Grade by Grade
D. Composition · Writing Our Ideas

Finding Ideas: Topic, Purpose and Audience

D1.1 D1.2 D1.5About 30 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can find ideas to write about from my own life and what I learn.
  • I can say my topic: what I am writing about.
  • I can say my purpose: why I am writing.
  • I can say my audience: who will read my writing.

Words to know

writer
A person who puts ideas into words. You are a writer!
topic
What your writing is about.
purpose
Why you are writing: to tell, to teach, to describe, or to get someone to agree with you.
audience
The people who will read or hear your writing.
brainstorm
To think of lots of ideas quickly, without worrying if they are perfect.

You are a writer!

Writers write about things they know, things they love, and things they wonder about. You have lots of ideas inside your head already!

Today you will learn how writers find ideas, and the three things every writer thinks about before writing: topic, purpose and audience.

Where do ideas come from?

  • ❤️ People and pets I love
  • 🏠 Places I go: Grandma's house, the park, the rink, the library
  • ⭐ Things I do: building a snowman, losing a tooth, a trip to the farm
  • 🤔 Things I know a lot about: dinosaurs, hockey, how to make toast
  • 📚 Things I learned in other subjects, like how plants grow
  • 💭 Things I wonder about
Myideasmy dogthe rinkmy lost toothhow to make toast
An idea web. Write "My ideas" in the middle and draw lines to ideas around it.

Topic, purpose and audience

Before writing, ask yourself three questions:

  1. Topic: What am I writing about?
  2. Purpose: Why am I writing? To tell what happened? To teach how to do something? To describe something? To get someone to agree with me?
  3. Audience: Who will read it? My teacher? My grandma? My class? A little kid?
What I want to writeTopicPurposeAudience
A card to Grandpa about my hockey gamemy hockey gameto tell what happenedGrandpa
Steps to plant a seedplanting a seedto teach howmy class
A note asking to get a catgetting a catto get Mom and Dad to agreeMom and Dad
What my snowman looks likemy snowmanto describemy friend
Topic, purpose and audience for different kinds of writing
Worked example

Let's brainstorm together

Ali needs a writing idea. Let's help him brainstorm using the idea list.

  1. People and pets: "My baby sister."
  2. Places: "The beach at the lake last summer."
  3. Things I do: "Making pancakes with Dad on Saturday."
  4. Things I know: "How to feed my fish."
  5. Choose one: Ali picks making pancakes with Dad because he remembers it well and it was fun.

Ali's topic is making pancakes with Dad. Brainstorming helped him find an idea he can write a lot about.

Worked example

Let's name the topic, purpose and audience

Zoe wants to make a sign for the classroom door that tells everyone to hang up their coats.

  1. Topic: hanging up coats.
  2. Purpose: to get people to do something (hang up their coats).
  3. Audience: the kids in her class.
  4. Because her audience is kids, she will use short words and a big picture.

Topic: hanging up coats. Purpose: to get people to do something. Audience: her classmates.

Hang upyour coat!Topic (what?)hanging up coatsPurpose (why?)to get people to do somethingAudience (who?)the kids in her class
Zoe's sign uses short words and a big picture because her audience is the kids in her class.

Write for your reader

Think about your audience when you write. A note to a baby cousin can be a picture and a few words. A thank-you card to your teacher can have more sentences. Who will read it changes how you write it.

Just for fun

What if your audience was your dog? 🐶 Your whole story could be just one word: TREATS!

Hands-on activity

My ideas jar

You need: a jar, a box, or an envelope; small pieces of paper; a pencil or crayons.

  1. Brainstorm with your grown-up. Every time you think of something you could write about, draw it or write a word on a paper.
  2. Try to get 10 ideas. Use the idea list: people, places, things I do, things I know, things I learned, things I wonder.
  3. Put the papers in your jar.
  4. Pick one idea. Tell your grown-up the topic, purpose and audience you would choose for it.
  5. Talk: Which way of finding ideas helped you the most? (Looking at photos? Walking around the house? Thinking about your week?)

Keep your jar for the next writing lessons!

Your turn

1

Name two places you could use for writing ideas.

2

What is a topic?

3

What is the audience of a birthday card to your cousin?

4

You write steps for how to brush your teeth. What is your purpose?

5

You write about your trip to the zoo for your teacher. Name the topic, purpose and audience.

6

Brainstorm three things you know a lot about.

More practice: warm-up

1

What does brainstorm mean?

2

Who is the audience: the person who writes, or the people who read?

3

Is "my new puppy" a topic or an audience?

4

Can you write about something you did at home?

5

What is the purpose of a thank-you card?

More practice: on your own

1

Jay wants to convince his family to go to the park on Saturday. What is his purpose?

2

Why might you use bigger pictures and fewer words in a book for a 3-year-old?

3

Look at this idea: "Things." Is it a good topic? How could you make it better?

4

You learned about the life cycle of a butterfly in science. How could that become a writing idea?

5

Mia writes a letter to the mayor about a broken swing. Name her audience and purpose.

Challenge

1

Choose one topic, like snow. Think of two different purposes for writing about it.

2

How would a note about your lost mitten be different for your teacher and for your best friend?

3

Which strategy helped you get the most ideas: making a web, looking at photos, or thinking about your week? Why?

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

What is a topic?

2.

Who is the audience for a card to Grandma?

3.

You write steps to make a paper airplane. What is your purpose?

4.

Which is a good place to find writing ideas?

5.

What does it mean to brainstorm?

6.

Which topic is clearest?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Grade 1 writers learn to generate ideas from their own lives and other learning, and to identify the topic, purpose and audience of what they will write. They also start to name which idea strategies helped them.

How to help at home:

  • Keep the "ideas jar" going all year. Add ideas after outings, holidays and weekends.
  • Look at family photos together for ideas.
  • Before any writing (a card, a list, a sign), ask "Who is this for? Why are we writing it?"

Common difficulties:

  • "I don't know what to write about." Start with talking: ask about their day, a favourite toy or a pet. Then say, "That's a great idea for writing!"
  • Topics that are too big ("animals"). Help narrow it: "Which animal? What about it?"
  • Confusing topic and audience. Topic = what; audience = who reads it.