Author's Purpose: Bringing the FAT-P to Readers' Workshop

We all know that the Super RUPR has a trusty sidekick, the FAT-P.  Culinary Court writers came to rely on these superheros when preparing to respond to a prompt.  But how can Culinary Court readers use the FAT-P to help them as they're reading?

First, let's remember what FAT-P stands for:

Format
Audience
Topic
Purpose

As writers, we've learned to always keep our audience in mind.  We should be aware of them and write to help them understand our main ideas and purpose for writing.  As readers, we can remember how we planned our writing specifically to support our main ideas and make our meaning clear to our readers.  And, if we did this as writers, wouldn't it seem logical that professional writers might do this to help us?

We know authors write for a variety of purposes. We know three main purposes are to explain (teach), entertain, and persuade.  Often the format an author chooses can help us determine the purpose, but it's not always that simple.  Being the sophisticated readers we are, we know that writing purposes often overlap.  One piece of writing might be written for more than one of these purposes.  For instance, in the poem "Dreams" by Langston Hughes, we know that Mr. Hughes is writing both to persuade and entertain.

Dreams

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

~Langston Hughes

As we discussed in class, the main purpose of this poem is to persuade readers, but Mr. Hughes also wanted his reader to be entertained, which is why he chose the format of a poem.

Considering the format and genre of a piece of writing can be very revealing when discovering an author's purpose, but there are exceptions.  For instance, we've read many pieces of text recently about slavery and the Underground Railroad.  The Storyworks article, "From Slavery to Freedom", is jam-packed with facts and details, teaching its readers all about Harriet Tubman and her accomplishments on the Underground Railroad.  It isn't surprising that the main purpose of this article is to teach or explain, as articles are most commonly linked with informing.  However, any story that is also based on true facts, such as Henry's Freedom Box, is also written to teach.  Authors of true stories, or narrative nonfiction, considered their audience and topic when they determined their format, selecting a format that would allow them to teach while they were also entertaining.  As another example, folk tales and fables, though they are considered a genre of fiction today, were originally told to teach or explain.  Because newspapers, magazines, textbooks and the internet did not exist when these stories were first told, elders orally told tales, or stories, for the purpose of explaining parts of the natural world, such as why the tortoise has a "cracked" shell, and teaching life lessons, such as the importance of telling the truth.

Understanding the main purpose is just the first step to determining the complete author's purpose.  An author's purpose also includes the main idea of the piece.  Take, for example, this blog post.  Considering first the format, a blog post, we begin to understand that this article is written to inform.  But readers will miss the boat if that's all they know.  What are the important main ideas of this blog post?  What lessons am I, the writer, trying to teach my audience?  Combining the main idea(s) of a text with the purpose will help a reader fully comprehend what they've read.

In the coming weeks, readers will analyze a variety of nonfiction pieces to determine how the author organized their writing to support their purpose.  We will use signal words and identify important ideas within each text to determine what text structure, or organization method, each writer used.  Then, we'll use this understanding to help us create a complete author's purpose statement.

***Psssst!  Reader-writers, did you spy an idiom in this post?  Where is it?  What does it mean?***

Written Book Summaries

This quarter, as a support for our writing work, readers are required to respond to FOUR of their required six books by writing a complete summary of the book after they've read it.  These summaries may be typed or handwritten, but MUST be a representation of the writer's personal best work.  We're looking for thoughtful, well-written, neat, and correct summaries.  All summaries must include the following elements:

1.  The book title (Remember!  Titles should be Capitalized and underlined or italicized!)
2.  Author
3.  Genre (Remember!  "Fiction" is NOT a genre.  Is this book fantasy fiction?  Realistic fiction?  A mystery?)
4.  A summary of important events from the story (problem and solution, beginning, middle AND end).  Or, if this is an informational text, include discuss all of the main or key ideas.

Still not sure what we're looking for?  Take a look at Chase's example.  This is a summary of a biography about Albert Einstein.

