Learning about characters

This will be one of many posts dedicated to my FAVORITE children's author, Mo Willems.  I think he's a literary genius.  It's the best feeling in the world when you watch children silently read, and they can't help themselves, they need to act out the Pigeon's antics in their seat or whisper, "Aggle, plaggle!" like Trixie.   I have witnessed boys transform from disinterested to avid readers because of Mo Willems' books.  While I read a plethora of books to my students and expose them to as many wonderful authors as possible, I know that I can depend on his literature to hold a captive audience for my mini lesson.

Courtesy of http://mowillemsdoodles.blogspot.com/

Determining the author's purpose: What is the author trying to teach us?

Sooooooo...my little darlings are having a difficult time figuring out why the author wrote the book, and if he's trying to teach us a lesson.   Planning is rough when you only have twenty minute increments to teach such a difficult concept, and for these students, I really have to model and break down the thinking process.  So....here goes...gulp...

I first made an anchor chart with the direct teaching point that authors write for a reason: