We all like to feel a sense of purpose in what we spend our time doing whether it’s physical fitness, professional learning, or other personal hobbies or responsibilities.  Reading a text is no different.  We like to have a sense of what we are reading and why we are reading it.  Students who read with a purpose tend to comprehend what they read better than those who have no purpose.  Whether it is a problem to solve, a hypothesis to prove, or a question to answer, students are more likely to comprehend and make meaning from text when they are guided by a purpose as they read. This comes down to the simple act of asking three questions:

•  What is the text about?
• What type of text is this?
•  Why am I reading this? 

Proficient readers ask themselves these questions and answer these questions, even if they're not conscious of the process at the time. Struggling readers most often do not, and their reading is haphazard as a consequence. When reading technical text, for example, a struggling reader with no sense of purpose may become distracted by the author's word choice or choice of structure. When reading narrative, that same reader may get lost in the author's plot devices and characterization choices and fail to note the overall thematic choices completely.  Readers determine what is important based on their purpose for reading, so knowing why you are reading a text is crucial for comprehension.

Strategies & Activities for Purpose Setting

based on the student statements above

Before Reading

Anticipation Guides

Activating Prior Knowledge

Previewing the text for content and structure

Access Before Reading Strategies Here

Gallery Walk and  Picture Walk for previewing material

Planning to Read and Thinking Ahead

Setting a Purpose Graphic Organizers

Advance Organizers

Utilizing Text Structure

Pre-reading Study Guides for Students

Reading for a Reason or Goal

Marking the Text

Thinking Frames

Pre-reading for vocabulary

Goal Setting

Who Determines the Reading Purpose and How?

Teachers:  When using a text in class, teachers often identify the reading purpose based on a lesson objective or content area standard.  Reciting the lesson objective or standard helps students understand why they are engaging in a reading task and students can use those same objectives and standards at the end of class to assess their own learning.  In addition, strong teachers enhance their purpose setting by activating students’ prior knowledge and utilizing text structure.

Students:  Unfortunately research suggests that students are seldom given the opportunity to set their own reading purpose.  Student ownership and application of strategies is the ultimate goal of literacy instruction.  Teachers need to provide direct instruction of the strategies and how they can be applied by students beyond the featured text.  Students also need coaching in how to navigate unfamiliar text with strategies that help develop a sense of reading purpose.