Chase's summary meets our expectations for a written book response.  While we are NOT expecting to see entirely perfect summaries (even Chase has a few opportunities for improvement), we are looking for evidence that the reader thoroughly understood the book (beginning to end) and can explain the book in their own words in a logical, organized fashion.  It is important that these summaries are written by the students themselves, and they take the time to edit and revise as needed.  Mrs. Koster and Mrs. Nash will be conferencing with reader-writers as needed to discuss their responses, using these summaries as teachable moments for writing.

Care for a piece of advice?  Chase shared with his class that, as he was writing his book response, he kept his copy of the 3rd nine weeks reading expectations next to him.  He repeatedly checked the directions for written summaries as he was writing so he could be sure he was working towards meeting the standards.  Way to go, Chase!  Thanks for letting us share your work!

Mrs. Koster and Mrs. Nash can't wait to read more great summaries soon!

Read, Think, Explain

When good writers answer questions about a text, they know they need to be thorough!  Since this is a form of responding to literature, the purpose is to demonstrate our understanding of a text (a.k.a. prove we're an expert) by informing our readers about our thinking.  We know these responses must be text-based, supported by evidence, and include lots of our own words to explain our thinking.  

Good writers also know that our responses should always include an answer statement.  Answer statements work like main idea statements, or topic sentences.  The easiest way to do this is to turn the question around into a statement.  For instance, if they question asks:

What is the theme of The Polar Express?

A good writer might begin their response like this:

The theme of The Polar Express is ____.

All of the other sentences in their response would be explaining how they know this is the theme, referring to details from the story and occasionally quoting specific sentences or phrases from the text.  

Reader-writers, could the RUPR help us respond to these questions?  If so, how?  

Reading Chris Van Allsburg Closely

This week, Culinary Court readers are revisiting some of the key concepts and important stories in our Chris Van Allsburg author study before we conclude our unit of study.

One of the ways our readers are revisiting a favorite story, The Stranger, is through a "close reading" activity.  In a close reading, readers revisit a text they've already read.  This time, readers are focused on looking deeper into the text to deepen their understanding in a predetermined way.  For instance, this week our readers focused on the effects of the setting in The Stranger.

In partners, students reread the story, looking for evidence in the text and illustrations to help them answer a list of guiding questions.  This time was also spent discussing with their partners the importance of the evidence they located.

After this guided conversation, readers took time to independently write a concluding paragraph explaining their thoughts and new understandings about this story and its setting. Was the setting of The Stranger critical to the plot?

Readers, what did you find challenging about this activity?  What did you find was the easiest part?

Writing About Our Reading

If you walked into one of the Culinary Court ELA Kitchens during the past few weeks, you may have had a hard time figuring out if you stepped into a reading workshop or a writing workshop.  That's because these reader-writer chefs have been busily writing about their reading, otherwise known as responding to literature.

As readers, we might write about our reading in a variety of different ways and for a variety of reasons.

Book Blurbs

Sometimes, readers write short, positive "blurbs" about books.  The most common place you might find a book blurb is on the back of your chapter book or the inside flap of a picture book.  These brief writings tell a very basic, incomplete summary of the book.  Since the purpose of this text is to persuade readers to read the book, blurb writers try to make the book sound interesting without revealing too much information.  Sometimes these book blurbs offer opinions and commentary on the writer's style of writing.  

Book Recommendations

Since book recommendations are not found on the actual book, a little more information is needed.  In addition to a general, incomplete summary (similar to the kind you find in a blurb), recommendation writers need to also include the book's genre, title and author.  They usually also include other information about the book that readers might need to or want to know, such as whether or not it's part of a series or if it has won any awards.  Book recommendations also always include positive opinions about the book.  (Because if you didn't like the book, you wouldn't be recommending it, right?)  Rather than just saying the book is good, though, good recommendation writers will also tell why it's good.  Perhaps this book made them laugh out loud or cry when they finished reading it, wishing there was a sequel.  Maybe there was a character inside that readers will really relate to, or look forward to seeing their defeat!  Many popular books are filled with action and suspense, keeping the readers turning pages late into the night.  Including these descriptions helps potential readers decide whether or not this book will be a good fit for them.

