When the town planted hundreds of trees along Main Street, the street became much shadier. Because it was cooler, more people started walking there in the summer. As a result, the shops on Main Street had more visitors.
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.
Arizona Academic Standards learning standard: 5.RI.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 Arizona
In the Arizona Academic 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 Arizona parents
- Printable 5th grade English Language Arts sheet
- Arizona report cards explained
Source: Arizona Department of Education
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
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 entertain
- to inform
- to persuade
to persuade
Hint: Is the author trying to get you to think, buy or do something? Then the purpose is to persuade.
Question 2
How is this text organized?
- compare and contrast
- problem and solution
- cause and effect
- sequence
cause and effect
Hint: Words like because, so and as a result show why something happened and what happened next.
Question 3
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.
- sequence
- compare and contrast
- description
- problem and solution
description
Hint: The text describes one thing in detail: what it looks like, sounds like or feels like.
Question 4
What is the author's main purpose?
Hummingbirds can flap their wings more than fifty times per second. This lets them hover in one spot while they drink nectar.
- to entertain
- to persuade
- to inform
to inform
Hint: Does the text teach facts or explain how to do something? Then its purpose is to inform.
Question 5
Which signal words often appear in a problem and solution text?
- both, however, unlike
- because, so, as a result
- first, next, then, finally
- the problem is, to fix this, one solution
the problem is, to fix this, one solution
Hint: The text names a problem and then explains how it was, or could be, solved.
Question 6
How is this text organized?
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.
- compare and contrast
- cause and effect
- problem and solution
- sequence
sequence
Hint: Signal words like first, next, then and finally show steps or events in order.