Hi Leslie, Some of your comments below speak directly to some of the changes I am making in my classroom when we talk about books. I've already posted on this previously so I won't go into the details again. I agree with you that the only way to be sure that what we deduce as the reason an author wrote a book is to ask them or to read something about them or an interview where they say why they wrote the book, what was the meaning for them in the book. I think talking about this then helps to talk about the meaning in a book for us which may be more important or at least more significant for kids (and adults). Also, I find the distinction between main idea (non fiction) and theme (fiction) interesting. And, I agree with a couple of previous posters who've said that the author's intended (or unintended) theme may match our idea of the theme but much has to do with what we as readers bring to the text, as well. Author's purpose...Reader's purpose...Another conversation altogether?? Elisa
Elisa Waingort Grade 2 Spanish Bilingual Dalhousie Elementary Calgary, Canada The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt within the heart. —Helen Keller Visit my blog, A Teacher's Ruminations, and post a message. http://waingortgrade2spanishbilingual.blogspot.com/ http://www.schoolwidenetwork.com/video/180/Why-Authors-Write-Looking-at-Authors-Purpose I also have been trying to come to terms with main idea, theme, and author's purpose. I am using the book Test Talk as a resource and they relate main idea to non-fiction and theme to fiction. I was looking online last week and came across this short video clip and they use the author's bio as the author's purpose for writing the book. In that case it would definitely not be the theme. In the video, it reminds you to have children write about what they know which is something I know I have said to my students in the past. In reality, not all author's write about what they know, so I have stopped saying that. If they did there would be no fantasies or science fiction. To me the author's purpose is to give information or to entertain and then after that if it teaches you some sort of lesson - if there's a message - but that overlaps with the theme. No wonder kids are confused! If you look at Patricai Polacco's book, Thank you, Mr. Falker, the author's purpose is recounting a true story about how difficult it was for her to read when she was a child. Thanks to her teacher, she found the help that she needed. Isn't that the theme also? In Test Talk the author's feel the language of the test is what confuses students. This might be a case in point! Leslie R. Stewart Grade 3 Teacher [email protected] 203-481-5386, 203-483-0749 FAX _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
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