Georgia 9.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 identify who created a text, who it targets, and what situation shaped it. They infer the goal, evaluate how well the choices support it, and make similar choices in their own texts.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students explain how details about the creator, intended audience, and situation shape a text. They cite specific choices to judge effectiveness and create messages suited to a clear audience and goal.
Common Misconceptions
- Students often name the topic instead of the purpose, or say the audience is “everyone.” They may judge a text by whether they agree with it rather than whether its choices achieve its goal.
How to Assess It
- Show a school event flyer. Ask students to identify its audience and purpose, cite one design or language choice, and judge whether that choice works.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs two ads for the same product; students annotate clues about audience, context, purpose, and effectiveness using colored sticky notes.
Ask students to explain how a principal’s message about attendance should change for students, families, and teachers.
Play Purpose Detective with short text cards; teams identify the likely audience and goal, then earn points by citing two clues.
Students revise a real school announcement for social media, a family email, and a hallway poster, changing language and details for each audience.
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Printable 9.P.ST.2.a Worksheet
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