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English lesson plan · 4th grade (Year 5 in England) · 30 minutes

Author's purpose

Reading Comprehension

CCSS RI.4.8CCSS RI.6.6England: Y5/6 ReadingEngland: KS2 SATs Reading

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Author's purpose.

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: Main idea and supporting details

Leads to: Rhetoric and persuasive techniques; Why did the author include this detail?

Materials: A short text or extract (one copy each), Highlighters, Question cards, Mini whiteboards, A short model text on the board, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 4 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Main idea and supporting details). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. Exercise is good for your body and your mind. It makes your heart and muscles stronger. It can also help you sleep better and feel happier. What is the main idea? (Running is fun. / Sleep is important. / Muscles are strong. / Exercise has many benefits.) → Exercise has many benefits.Prompt: What is the WHOLE text mostly about, not just one part?
  2. Sloths move very slowly. They hang upside down in trees for most of the day. They even sleep and eat upside down. Moving slowly helps them save energy. What is the main idea? (Trees are tall. / Sloths eat leaves. / Sloths sleep a lot. / Sloths live slow, upside-down lives in trees.) → Sloths live slow, upside-down lives in trees.Prompt: What is the WHOLE text mostly about, not just one part?
  3. Long ago, people did not have fridges. They kept food cold in cellars, packed it in ice, or dried and salted meat so it would last. What is the main idea? (People once used other ways to keep food from spoiling. / Cellars are dark. / Salt makes food tasty. / Fridges are expensive.) → People once used other ways to keep food from spoiling.Prompt: What is the WHOLE text mostly about, not just one part?

Hook · 3 min

  • Read the first lines of a short text aloud and ask what students predict will happen and why.
  • Share the objective: Author's purpose. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 7 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: Every pupil should learn to swim. Swimming keeps you fit, it is fun, and it could one day save your life. What is the author's main purpose?
  • Step 1: The writer's choices show their purpose.
  • Step 2: So the answer is: to persuade
  • Answer: to persuade
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 6 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. Come to Sunny Farm this Saturday! Meet the baby goats, ride a pony and taste our famous apple pie. Tickets only $5! What is the author's main purpose? (to persuade people to visit the farm / to explain how goats grow / to tell a funny story / to describe the weather) → to persuade people to visit the farmPrompt: Is the writer mainly trying to inform, persuade, entertain or explain?
  2. 1. Fill the pot with water. 2. Bring it to the boil. 3. Add the pasta and stir. 4. Cook for ten minutes. What is the author's main purpose? (to explain how to cook pasta / to persuade you to eat pasta / to describe Italy / to tell a story about a chef) → to explain how to cook pastaPrompt: Is the writer mainly trying to inform, persuade, entertain or explain?

You do: independent practice · 7 min

  • Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
  • Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 3 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. Every pupil should learn to swim. Swimming keeps you fit, it is fun, and it could one day save your life. What is the author's main purpose? (to persuade / to entertain / to explain how to swim / to describe a pool) → to persuadePrompt: Is the writer mainly trying to inform, persuade, entertain or explain?

Watch out for

  • Answering from memory or opinion instead of evidence in the text.
  • Copying a long quote without explaining what it shows.

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: Main idea and supporting details.
  • Use concrete materials: a short text or extract (one copy each).
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Move on to: Rhetoric and persuasive techniques; Why did the author include this detail?.
  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-4.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

eurekami

Author's purpose

Name

Date

Score/ 6

Should Primary Schools Ban Homework?

Every evening, in homes across the country, the same battle takes place: tired children, frustrated parents and a worksheet that nobody wants to finish. It is time for primary schools to ban homework. The most important reason is that, for young children, the evidence for homework is weak. Several large reviews of research have found that homework has little measurable effect on the test results of pupils under eleven. Older students may benefit, but for younger children, the hours spent on worksheets do not seem to pay off. Second, children need time to play, rest and be with their families. Play is not a waste of time; it builds creativity, problem-solving and friendships. A child who has spent six hours concentrating at school deserves an evening to explore, read for pleasure or simply be bored – which is when imagination often kicks in. Some people argue that homework teaches responsibility. This is a fair point. However, children can learn responsibility in many other ways: feeding a pet, helping to cook dinner or practising an instrument they have chosen themselves. Finally, homework can be unfair. Some children have parents who can help them every night and a quiet desk to work at. Others share a small space with siblings or have parents who work late. Homework can widen the gap between these children instead of closing it. Schools should replace homework with something simple: read every day, for fun. That is one habit worth taking home.

  1. Question 1

    Read "Should Primary Schools Ban Homework?". Why does the writer open with a description of an evening 'battle'?

    • A. to give statistical evidence
    • B. to grab attention with a situation readers recognise
    • C. to argue that parents are lazy
    • D. to describe a real war

Should Our School Keep Bees?

Letter A: Yes to bees! Our school should put two beehives on the flat roof above the library. Bees pollinate fruit, vegetables and wildflowers, and in many places their numbers have fallen. A school hive would give local bees a safe home. It would also turn our roof into a living science lesson: we could study how a colony works, measure how much honey it makes, and plant bee-friendly flowers in the playground. Several schools near us already keep bees, and the beekeepers say pupils are never near the hives, because the roof is locked. Letter B: Not so fast. I agree that bees are important, but I do not think hives are right for our school yet. Some pupils and staff are allergic to bee stings, and even a locked roof is close to open windows. Hives also need an expert to check them every week, and no one at school has that training. Instead, we could help bees in safer ways: plant a wildflower strip by the fence, build a bug hotel, and invite a beekeeper to visit with an observation hive behind glass. If, after a year, we find a trained volunteer, we could think about hives again.

  1. Question 2

    Read "Should Our School Keep Bees?". What is the main purpose of both letters?

