Students are learning about the author's purpose. They're learning how to identify what the author wants them to know and why they wrote the non-fiction text. Students need to determine if the author's purpose is to inform them about something, to persuade someone, or to entertain. We have been focusing on informational texts and really working on deciding between informing and persuading for the author's purpose. When you read at home ask your student why they think they author wrote the book/article and what they author wants them to know or learn from it.
We are also talking about main idea and key details. This can be VERY tricky. Students are learning how to decide if a detail is just a small piece of information or if it helps the reader to understand the main idea of the story. Students are also working on figuring out the main idea. We have students think about what the big picture is that they are thinking about while they read.
We are also talking about main idea and key details. This can be VERY tricky. Students are learning how to decide if a detail is just a small piece of information or if it helps the reader to understand the main idea of the story. Students are also working on figuring out the main idea. We have students think about what the big picture is that they are thinking about while they read.