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Author’s Purpose Anchor Chart: Build and Use It in Class

By Eduminate

Pastel desk scene with a blank poster on an easel, markers, sticky notes, a ruler and books on blue-gray.

An author’s purpose anchor chart gives students one place to look when they ask why a writer made a text. This guide shows how to build the chart with your class, which clue words and sample texts to put on it, and how to follow up with passages and questions so students practice judging purpose on their own.

What is author’s purpose?

The author’s purpose is the reason an author wrote a text. A writer always has something in mind: to explain a fact, to change a reader’s mind, or to tell a story that readers will enjoy. Finding that reason helps students read with the right expectations and judge what they read.

The most common way to teach it uses three purposes, and a handy memory aid for them is PIE.

  • P is for persuade. The author wants the reader to think, feel or do something.
  • I is for inform. The author wants the reader to learn facts about a topic.
  • E is for entertain. The author wants the reader to enjoy a story or a funny or interesting text.

Some teachers add a fourth idea, to explain or describe how to do something, but many classrooms treat that as part of “inform.” Choose one set, put it on the chart and keep it the same all year.

How to build an author’s purpose anchor chart with your class

An anchor chart works best when students help make it. A chart that you hang on the wall without any class talk is only decoration, while a chart built over several days becomes a tool students trust. Here is one way to build it.

  1. Start with a blank poster and a title. Write “Author’s Purpose” across the top in large letters.
  2. Add the three purposes. Make three columns with the headings Persuade, Inform and Entertain.
  3. Write a student friendly meaning under each heading. Use short phrases such as “to convince,” “to teach” and “to enjoy.”
  4. Add clue words as you find them. Fill them in during reading lessons rather than all at once.
  5. Add a sample text for each column. A few lines from a text the class has read is enough.
  6. Add a question at the bottom. For example: “Why did the author write this? What is the proof?”

Use a different marker color for each column. Students can then find the right column at a glance, and the chart stays readable from the back of the room. Keep the wording short and leave white space, since a crowded chart is hard to use.

What to put in each column of the chart

Persuade

Persuasive writing tries to bring the reader to a point of view. It often states an opinion and then gives reasons. Clue words and phrases include “should,” “must,” “best,” “everyone needs,” “you will agree” and “the reason is.” Advertisements, opinion pieces and letters asking for a change are common examples.

Sample text: “Every school should have a vegetable garden. Students who grow their own tomatoes learn where food comes from, and fresh vegetables taste better than store-bought ones.” The writer states an opinion with “should” and gives reasons, so the purpose is to persuade.

Inform

Informational writing gives facts about a topic. It names things, defines words and often uses headings, captions and numbers. Clue words and phrases include “is called,” “means,” “for example,” “there are” and “first, next, then” in directions. Textbook pages, encyclopedia entries, news reports and how-to articles are common examples.

Sample text: “A magnet attracts objects made of iron. Every magnet has two ends, called poles. The north pole of one magnet will pull toward the south pole of another.” The writer gives facts and defines a word, so the purpose is to inform.

Entertain

Entertaining writing is meant to be enjoyed. Stories, poems and funny pieces usually have characters, a setting, dialogue and a plot. Clue words and details include “once upon a time,” names of characters, quoted speech, humor and strong feelings.

Sample text: “Sam kicked the soccer ball so hard that it sailed over the fence and landed in the neighbor’s wheelbarrow. ‘Well,’ said Sam, ‘that is one way to score!'” The text has a character, a funny moment and dialogue, so the purpose is to entertain.

Teaching students to find the author’s purpose

Once the chart is up, students need a method to apply it. A short set of steps keeps them from guessing. Teach these steps and model them with a read aloud.

  1. Read the text. Read the whole passage or, for a longer text, a good section of it.
  2. Ask what the writer wants the reader to do. Think, learn, or enjoy?
  3. Look for clue words and text features. Does the text give an opinion, give facts, or tell a story?
  4. Choose a purpose and say why. Students answer with the sentence frame “The author’s purpose is to ______ because ______.”
  5. Check the chart. Does the evidence match the column you chose?