    • A. to describe a beehive
    • B. to persuade the reader
    • C. to give instructions
    • D. to entertain with a story

Lady Montagu and the Smallpox Gamble

In the early eighteenth century, smallpox was one of the most feared diseases in Europe. It killed around three in every ten people it infected and left many survivors scarred or blind. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu knew its cruelty personally: the disease had killed her brother and marked her own face. In 1717, while living in Constantinople (now Istanbul), where her husband was the British ambassador, she observed a remarkable practice. Local women would take a small amount of material from a mild smallpox sore and scratch it into the skin of a healthy person. The person usually developed a mild illness and was then protected for life. This process was called variolation. Montagu was so impressed that she had her young son variolated. When she returned to England, she campaigned to spread the practice, despite fierce opposition. Some doctors resented being taught by a woman; others distrusted a practice from abroad. To win public confidence, Montagu had her daughter variolated in front of physicians from the royal court. Variolation was not without risk: a small number of patients developed severe smallpox, and they could infect others. Decades later, in 1796, Edward Jenner developed a safer method using cowpox, a related but much milder disease. His method, called vaccination after the Latin word for cow, gradually replaced variolation. Smallpox was declared eradicated worldwide in 1980. Jenner is often called the father of vaccination, but the story began with the courage of a woman who noticed what others had overlooked.

  1. Question 3

    Read "Lady Montagu and the Smallpox Gamble". What is the writer's main purpose in the final sentence?

    • A. to criticise Jenner
    • B. to highlight Montagu's often-forgotten role
    • C. to argue against vaccination
    • D. to explain how cowpox spreads

A Letter to the Council

Dear Councillors, I am writing to ask you not to close Elm Street Library. I am nine years old, and the library is one of the most important places in our town. First, the library helps children learn. Every Saturday, there is a story club where younger children listen to stories and older children like me read aloud. Many families cannot afford to buy lots of books, but at the library everyone can borrow them for free. Second, the library is not just for children. My neighbour, Mr Haddad, goes there every week to use the computers because he does not have one at home. He uses them to apply for jobs and to talk to his grandchildren in another country. Some people say that everything is online now, so we do not need libraries. However, not everyone has the internet at home, and a website cannot give you a quiet, warm place to study or a librarian who helps you find exactly the right book. Please keep our library open. It belongs to all of us. Yours faithfully, Priya Shah

  1. Question 4

    Read "A Letter to the Council". What is Priya's main purpose in writing this letter?

    • A. to describe her favourite book
    • B. to explain how to use computers
    • C. to complain about Mr Haddad
    • D. to persuade the council to keep the library open

The Four-Day Week: Promise and Pitfalls

In recent years, a growing number of companies have experimented with a four-day working week, in which employees work about 80 per cent of their usual hours for 100 per cent of their pay, on the condition that they maintain their output. Supporters argue that the model could transform working life. Critics warn that its benefits may be exaggerated. The most widely reported trials have produced striking results. In one large study involving several dozen organisations, most companies chose to continue the four-day week after the trial ended. Employees reported less stress, better sleep and fewer days off sick, while company revenue remained broadly stable. For businesses struggling to recruit, the promise of an extra day off can be a powerful attraction. Yet these findings come with important caveats. Companies that volunteer for such trials may already be enthusiastic about flexible working and well suited to it. Their success may not be representative of all workplaces. Moreover, many of the participating organisations were offices or creative businesses, where output is relatively easy to reorganise. In hospitals, schools or factories, where staff must be present to deliver a service, reducing hours without hiring more people may simply be impossible. There are also questions about what happens in the long term. Early enthusiasm can fade, and the pressure to fit five days of work into four may eventually lead to longer, more intense working days, cancelling out the benefits to wellbeing. None of this means the idea should be dismissed. It does suggest that the four-day week is less a universal solution than a tool that may suit some sectors far better than others. The challenge for policymakers is to learn from the trials without assuming that what worked for a marketing agency will work for an emergency ward.

  1. Question 5

    Read "The Four-Day Week: Promise and Pitfalls". What is the purpose of the reference to "an emergency ward" in the final sentence?

    • A. to describe the writer's job
    • B. to argue that hospitals are badly run
    • C. to give a vivid example of a workplace where the model may not work
    • D. to show that marketing agencies are dangerous

Why Do Leaves Change in Autumn?

In many parts of the world, autumn turns forests into blazes of yellow, orange and red. But where do these bright shades come from? The answer is hidden inside every leaf. During spring and summer, leaves are busy making food for the tree. To do this, they use sunlight, water and air. A green substance called chlorophyll captures the energy from sunlight. There is so much chlorophyll in a leaf that it hides all the other shades. As autumn arrives, the days grow shorter and there is less sunlight. Trees such as maples and oaks begin to get ready for winter. They stop making chlorophyll. As the green fades away, the yellows and oranges that were in the leaf all along begin to show. Some trees, such as certain maples, also make a brand-new red substance in autumn. This is why some leaves turn bright red or purple. Finally, the tree seals off each leaf where it joins the branch. The leaf dries out and falls. Without leaves, the tree uses less water during the cold winter months. In spring, new green leaves will grow, and the cycle will begin again.

  1. Question 6

    Read "Why Do Leaves Change in Autumn?". What is the author's main purpose?

    • A. to describe a painting
    • B. to explain why leaves change in autumn
    • C. to tell a story about a forest
    • D. to persuade people to plant trees

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Answer key: Author's purpose

  1. 1. B. to grab attention with a situation readers recognise

  2. 2. B. to persuade the reader

  3. 3. B. to highlight Montagu's often-forgotten role

  4. 4. D. to persuade the council to keep the library open

  5. 5. C. to give a vivid example of a workplace where the model may not work

  6. 6. B. to explain why leaves change in autumn