Author's Purpose Anchor Chart: It's as Easy as Pie!

Teaching about author’s purpose helps your students learn why the author wrote the story or article. Teaching author’s purpose to your students is a great way to discuss the different varieties of text out there.

Author’s Purpose Anchor Chart

Below is an anchor chart that I display in my classroom when teaching the students about the author’s purpose. It is so important to have a visual that students can see right in front of them.

Easy as P-I-E!

A great way to remember the three different types of author’s purpose is to remember the acronym “PIE.”
P – to persuade (to convince the reader to believe a certain way)
I – to inform (to give information to the reader about a topic)
E – to entertain (to hold the reader’s attention with enjoyment)

Many nonfiction books are written to inform the reader. These could be books about animals, weather, history, places, and so much more.

Some nonfiction books are also written to entertain. Scholastic has been testing this market out in the past few years. If you do book orders in your classroom, you will notice titles such as 100 Deadliest… or Myth’s Busted! These titles are meant to grab the reader’s attention and to entertain them as they read.

Of course, most fiction is written to entertain the reader. Genres such as fantasy, and science fiction take the reader to another world while historical fiction may take them back in time.

There are times when author’s also try to persuade the reader about a certain topic or subject. Scholastic News usually has a feature article about a current event. Often the author will take a stance on a topic such as: bullying, poaching, or even climate change. These articles are meant to persuade the reader. There is also a section at the end of the magazine that has two children take opposite sides on a topic.

Please feel free to use the image from this blog post in your classroom if you teach author’s purpose to your students!

If you would like to see an interactive PowerPoint about Author’s Purpose that will get your students excited about learning in your classroom you can click here too.

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