Book Reviews

A formal book review is much more detailed than a book recommendation.  The main purpose of a book review is to explain someone's opinions about a book to people who have not yet read the book. Reviewers still do not include the entire book in their summary, but they will often go into more detail about certain parts of the book, like important relationships between characters or how the main character arrives in the major situation of the story.  Because it's about expressing honest opinions, book reviewers do not always have only positive things to say about a book.  In fact, many published authors have love-hate relationships with professional book reviewers; they know these reviews can make or break the success of their new books!  A reviewer might find a book boring, predictable, unimaginative.  They often have some positive and some negative comments about the books they review.  Book reviews also offer much more commentary about the style of writing and message of the book.  They also always include quotations (evidence) from the text to support their opinions and statements about the book.  

Responses to Literature

Responses to literature are an academic piece of writing.  That means the purpose of these pieces of writing is to demonstrate a deep understanding of a book to an audience that has also read the book.  These writers include a complete summary, since they're no longer worrying about "spoiling it" for potential readers.  Additionally, they go deep into the meaning of the book by discussing their interpretations of theme, their evaluations of characters, and the writers' craft and style.  Quite often in responses to literature, writers will make comparisons and connections between books they've read, showing how their themes are connected or how two different authors (or the same author) can write about a topic in different ways.  

Students, what do you like about writing about your reading?  What do you find to be the hardest part?  To which of these responses could you most closely compare Book Talks?

Second Nine Weeks Reading Expectations

This week, readers will learn all about their second nine weeks reading expectations.  Mrs. Koster and Mrs. Nash are excited to share this quarter's goals with you all, and we know you will be excited to hear all about them!

In addition to choosing one book from one of our featured authors this quarter (Judy Blume, Andrew Clements, and Ralph Fletcher), students will be reading one fantasy chapter book of their choice.  There are lots of great fantasy books on the current best sellers lists, and tons of great fantasy books that have been around for years.  The remaining 4 books are free choice chapter books!

Students will be allowed to choose from a variety of response options outlined on the reading expectations information sheet.  However, if you have a great idea for a response that you'd like to try, talk with Mrs. Koster or Mrs. Nash about your idea!  We're want to hear your ideas!

Look for more informationi on the Second Nine Weeks Reading Expectations to come home this week, and remember to get your parents to review and sign the information page by Friday, November 2nd!  All responses will be due by January 11th.

Happy reading!

Chris Van Allsburg

This week is the official launch of our largest author study of the year!

Every year, fourth graders fall in love with the work of Chris Van Allsburg.  Many fourth graders might already know a few of his more popular books (Jumanji, The Polar Express, Zathura), but they haven't seen anything yet!  It's inevitable that, after reading more of his memorable stories, he will quickly become a new favorite author.

We'll begin our author study by getting to know a little bit about his life.  Readers will visit his website, but they can also find out more about him right here!  Check this out:

Meet Chris Van Allsburg

Has anyone ever told you to turn off the TV and do something more productive?  You might think about it more seriously next time.  Chris Van Allsburg hatched his incredibly successful career as an illustrator and author of children's books when he didn't want to sit at home in the evening and watch TV.  He began to sketch pictures instead, and in those sketches he discovered stories waiting to be told.

His wife Lisa thought the sketches would make great books for children.  One evening, she brought home author and friend David Macauley to look at them.  David was so impressed that he recommended Chris to his own editor.  Chris Van Allsburg's very first book, The Garden of Abdul Gasazi, was chosen as a Caldecott Honor Book in 1979.