The word “because” matters. A purpose without proof is a guess. Insist on a detail from the text each time.

Texts can have more than one purpose

A recipe in a cookbook informs, but the writer may also hope you will enjoy cooking. A story about a garden may also teach how seeds grow. Let students know that a text can do more than one thing, and ask them to name the main one. The main purpose is usually the one that explains most of the text.

Link purpose to the main idea

Purpose and main idea answer different questions. Purpose asks why the author wrote, while the main idea asks what the text is mostly about. Students who are confident with both can describe a text in two sentences. For a lesson on the second, see our guide to what is the main idea.

Sorting practice for the chart

Before using full passages, give students a quick sorting task. Read each short line aloud and ask which column it belongs in. Here are six lines with the correct answers.

  • “Our class should adopt a recycling bin for paper.” Persuade, because it states an opinion with “should.”
  • “Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius at sea level.” Inform, because it states a fact.
  • “The kettle whistled so loudly that the spoons rattled in the drawer.” Entertain, because it is a lively story detail.
  • “This brand of backpack is the strongest on the market, so buy it today.” Persuade, because it urges the reader to act.
  • “A seed needs water, soil and light to grow into a plant.” Inform, because it explains how something works.
  • “Once there was a pencil that wrote only in curly letters.” Entertain, because it opens like a story.

Ask students to point to the exact words that gave the answer away. That habit leads straight into work with longer passages.

Using passages to practice the author’s purpose anchor chart

Informational passages are especially helpful for this skill because they give students a variety of texts to judge. Pairing the chart with reading passages and questions lets students apply what they see on the wall. Here are packs from our shop that can fit this work.

Try this routine with any of them. Read a passage together, decide the purpose using the chart, and underline the evidence. Next, ask students to sort the passages in a stack into three piles. Some texts will be easy to sort. The tricky ones will start the best talk.

Common mix-ups and how to fix them

Students make a few predictable errors when they first use the chart. Knowing them lets you head them off.

  • Calling every story “inform.” A story may teach a lesson, but its main aim is to be enjoyed. Ask whether the text has characters and a plot.
  • Calling every fact text “persuade.” Facts alone inform. A text persuades when it pushes an opinion, so look for words like “should” and “best.”
  • Choosing by topic. A text about gardens could be a story, a set of directions or an opinion. The topic does not decide the purpose.
  • Skipping the proof. An answer without a “because” is only a guess, so keep asking for evidence.

Writing practice that uses the chart

Students understand purpose more deeply when they write in each style. After a lesson on the chart, give them one topic and ask for three short pieces about it. For the topic “recess,” they might write:

  • An opinion that persuades: “Recess should be longer because students think better after they play.”
  • A fact sentence that informs: “Recess is a break in the school day when students go outside.”
  • A story line that entertains: “The jump rope snapped in half at the exact moment the bell rang.”

Then ask partners to trade papers and name the purpose of each piece. Writing the same topic three ways shows that purpose comes from the choices of the writer and not from the topic.

Tips for a chart students keep using

  • Hang it where students can see it from their seats. A chart hidden behind a door will not be used.
  • Add to it, do not redo it. Writing new clue words in a different color shows the growth of class knowledge.
  • Give students a small copy. A half-page version in a reading folder carries the chart to a desk or to home.
  • Refer to it often. Point to the chart whenever you start a new text.

Frequently asked questions

At what grade should I teach author’s purpose?

Students meet PIE in the early elementary grades and return to it as the texts grow harder. Match the sample texts to your students, with short and clear lines for younger readers and longer passages for older ones.

Is “to describe” a purpose?

Some charts list it, and others fold it into “inform.” Either is fine. Pick one approach and keep it the same so students are not confused.

What if a text seems to have two purposes?

Ask students to name the main one and to give evidence. A student who explains why one purpose fits best is doing strong thinking.

Should the anchor chart be handmade?

A handmade chart that grows with the class is often the most useful, since students remember what they helped write. A printed chart is a fine starting point if time is short.

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