Virginia SOL 4.RI.2.C
The Standard
Explain the author’s purpose for writing, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe based on the connections between particular sentences and paragraphs.
Virginia Standards of Learning for English · Craft and Style
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students determine what an informational author wants readers to understand. They explain how ideas in specific sentences and paragraphs connect to reveal that purpose.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students clearly state what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe. They point to connected sentences or paragraphs and explain how those parts support the purpose.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may name the topic instead of the author’s purpose. They may choose a broad label like “to inform” without explaining how connected details reveal what the author wants readers to understand.
How to Assess It
- Give students a three-paragraph article and ask: “What does the author want readers to understand? Use two connected details to explain your answer.”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Print article paragraphs on strips; students sequence them, draw arrows between linked ideas, and label what the author answers, explains, or describes.
Ask students to write: “The author wants readers to understand ___, as shown when paragraph ___ connects to paragraph ___.”
Play Purpose Detective: teams read short passages, choose answer, explain, or describe cards, then defend each choice with linked details.
Compare a weather alert with a weather explainer, then identify each author’s purpose and the details used to achieve it.
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Printable 4.RI.2.C Worksheet
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Related Standards
- 3.RI.2.C
Identify the author’s purpose for writing, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe.
- 5.RI.2.C
Determine the author’s purpose(s) and describe how the author’s perspective (e.g., beliefs, assumptions, biases) influences the meaning of the text.
- 6.RI.2.B
Explain how an author’s word choice, organizational pattern, and language structure convey the author’s purpose.
- 2.RI.2.B
Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe.
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