Nonfiction Purpose

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

Nonfiction means not made up or make-believe.

When you are reading nonfiction, you are reading a piece of writing that is based on real facts, real people, or real events. If you thought about textbooks or a biography, you are on the right track.

There are lots of different kinds of nonfiction texts. Some other examples of nonfiction include travel books, history books, newspaper and magazine articles, journals, manuals, and how-to books!

Authors usually have different purposes, or reasons, for writing.

If you can figure out the author's purpose, it will help you understand the text as a whole. Most authors of nonfiction are writing for one or more of these three reasons:

• to inform
• to entertain
• to persuade

Here are some traits you can look for in nonfiction types of writing:

• text filled with headings and words emphasized with italics or bold
• charts, maps, diagrams, or photographs that summarize information
• unfamiliar words

Watch and listen to each of the following nonfiction books. Then, see if you can determine the author's purpose!

First, watch Read Aloud! Caring For Your Pets by Ann Owen from Big Papa Scott:

• Do you know what the author's purpose is in this story?

You may be able to tell just from the title!

• Did you get that one right?

Let's try another one! Watch A Picture Book of Martin Luther King Jr. from First Grade:

• What do you think the author's purpose is in this book?

Great job! You are getting the hang of it! Let's try one more.

Watch Froggy, Froggy! (a song for kids about the frog life cycle, etc...) from Harry Kindergarten Music:

• How many stages are there in a frog's life cycle?
• What did you learn about frogs and their life cycle?

If you were able to answer those questions, then you should know what the writer's purpose is in Froggy! Froggy!

Yes! You are ready for more practice in the Got It? section!