Scott Foresman Reading Street

SKILLS

STRATEGIES IN CONTEXT

Author's Purpose Story Structure

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

Author's Purpose

	Determine author's purpose.
	Identify story structure to help determine author's purpose.

INTRODUCE

Display two familiar books. One should be an animated fairy tale or fantasy, such as The Phantom Tollbooth. The other should be an informational book, such as The Nine Planets. Identify the author of each book. Ask why these authors might have written their books. (Possible response: The fantasy was written to entertain readers. The nonfiction was written to give information about a topic.)

Have students read the information on p. 88. Explain the following:

Authors write stories and articles for many different reasons.
Identifying a story's structure can help you determine the author's purpose.

Use Skill Transparency 4 to teach author's purpose and story structure.

TEACH

SKILL Preview the story and predict the author's purpose.

MODEL This story is
called "The Fox and the Grapes." That doesn't sound like an informational piece about a fox. The author is Aesop, and I know that Aesop wrote fables. I think this is a fable that was written to entertain and teach a lesson.

STRATEGY Identify the story's problem.

MODEL The fox sees some grapes he wants to eat. He stands up on his hind legs to get them, but he can't reach them. So the problem in the story is c.

PRACTICE AND ASSESS

STRATEGY Rising action: The fox jumps high to try to get the grapes. Climax: The fox takes a running leap and still misses the grapes. Resolution: The fox gives up and says the grapes are sour.

SKILL The fox quits trying and
says the grapes are no good
anyway. The author is trying to
say that people shouldn't make
excuses for not trying when they
can't get what they want right
away.

WRITE Have students complete

steps 1 and 2 of the Write activity. You might consider using this as a whole-class activity.

then… use Practice Book
p. 33 to provide additional practice.

If… students are unable to complete Write on p. 88,

Author's Purpose

Strategy
Story Structure

Skill
Author’s Purpose

Author’s Purpose

An author may write to persuade, inform,
entertain, or express ideas or feelings.
Often an author has more than one purpose.

The kinds of ideas and the way the author
organizes and states them can help you
determine the author’s purpose.

The Fox and the Grapes Adapted from Aesop

Skill What do you
think the author’s
purpose will be?
Look at the title,
author’s byline, and
illustrations for clues.

“What DEE-LISH-US-looking grapes,” the fox
said to himself. “I think I’ll just step up and grab a few.”
So he stood up on his hind legs under the trellis, but
the grapes were out of reach.

There once was a hungry fox who came upon a
grapevine wound around a high trellis. Hanging from
the vine was a bunch of grapes.

Text
title and any
heads facts and
information fictional
characters and plot
pattern of ideas

Author’s
Purpose
persuade
inform
entertain
express

Ideas
what they
are how
they are expressed

Strategy What is
the problem in this
story?
a) The grapes look
     delicious.
b) The fox is stealing
     the grapes.
c) The fox cannot
     reach the grapes.

Strategy: Story Structure

“This is ridiculous,” said the fox. “How hard can
it be to grab some dee-licious grapes?” So the fox
stepped back, took a running leap—and missed. The
grapes were still out of reach.

“Humph!” said the fox, walking away with a little
toss of his tail. “I thought at first those grapes looked
delicious, but now I see they are sour.”

“Hmmm,” said the fox. “Those DEE-licious grapes
are higher up than I thought.” So the fox jumped up as
high as he could, but the grapes were still out of reach.

Active readers note the structure of fictional
stories, including the problem or goal, rising
action (building up to the climax), climax
(where the conflict is confronted), and outcome
(where the conflict is resolved). Most stories
are told in time order, or sequence, and are
written to entertain, but some teach a lesson
at the same time they entertain.

Strategy Think
about the way the
story develops. Figure
out the rising action,
climax, and resolution
of the story.

An author can have more than
one purpose. Write the lesson
about life that “The Fox and the
Grapes” teaches.

As you read “The Fox and
the Grapes,” use a graphic
organizer like the one above to
figure out the author’s purpose.

Skill In an Aesop’s
fable, the purpose
is usually to teach
a lesson about life.
How is the fox’s
behavior an example
of how not to act?



	Close
	Access Content Beginning/Intermediate For a Picture It! lesson on author's purpose, see the ELL Teaching Guide, pp. 22–33. Advanced Before reading "The Fox and the Grapes," have volunteers spell on the board the word that is represented phonetically in paragraph 2. (delicious) Author's Purpose Review the four main purposes for writing: to persuade, to inform, to entertain, or to express ideas or feelings. Display additional books from your classroom library and model determining the author's purpose for each. Use titles, covers, illustrations, photographs, opening paragraphs, and so on to help explain the author's purpose. Then show an example of a book, such as one in the Magic School Bus series, that has more than one purpose. Skill Transparency 4 Practice Book p. 33 with \| without Answers