self-directed aspect of the activity, in
which case instructions will be repeated and given to individual groups.
If assigning text to categories proves to be difficult, students will be asked to work backwards
think about assigning each category to the text excerpt.

Tamika 10/30/2014 5:53 AM

Comment [4]: For this section, think
about students responses to your posed
questions. What are your anticipated
exemplary responses that would reflect
understanding? What are some potential
misunderstandings? How will you support
students given these potential
misunderstandings?

Management Issues:
We anticipate that management issues are most likely in the small group work section. We will
use proximity and redirection in the case of groups' going off-task. Group dynamics may also be
a problem, if students' discussions become uncivil or if the work is not shared equally. One way
to help prevent this from happening is to speak briefly about working collaboratively and
disagreeing politely when giving instructions for this section. Then if these issues occur, we will
remind the students about the norms we set up at the beginning.
Response to content of the lesson:
We anticipate that students will have previously been exposed to examples of each of the genres.
Listening to the group discussions will tell us if students are having trouble understanding any of
the content or format of the excerpts (for instance, if they are unfamiliar with drama formatting).
If students are getting stuck in their attempts to categorize the excerpts according to purpose, we
will ask questions, such as by prompting them to use prior knowledge and their own reactions to
understand the author's purpose (for instance, have you read something like this before? Where?
Why do people read [instructions, for example]?)
For the final part of the lesson, in which students generate a list of clues to help decide up on
the author's purpose, we anticipate that students may have trouble moving past the genre, for
instance saying that instructions inform and plays entertain. We will use questions to try to
encourage more inferential thinking, such as asking students to look at what the different
excerpts within each category have in common.
Accommodations

Tamika 10/30/2014 5:53 AM

Comment [5]:

Tamika 10/30/2014 5:55 AM

Comment [6]: This may prove confusing
given the distinction you made earlier about
why authors write as opposed to why
readers read. Is there another scaffolding
question you can ask?

The teacher can read the text jointly with students who have difficulty reading. Students can also
be given fewer excerpts to read, discuss and categorize. The teacher will be on hand to discuss
any unfamiliar language or questions about the formatting or other aspects of the text.
Students who finish early can work on a short writing task in which they choose a genre (for
instance, advertisement) within one of the purpose categories, and come up with their own brief
written example.
Text Excerpts
Narrative
The troll was directly below Holly, pounding against the towns outer wall, which was coming
away in chunks beneath his powerful fingers. Holly sucked in a startled gasp. This guy was a
monster! If he keeps on pounding on that wall, Holly thought, Hes going to break through
and then all the humans will see him!
Poem
I made myself a snowball,
As perfect as could be,
I thought Id keep it as a pet,
And let it sleep with me.
I made it some pajamas,
And a pillow for its head,
Then last night it ran away,
But first it wet the bed.
Drama
GEORGE:
Get out, Rebecca. There's only room for one at this window.
You're always spoiling everything.
REBECCA:
Well, let me look just a minute.
GEORGE:
Use your own window.

Tamika 10/30/2014 5:57 AM

Comment [7]: This may be an
opportunity for you to jigsaw texts.

REBECCA:
I did, but there's no moon there. . . . George, do you know what I
think, do you? I think maybe
the moon's getting nearer and nearer and there'll be a big explosion.
GEORGE:
Rebecca, you don't know anything.
If the moon were getting nearer, the guys that sit up all night with telescopes would see it
first and they'd tell about it, and it'd be in all the
newspapers.
Advertisement

Persuasive Essay
If you are looking to be scared right out of your socks do not go to a haunted house, go
see a scary movie! Haunted houses are lame and filled with kids. You can take a full-length scary
movie because you are not a scaredy cat! These movies, filled with ghosts, zombies, and
vampires are sure to give you goosebumps! Set in dark, strange places, scary movies will make
you want to run home and hide under the covers. So if you want to be scared good, do not go to a
haunted house, go see a scary movie today!

Instructions
How to make a PB&J sandwich:
1. Buy bread, peanut butter, and jelly
2. Take two slices of bread and lay them side-by-side on a plate
3. Using a knife, spread peanut butter on one slice of bread and jelly on the other
4. Fold the two slices of bread together, so that the peanut butter and jelly meet.
5. Enjoy!
Non-Fiction
On his return to South Africa in 1903, Gandhi started a magazine for South African Indians. The
magazine was called the Indian Opinion.