Guided Notes on Author's Purpose
This 2-page guided notes packet helps 7th graders understand how to determine an author's purpose in informational texts. It includes definitions, examples, and practice in citing evidence to support conclusions, with an essential question to spark critical thinking.
“create notes for this information seven grade level 2 Essential Question What can blur the lines between what’s real and what’s not? QUICK START Can you always trust what you see with your own eyes? Does seeing mean believing? Describe to a partner the last time you saw something that made you think that seeing isn’t always believing. DETERMINE AUTHOR’S PURPOSE GENRE ELEMENTS: INFORMATIONAL TEXT provides factual information includes evidence to support ideas includes many forms, such as magazine articles often contains text features such as headings, photographs, and captions An author’s purpose is the reason the author wrote a particular work. In other words, it’s what the author wants to do for you, the reader. This chart shows common purposes for writing different types of texts. Author’s Purpose Inform or Explain Persuade Entertain Express Thoughts or Feelings Examples encyclopedia entries informational articles how-to articles biographies editorials opinion essays/blogs advertisements stories novels some essays poems personal essays journals To determine an author’s purpose in an informational text, examine the kinds of facts and examples the author presents. Realize, too, that an author may have not only a main purpose for writing but also some additional purposes. CITE EVIDENCE When you draw conclusions, you make judgments or take a position. To reach a conclusion, you must evaluate details in a text to determine the key ideas. You can then combine this evidence with your own experience. Consider this example from “The Camera Does Lie.” While some people still debate whether the Bigfoot film is real, it looks plenty bogus compared to today’s slick videos. The best modern fakers spare no expense or sleight of hand. The author makes a comparison to older, “bogus” videos, and she uses the terms spare no expense and sleight of hand. In addition, you probably have seen many recent videos—perhaps including some fake ones. You can conclude that today’s fake videos are made to look so real that it is hard to tell that they are not real.”
Teacher Guide & Tips
- Use this packet as a 30-minute introduction to author's purpose and citing evidence.
- Discussion question: How can understanding an author's purpose help you be a more critical reader?
- For struggling readers, provide sentence frames for the "Cite Evidence" section.
- Advanced learners can research and present on different types of author's purpose beyond the ones listed.
What is Diffit?
Teachers use Diffit to get quality materials for their unique classrooms. Adjust difficulty, add scaffolds, or change the topic to get started.
Try Diffit for free“create notes for this information seven grade level 2 Essential Question What can blur the lines between what’s real and what’s not? QUICK START Can you always trust what you see with your own eyes? Does seeing mean believing? Describe to a partner the last time you saw something that made you think that seeing isn’t always believing. DETERMINE AUTHOR’S PURPOSE GENRE ELEMENTS: INFORMATIONAL TEXT provides factual information includes evidence to support ideas includes many forms, such as magazine articles often contains text features such as headings, photographs, and captions An author’s purpose is the reason the author wrote a particular work. In other words, it’s what the author wants to do for you, the reader. This chart shows common purposes for writing different types of texts. Author’s Purpose Inform or Explain Persuade Entertain Express Thoughts or Feelings Examples encyclopedia entries informational articles how-to articles biographies editorials opinion essays/blogs advertisements stories novels some essays poems personal essays journals To determine an author’s purpose in an informational text, examine the kinds of facts and examples the author presents. Realize, too, that an author may have not only a main purpose for writing but also some additional purposes. CITE EVIDENCE When you draw conclusions, you make judgments or take a position. To reach a conclusion, you must evaluate details in a text to determine the key ideas. You can then combine this evidence with your own experience. Consider this example from “The Camera Does Lie.” While some people still debate whether the Bigfoot film is real, it looks plenty bogus compared to today’s slick videos. The best modern fakers spare no expense or sleight of hand. The author makes a comparison to older, “bogus” videos, and she uses the terms spare no expense and sleight of hand. In addition, you probably have seen many recent videos—perhaps including some fake ones. You can conclude that today’s fake videos are made to look so real that it is hard to tell that they are not real.”
Teacher Guide & Tips
- Use this packet as a 30-minute introduction to author's purpose and citing evidence.
- Discussion question: How can understanding an author's purpose help you be a more critical reader?
- For struggling readers, provide sentence frames for the "Cite Evidence" section.
- Advanced learners can research and present on different types of author's purpose beyond the ones listed.
Guided Notes on Author's Purpose
This 2-page guided notes packet helps 7th graders understand how to determine an author's purpose in informational texts. It includes definitions, examples, and practice in citing evidence to support conclusions, with an essential question to spark critical thinking.
What is Diffit?
Teachers use Diffit to get quality materials for their unique classrooms. Adjust difficulty, add scaffolds, or change the topic to get started.
Try Diffit for free