To make a paper airplane, start by folding a sheet of paper in half the long way. After that, fold the top corners down to the center crease. Then fold each side down again to make the wings. Last, give it a gentle throw.
5th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 3 of 11
Purpose and Structure
Why and how authors write
What your child practices
Deciding whether a text informs, persuades or entertains, recognizing five common text structures and their signal words, and using text features like the glossary and index.
Alaska content standards learning standard: RI.5.5 · an author's purpose and text structure
How we explain it
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
- Authors write to inform (teach), persuade (convince) or entertain.
- Text structures: description, sequence (first, then), compare and contrast (alike, unlike), cause and effect (because, so) and problem and solution.
- Captions explain pictures. The glossary explains bold words.
Example: A text says you should always wear a helmet because it keeps you safe. What is the author’s main purpose? “You should” tries to get the reader to do something. Convincing a reader is persuading. Answer: to persuade
Purpose and Structure in Alaska
In the Alaska content standards, this is unit 3 of 11 in 5th grade English Language Arts, after Figurative Language and before Context Clues.
Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.
- 5th grade guide for Alaska parents
- Printable 5th grade English Language Arts sheet
- Alaska report cards explained
Source: Alaska Department of Education and Early Development
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Which signal words often appear in a cause and effect text?
- for example, such as, looks like
- because, so, as a result
- the problem is, to fix this, one solution
- both, however, unlike
because, so, as a result
Hint: Words like because, so and as a result show why something happened and what happened next.
Question 2
What is the author's main purpose?
Our town needs a new skate park. Kids need a safe place to be active, and the old tennis courts are hardly used. Please sign our petition!
- to inform
- to persuade
- to entertain
to persuade
Hint: Is the author trying to get you to think, buy or do something? Then the purpose is to persuade.
Question 3
In a nonfiction book, where would you look up the meaning of a word printed in bold?
- the glossary
- the table of contents
- a heading
- a caption
the glossary
Hint: The glossary is like a small dictionary at the back of the book.
Question 4
How is this text organized?
- sequence
- description
- cause and effect
- problem and solution
sequence
Hint: Signal words like first, next, then and finally show steps or events in order.
Question 5
Sort each text by the author's main purpose.
Sort into: 📘 Inform · 📢 Persuade · 🎭 Entertain
- ⛄A funny poem about a snowman
- 🔨Instructions for building a birdhouse
- ✉️A letter asking the city to build a park
- 🔍A mystery novel about a missing painting
- 🗳️A poster asking you to vote for Sam
- 🌋A science book about volcanoes
📘 Inform: Instructions for building a birdhouse, A science book about volcanoes · 📢 Persuade: A letter asking the city to build a park, A poster asking you to vote for Sam · 🎭 Entertain: A funny poem about a snowman, A mystery novel about a missing painting
Hint: Inform = teach facts. Persuade = convince you. Entertain = tell a story or make you laugh.
Question 6
How is this text organized?
The desert at night is cool and quiet. Sand stretches in every direction, silver under the moon. Tall cacti stand still against the stars, and the air smells faintly of dust.
- cause and effect
- problem and solution
- sequence
- description
description
Hint: The text describes one thing in detail: what it looks like, sounds like or feels like.