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BEFORE READING
Target Skill SKILLS
 STRATEGIES IN CONTEXT
Author's Purpose Answer Questions
Skills Trace
OBJECTIVES
Test
Selection Test:
5–8, 13–16,
81–84; Benchmark Test: Unit 1
Reteach/
Review
TE: 4.1 31, 65b, 111b, TR13, TR15; 4.3 369; 4.5 537b, TR12; 4.6 695
PB: 6, 146, 276
TE: 47, 57, 95,
103, 523, 529
PB: 13, 17, 18, 33, 37, 38, 203, 207, 208
Practice
TE: 4.1 40–41,
88–89; 4.5
516–517
Introduce/
Teach
Target Skill Author's Purpose
Target Skill Determine the author's purpose.
Target Skill Use strategies to answer questions about the author's purpose.
INTRODUCE
Read students a passage from a newspaper article. Ask students to identify the author's main purpose for writing: to persuade, to inform, to entertain, or to express ideas and feelings. (Responses will vary based on the article.)
Have students read the information
on p. 40. Explain the following:
  • When you try to determine the author's purpose for writing, it helps to remember the four main purposes authors have for writing.
  • You may have to use what you already know and what you've read to answer questions about the author's purpose.
Use Skill Transparency 2 to teach author's purpose and answer questions.
TEACH
1
SKILL Preview the article to predict the author's purpose.
Think Aloud MODEL I'll preview the article by looking at the title and illustrations. The title is "Jefferson's Bargain." The map and document look old. I think the article is about something President Thomas Jefferson did when he was in office. The author's purpose is probably to inform.
2
STRATEGY Look at the title
and skim the text to answer
questions about the author's
purpose.
Think Aloud MODEL I see the numbers 200 years ago; 800,000 square miles; 3 cents an acre; and 13 states; and the date May of 1804 in the text. These numbers and dates are facts the author included in the article to describe something that happened a long time ago in American history. This suggests that the author's purpose is to inform.
PRACTICE AND ASSESS
3
SKILL Responses will vary but should include reasons why their prediction about the author's purpose matches or does not match the author's purpose they determined after reading the selection.
4
STRATEGY The phrase lets the reader know something surprising will come next.
WRITE Have students complete
steps 1 and 2 of the Write activity. You might consider using this as a whole-class activity.
Monitor Progress
then… use Practice Book p. 13 to provide additional practice.
If… students are unable to complete Write on p. 40,
Target Skill Author's Purpose
Lewis and Clark and Me
Comprehension
Strategy
Answer Questions
Skill
Author’s Purpose
Skill
 An author may write to persuade, to inform,
    to entertain, or to express ideas and feelings.
 The author’s purpose is the reason or
    reasons the author has for writing.
Author’s Purpose
Jefferson's BARGAIN
Skill Preview the
article. Do you think
the author’s purpose
is to persuade, to
inform, to entertain,
or to express?
Why do you
think so?
Author’s
Purpose
As you read: What
do you think it is?
Before you read:
What do you think
it will be?
     The land became known as the Louisiana
Purchase. In time it would become all or part of 13
states. But when Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to
explore this area in May of 1804, the two men and
their group would enter a far-reaching wilderness.
     France said it owned this land. However, it was
at war with England. It didn’t want to fight another war
with the United States over Louisiana. So France
agreed to sell the land. President Jefferson got it
for— are you ready?—less than 3 cents an acre!
     Today one of our southern states is called
Louisiana. But at that time, “Louisiana” was all of the
land between the Mississippi River in the east and the
Rocky Mountains in the west. This was an area of
more than 800,000 square miles!
     About 200 years ago, when the United States was
still new, our third President, Thomas Jefferson, had
a big idea. He wanted to discover what lay west of the
Mississippi River. This land was known as Louisiana.
Strategy To answer
the skill question, look
at the title and skim
the text. Do you see
numbers and dates?
What purpose do they suggest?
Strategy
Good readers know where to look for the
answers to questions. They know that
sometimes the answer to a question is in one
place. Other times it is in several places. They
know that sometimes they must use what
they’ve read plus what they know to answer a
question. That is what you usually have to do to
answer a question about the author’s purpose.
Strategy: Answer Questions
Skill Is the author’s purpose what you
thought it would be
when you previewed
the article? Why or
why not?
Write
Strategy Why did
the author ask “are
you ready?” in this
paragraph?
2. After you read the article,
    answer these questions: Do
    you think the author met his or
    her purpose? Why or why not?
1. Read “Jefferson’s Bargain.”
    Make a graphic organizer like
    the one above to keep track of
    the author’s purpose.
 
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Close  
Access Content
Beginning/Intermediate For a Picture It! lesson on author's purpose, see
the ELL Teaching Guide, pp. 8–9.
Advanced Before reading "Jefferson's Bargain," have volunteers explain
what a bargain is.
Target Skill Author's Purpose Explain in greater detail the four common reasons
for writing: to persuade, to inform, to entertain, and to express. Show
students examples of familiar texts that illustrate each purpose and point
out clues that help readers figure out the purpose.
ELL
Strategic Intervention
Practice Book
Practice Book p. 13
with | without Answers