Lesson 3 — Author, Purpose, and Audience

Summary

Learners identify the author, purpose, and audience of a message and explain how they shape it. They see that a message’s author is who made it, its purpose is what it is for (to inform, persuade, entertain, or warn), and its audience is who it is for — and that author and audience shape how the message is said: a health poster for families uses plain words and pictures, while a toy ad for children uses bright colors and exciting words. They read messages, name all three, and make one of their own.

Objectives

• Identify the author, purpose, and audience of a message and explain how they shape it. (D10.S2.04.01)

Connection

Every message you meet — a sign, a song, a poster, a game — was made by someone, for a reason, and for somebody. The author is the person or group who made it; the purpose is what it is for; the audience is who it is for. These three shape each other: a health worker writing for families uses plain words and pictures, while a toy company writing for children uses bright colors and exciting words. When you can name all three, you can read any message with clear eyes — you see who is speaking, why, and to whom.

Materials

• Message cards (a health poster, a toy ad, a road-safety sign)
• An “author–purpose–audience” chart
• Paper and pencils

Preparation

• Prepare the message cards, each labeled with its author, purpose, and audience.
• Prepare the chart with four columns: author, purpose, audience, and how the author and audience shape it.
• Think of one message to model (“a school lunch menu: author, the cook; purpose, inform; audience, students — so it lists dishes and times in simple words”).

Facilitator note

This lesson is written to the learner (“you”). Grade 3 named a message’s purpose and audience; Grade 4 adds the author and, crucially, asks learners to explain how author and audience shape the message. Model the three questions — who made it? what is it for? who is it for? — and the “how it shapes it” sentence once, then guide a second message before independent work (Kirschner, Sweller & Clark, 2006). Keep the media stance warm, not suspicious: naming an author, purpose, and audience is understanding, not catching someone out — the health worker wants to help you stay well, and the toy company wants you to want the toy; both are honest once you can see them. Use messages from many places and lives — a market notice, a road sign, a song, a menu — so no one home is the default; a spoken story or song is a real message with an author, purpose, and audience too. Honor every body: read each message aloud for a learner who is blind or has low vision and let them name author, purpose, and audience by voice; a non-speaking learner points to the author, purpose word, and audience picture; acting out each message works for learners who learn best by moving.

Procedure

1. Gather (5 min). Every message was made by someone, for a reason, and for somebody. Today you learn to name all three — and see how they shape the message.
2. Meet author, purpose, and audience (10 min). The author is who made it; the purpose is what it is for (inform, persuade, entertain, warn); the audience is who it is for. Look at the health poster: author, a health worker; purpose, to inform; audience, families. Because its audience is families, it uses plain words and pictures.
3. Name all three together (8 min). For each card, ask the three questions — who made it? what is it for? who is it for? — and say how the author and audience shape it: “The toy ad is by a toy company, its purpose is to persuade, and its audience is children — so it uses bright colors and exciting words.”
4. Make your own message (12 min). Make a simple message of your own — a poster, a notice, a story title, a sign. Label its author, its purpose, and its audience, and write or say one way those shaped it.
5. Share and guess (5 min). Show your message to a partner. Can they name its author, purpose, and audience? Tell them one way the audience shaped how you made it.
6. Close (5 min). Name the author, purpose, and audience of any message, and you can see who is speaking, why, and to whom — and nothing can speak to you unseen.

Differentiation

• Support: Name author, purpose, and audience of one message together aloud, using the frame “The author is ___, the purpose is to ___, and the audience is ___, so ___.”
• Blind/low vision: Hear each message described and name its author, purpose, and audience by voice; a partner scribes the learner’s own message.
• Deaf/hard of hearing / non-speaking: Read or see each message and point to the author, the purpose word, and the audience picture; the learner’s own message may be drawn and labeled with pictures.
• Motor differences: Direct a partner’s hands to draw and label while the learner says or points to the author, purpose, and audience.
• Extension: Explain how changing the audience would change the same message (a road-safety sign written for young children instead of drivers), or make a second message with the same purpose for a different audience.

Assessment

• Formative (observation): Can the learner identify the author, purpose, and audience of a message and explain how they shape it?
• Artifact (portfolio): The learner’s own message, labeled with author, purpose, audience, and one “how they shape it” note.

Home connection

At home, find one message — a label, a notice, a song, a poster. Tell a grown-up its author, its purpose (inform, persuade, entertain, or warn), and its audience, and one way the audience shaped how it was made.

Resources

• Common Sense Education, “News & Media Literacy” — every message has a creator, a purpose, and an audience, and learning to name all three. https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship/topic/news-and-media-literacy
• National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE), “Key Questions to Ask When Analyzing Media Messages” — questions about authorship, purpose, and audience. https://namle.org/resources/key-questions/