Georgia 12.P.ST.2.a
The Standard
Develop and apply knowledge of author, audience, and context to discern and establish the purpose of texts being interpreted or constructed and to evaluate the extent to which those texts achieve those purposes. (I/C)
Georgia's K-12 English Language Arts Standards · Practices (P) · Situating Texts
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students determine who created a text, who it targets, and what situation shaped it. They explain the text’s specific purpose and judge whether its choices achieve that purpose. They use the same thinking when creating their own texts.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students identify a specific purpose and intended audience, then support their claims with details from the text and its context. They judge how well the text works and adapt their own choices for a clear audience and goal.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may reduce every purpose to inform, persuade, or entertain without naming the writer’s specific goal. They may call the audience “everyone,” ignore historical context, or assume a writer’s stated intent proves the text succeeded.
How to Assess It
- Give students a short editorial and ask: Who is the intended audience, what does the writer want them to think or do, and how well do two specific choices serve that goal?
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give groups print ads from different decades, then have them label the author, audience, context, purpose, and evidence of effectiveness.
Discuss this prompt: How might the same graduation speech work differently for students, families, and school leaders?
Play Purpose Detective with short text cards, awarding points for a supported purpose claim and a specific judgment of success.
Rewrite a workplace email for a supervisor and a close coworker, then explain how each version fits its audience and goal.
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Printable 12.P.ST.2.a Worksheet
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