Today is rung 9 of 12 on this topic
Author's purpose and how a text is built
Can do: Identifies whether a text informs, persuades or entertains, and how its structure serves that purpose.
Why it matters
Purpose determines how to read something. A child who reads an advert like a textbook is defenceless against it.
What it looks like when it's wobbly
Reads everything as neutral information, missing that structure itself is a persuasive choice.
⏱️ Two-minute check
Give an article. "What's it for? Why did they open with that story instead of the statistic?"
Solid looks like: Purpose named, and a structural choice linked to it.
The full activity for this topic · 20 minutes
Why In That Order?
- 1Read all three and label the purpose of each.
- 2Map the structure of one: what comes first, second, last.
- 3Ask why that order — what does opening with a personal story do to the reader?
- 4Reorder it and discuss what's lost.
- 5Compare how the same fact is framed in the news piece and the opinion piece.
If it's too hard
Two texts with obviously different purposes.
If it's too easy
Analyse a text with a hidden purpose — sponsored content, or a press release printed as news.
Say this
"Why start there? What did that opening do to you before you'd read a single fact?"