CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.6
The Standard
Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Informational Text
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students decide why an author wrote an informational text. They use details from the text to tell whether the author is answering a question, explaining something, or describing a subject.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students state the author’s purpose in a complete sentence. They point to details that show whether the author is answering a question, explaining a process, or describing something.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may name the topic instead of the author’s reason for writing. They may also choose a purpose from one interesting detail rather than the whole text.
How to Assess It
- Give students a short passage about how bees make honey. Ask, “Why did the author write this, and which two clues support your answer?”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs three short passages to sort under Answer, Explain, or Describe cards, then have them underline clues that support each choice.
Read a paragraph about penguins and ask, “What did the author want readers to learn, and which sentence proves it?”
Play Purpose Detective by showing brief passages while teams hold up Answer, Explain, or Describe cards and defend their choices.
Examine a school lunch menu, weather report, and library notice, then discuss why each writer created that text.
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Printable RI.2.6 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.2.6, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
Download the worksheetLearning progression
Where This Standard Sits
See the whole path on the Reading: Informational Text progression map.
Before This Standard
If students are struggling here, check these first.
What This Unlocks
Mastery here sets students up for these next.
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Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.6
Analyze the author's purpose in providing an explanation, describing a procedure, or discussing an experiment in a text.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.2
Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.6
Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in the text.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.9-10.6
Analyze the author's purpose in providing an explanation, describing a procedure, or discussing an experiment in a text, defining the question the author seeks ...
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