Author's Purpose Resources

Authors persuade, inform, and entertain through various types of writing! Students set out to identify the author’s purpose.

Learners will practice identifying the author's purpose in eight sample paragraphs, using text evidence to support their choice.

Use this graphic organizer to give students an opportunity to practice identifying the central idea of a text using key details.

Identifying the author’s purpose is as easy as P-I-E with the right mnemonic device!

Use this science-themed resource with your students to practice recognizing the author’s point of view in a text about life cycles. Students will determine the author’s viewpoint on the subject as they establish their own points of view.

Use this high-interest text with your students to practice recognizing the author’s point of view. Students will determine the author’s viewpoint on the subject of the Titanic as they establish their own points of view.

Learners will categorize 12 different types of text according to why the author would write them, using the acronym PIE as a mnemonic device.

This short fictional text can be used to help students determine words and phrases the author uses to help the reader figure out the central message of the story.

Learn about what makes certain elements cooler than others in this chemistry-based informational reading passage! 

This short nonfiction text will teach students about the ocean, and includes questions to help students identify the author’s point of view and purpose for writing the text by focusing on important vocabulary words that support the main idea.

All authors write for a reason, be it to explain, entertain, or persuade their readers. In this activity, your students will consider the author’s purpose of a book of their choosing, then justify their answer.

Learners will review a definition for each type of author's purpose, then sort nine sentences according to these criteria.

Introduce readers to the poem “When I Was One-and-Twenty” by English poet A. E. Housman with this sixth-grade worksheet! 

Students are asked to distinguish between first and third person narration as well as fiction or nonfiction writing.

Children will practice bringing excitement to their writing in this fun language and vocabulary worksheet.

This sample nonfiction text about basketball helps students to explore author's point of view.

Learn about facts vs. opinions in this reading comprehension worksheet. Kids will read two sets of text and decide which is fact and which is opinion.

This graphic organizer helps students work through a nonfiction text to help organize information about the author’s point, and the reasons and evidence used to support it.

This informational text about a topic relevant to students can be used to help explain author’s claims and the reasons used to support them.

This worksheet gives your students practice reading and analyzing informational text to explain the author’s claim and supporting reasons.

This nonfiction text about soccer will help students to practice finding evidence to support the author's point.

Use this worksheet to provide an engaging text for your students as they practice reading and analyzing an author’s claims.

Use this worksheet to encourage critical thinking and support students’ literacy development by asking questions before, during, and after reading.

Your students will love reading this classic fable as they seek to determine the author’s purpose and differentiate fiction from nonfiction.

Use this resource with your students to practice recognizing the author’s point of view in a text about a major historical event. Students will read a passage about the Tsunami of 2004 and determine the author’s viewpoint as they establish their own point

Differentiating between facts and opinions is a key fourth grade skill to master and is helpful in identifying the author’s purpose in a text. Use this activity to give your students extra practice differentiating between these two kinds of sentences.

Similes are all around us—sometimes you just need a little context to know how to decipher them! This lighthearted story about a twisted ankle contains two hidden similes. Can your students find them?

Use this two-page graphic organizer to help students compare and contrast informational narratives from two different genres.

Students will read an adaptation of the classic story "The Princess and the Pea" by Hans Christian Andersen. Then they'll seek to determine the author’s purpose and explain their reasoning.