Purpose

In the book "Do I Really Have To Teach Reading?" by Cris Tovani, she stresses the importance of knowing the purpose for reading a selected text.  In her book she lists Determining Possible Purposes which are as follows;
"Decide how you will hold your thinking as you read.  What does the teacher want you to do with the information? Maybe your purpose is to answer questions or write and essay later.  What thinking  do you need to hold?"
1.  Look for interesting details that could have multiple meanings.  Ask yourself, "why did the author or cartoonist add that detail?"
2.  Ask questions about the title and subtitle.  Try to figure our how the title and subtitle are connected to the piece.
3.  Ask questions about the piece.  As you read, record the questions and keep them in the back of your mind.  Look for the answers as you read.  If you don't find the answers, ask the questions the next day in class.
4.  Look for the author's opinion.  Compare his or her opinion with your own. Does the author agree or disagree with you?
5.  Read a piece to learn new information.  Is there anything in the reading that helps you understand the topic better?
6.  Make a connection  to the piece.  Does the piece remind you of an experience, a movie, or information you already know? Does the connection help you relate to a person or situation?  Use information you have about the topic to connect more personally to the piece.
7. Who is the author?  Do you know anything about the author and his or her style of writing? Is he or she sarcastic or serious? Is he or she politically conservative or liberal? what you know about the author might help you anticipate what is coming in the reading. 

These seven point and related questions are designed to help readers find the purpose of the text.  Having clues to find the purpose leads to greater understanding and willingness to complete the text.  As teachers we should prepare our students for a selected piece and have them try to answer the above questions, and or create their own questions in relation to the teachers purpose for reading.  When a student is armed with ways to find the purpose they will be more willing to read pieces that that may seem boring or not important to the real world.  Teaching students these strategies will help them when they are reading to find a purpose from a future college course or a potential job.  They will be able to see a boring or unnecessary piece of text and at least read it to get our the main purpose(s).