Learning Objectives

Students will be able to write in accordance with different author's purposes.

Lesson
Introduction (5 minutes)

To begin, inform your students that when people write, they write with a specificauthor's
purpose, or reason for writing, in mind. Explain that there are three components to author's
purpose, expressed with the acronym PIE: to persuade, toinform, and to entertain.

Let them know that they will be authors for this lesson, and write for each purpose.

Display the definitions of each purpose to show students what they mean: persuade: to
convince; inform: to teach or give facts about a topic; entertain: to provide amusement.

Explicit Instruction/Teacher Modeling (10 minutes)

Explain to the class how each author's purpose is fulfilled by using certain types of words
or language.

Display the three pieces of chart paper labeled Persuade, Inform, and Entertain.

Ask students about the types of words they think are in persuasive writing.

Have each student discuss this topic with a neighbor.

Allow them to share their ideas with the rest of the class. Make sure to mention opinions,
hyperboles, and comparative words if they aren't mentioned by students.

Repeat this process with Inform and Entertain. For Inform, make sure that facts and
statistics are mentioned. For Entertain, make sure that dialogue, plot components, and characters
are mentioned.

Guided Practice/Interactive Modeling (15 minutes)

Place students into groups of 4-6 and distribute word cards to each group.
Ask students to separate the cards into groups based on which purpose they're associated
with. For example, the "facts" card would be in the inform group. Remind them to use the charts
displayed at the front of the room for guidance.

After each group has completed the activity, review the answers as a class. Ask students
to explain their reasons for placing word cards into certain groups. Identify any word cards that
may be put into more than one category (e.g. $2.99, which could be grouped into both the
persuade group and the inform group).

Independent Working Time (20 minutes)

Have students call out different types of pie (e.g. pumpkin or apple). Ask them to each
choose a type of pie, and let them know that they'll be writing about this pie for the different
author's purposes.

Hand out blank pieces of paper. Have students fold the paper into three equal columns
and label the columns with a P, I, and E.

In the P column, students will write to persuade their audience that their pie is the best
(or worst) type of pie.

In the I column, students will write to inform their audience about their pie.

In the E column, students will write an entertaining story that includes their pie.

Ask students to write at least one paragraph for each purpose. Remind them to use the
charts at the front of the room to check what type of language should be included with each
purpose.

Extend
Differentiation

Enrichment: Have advanced students write a fourth paragraph that includes more than
one author's purpose. Have these students exchange papers with one another to determine which
two purposes were used.
Support: Give students the word bank provided to help guide their writing.

Review
Assessment (5 minutes)

During Guided Practice, circulate the room to determine whether students are able to
properly separate words and phrases for each author's purpose.

Use students' written responses from Independent Working Time to see if they grasped
the concept of writing for different author's purposes.

Review and Closing (10 minutes)

Have 3-5 students share one of their written responses without telling which purpose the
response is for.

After each student shares his response, have the rest of the class vote on whether the
purpose was to persuade, inform, or entertain.

Call on students to explain what they heard in the writing that tells them which purpose
they are writing for.