Chris Van Allsburg was born and grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  He lived in a neighborhood where he could find tadpoles, play baseball, and ride his go-cart down the street.  He liked to draw, but after sixth grade his interest moved to sports and other "more socially useful" activities.  He thought he might become a lawyer, but a drawing class during his first year of college rekindled his love of art.  He graduated from the University of Michigan with an art degree and also studied sculpture at the Rhode Island School of Design.  he began his professional artist's life as a sculptor.  Many of his pieces (like a flying saucer colliding with an observatory) suggest qualities of humor, mystery, and storytelling similar to his later illustrations.

Chris Van Allsburg has published a new book almost every year since 1979.  Two of his books have been awarded the Caldecott Medal:  Jumanji in 1981 and The Polar Express in 1985.  He has more ideas for pictures, stories, and sculptures in his head than he has time to create.  It takes him seven months of hard work to take a book from its beginning ideas through its delivery to the printer.

His ideas most often begin as random pictures in his mind.  Those pictures are like clues to the story that is waiting to be told.  The story evolves as he asks himself, "What if?" and "What then?"  Once the whole story is in his mind, he works like the director of a movie and carefully chooses the point of view, lighting, and perspective for each picture.

Chris Van Allsburg's sense of action and illusion unique to his illustrations is a result of the variety of his choices, his technical expertise with different media, and, of course, his talent and persistence.  He said of his second Caldecott Medal, "This award...suggests that the success of art is not dependent on its nearness to perfection but to its power to communicate."

Readers, want to learn more?  Check out this Reading Rockets video interview with Chris Van Allsburg!  (Click here!)

Fourth Grade Reading Expectations & Readers to Leaders

Dear Parents,

It is our intention that every fourth grade child read 1,000,000 words this school year. For fourth graders, this equates to 25 chapter books per school year. Students will easily reach this goal by reading daily, both in class and at home (at least 20 minutes nightly).

The books your student reads MUST be within their independent reading range, better known as "just right" books.  By this age, we no longer limit students to a specific, alphabet-coded reading level, such as "D" or "K".  Instead, we teach readers various strategies they can use to see if it is a good fit for them before they commit to reading the whole things.  These strategies are much like the strategies adult readers use as they're browsing the aisles of a bookstore or library.  (Stay tuned for more about these strategies coming soon.)  


Additionally, your child must read from a variety of authors and various genres. In an effort to encourage
readers to broaden their reading and reinforce the instruction and practice of the classroom, we have
developed a system of reading expectations. These expectations will vary slightly over the course of the year
as our instructional focus changes and readers mature.



You can expect to receive a paper copy of the reading expectations each grading period, detailing the specific types of books required for each quarter, as well as student options for responding to their reading.

For the first quarter, students are expected to read:

1 chapter book from a book series that is new to them
1 Newbery Award winning chapter book
1 Sunshine State Young Readers Award (winner or nominee, from current or past years)
3 free choice chapter books

On your child's copy of the reading expectations, you'll see that they are required to respond to each of these books.  However, response formats will vary greatly.  Each child is required to meet with the teacher at least once to discuss one of the books they've read, and they are required to talk about at least one of the books they've read to their classmates in the form of a "Book Talk".  (More information about this to come, too.)  

For the remaining four books, though, readers can choose from any of the 16 response options on the choice menu on the back.  As we progress through these first few weeks, we will discuss responding options in greater detail to all the students.

Finally, keep an eye on the calendar and on your child's planners to look for "Pacing Checks".  Because the responses are not technically DUE until October 24th, we've plotted out checkpoints along the way to help your reader stay on pace to meet their reading goals for the quarter.  After each Pacing Check date passes, we will update your child's response completion status in Oncourse (accessible via the Online Grade Portal).  Routinely monitoring this is an easy way for you to support your child in this long-term assignment, as well as their overall academics.  

It is our goal that your child builds their lives as a reader, both in and out of school, while also reinforcing the thinking strategies we are teaching and practice of the reading workshop throughout the year.  As we discussed with the students in class, reading is the pathway to academic and lifelong success.  If we learn to read well, we can read to learn anything.

As always, please feel free to contact Miss Barron and Mrs. Nash with questions as more details roll out soon, and thank you for helping your child grow this year as readers!