4.10.C
ELA4th Grade
The Standard
analyze the author's use of print and graphic features to achieve specific purposes
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students examine print and graphic features and decide why the author included them. They connect each feature to a purpose, such as organizing ideas, emphasizing details, or explaining information.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students identify features such as headings, bold print, captions, labels, diagrams, and maps. They explain how a specific feature directs attention, clarifies information, or supports the author’s message.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may name a feature without explaining its purpose. They may assume every picture is decorative or say a feature makes the text “better” without citing specific information.
How to Assess It
- Give students a short article with a heading, bold word, and captioned image. Ask: “Choose one feature and explain what it helps the author accomplish.”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a printed article to cut apart, then match each heading, caption, diagram, and bold word to its purpose.
Display two pages with different features and ask, “Which author choice explains the topic more clearly, and why?”
Play Feature Detective by having students draw feature cards, find examples in classroom texts, and explain each author’s purpose.
Compare a cereal box, weather page, and instruction sheet to see how graphics and print guide readers toward different actions.
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