Skip to content
Start My 3 Free Days $0 today · cancel anytime

4th Grade Author’s Purpose Resources

19 4th grade author’s purpose resources: 10 activities, 4 worksheets, 3 Common Core Lessons and more. How teachers use these

4th Grade Author’s Purpose Resources

19 4th grade author’s purpose resources: 10 activities, 4 worksheets, 3 Common Core Lessons and more. How teachers use these

Worksheet
Worksheet4th GradeInformational Text Graphic Organizer Worksheet

This Informational Text Graphic Organizer Worksheet gives 4th graders one landscape page to record genre, author's purpose, key vocabulary, and important facts from any nonfiction text — a reusable, no-prep way to build stronger reading comprehension.

Workbook
Workbook4th GradeFlorida FAST 4th Grade Reading Practice Test Workbook

A Florida FAST 4th grade reading practice test workbook for teachers, with a pretest, skill practice for all 13 benchmarks, mixed review and 2 full-length practice tests. Answer key included, so test prep is ready to go.

Worksheet
Worksheet4th GradeCharacters Voice and Point of View Worksheet

This characters voice and point of view worksheet gives 4th graders four short stories to sort into first person and third person, with text-evidence lines. Answer key included for fast, no-prep reading practice.

Activity
Activity4th GradeReasons and Evidence Activity

In this reasons and evidence activity, 3rd to 5th grade students sort sports cards to match each point with its reasons and evidence. Answer key included.

Worksheet
Worksheet4th GradeWho's Talking Now Worksheet

The Who's Talking Now Worksheet gives 4th graders three short stories about one windy morning, told by three different narrators, plus an answer key for quick checking of point of view work.

Worksheet
Worksheet4th GradeMiss Rumphius Point of View Worksheet

Using Miss Rumphius Point of View Worksheet, students read Miss Rumphius by Barbara Clooney to determine who says the lines from the story.

Video
Video4th GradeAuthor's Purpose Song (MP3)

Using thisAuthor's Purpose Song, students will remember the three reasons why author's write using this catchy animated song.

Activity
Activity4th GradeEvidence Olympics Authors Purpose Activity

Using this Evidence Olympics Authors Purpose Activity, students try to earn a gold medal during Evidence Olympics by reading a passage and finding evidence to support an author's point.

Common Core Lesson
Common Core Lesson4th GradeRI.4.8 Fourth Grade Common Core Lesson

Using RI.4.8 Fourth Grade Common Core Lesson, students explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text.

Activity
Activity4th GradeAuthor's Purpose Activity

This author's purpose activity has 2nd to 4th grade students sort 24 book cards by inform, entertain, or persuade. A practice page and an answer key are included.

Activity
Activity4th GradeFirsthand and Secondhand Accounts Activity

This firsthand and secondhand accounts activity has students sort 24 account cards by who is telling the story. Built for 3rd to 5th grade, with a practice page and answer key included.

Activity
Activity4th GradeComparing Points of View Activity

Children read short opinion texts, match each one to what the author thinks, and compare it with their own view in this 2nd to 4th grade reading game. Practice page and answer key included.

Activity
Activity4th GradeMy Point of View Activity

Using My Point of View Activity, students distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.

Activity
Activity4th GradeAnimal Myth Busters Author's Purpose Activity

This animal myth busters author's purpose activity has 3rd to 5th grade students match reason cards to the points they support. An answer key is included, so checking the work is quick and easy.

Activity
Activity4th GradePoint of View Activity

This point of view activity has 1st-4th grade students hold up Character or Narrator signs to show who is telling each scene. Fold-over cards check the clue words, and an answer key is included.

Common Core Lesson
Common Core Lesson4th GradeRI.4.6 Fourth Grade Common Core Lesson

Using RI.4.6 Fourth Grade Common Core Lesson, students compare and contrast a firsthand and secondhand account of the same event or topic.

Common Core Lesson
Common Core Lesson4th GradeRL.4.6 Fourth Grade Common Core Lesson

Using RL.4.6 Fourth Grade Common Core Lesson, students compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated,including the difference between first and third-person narrations.

Activity
Activity4th GradeWhose Point of View Compare and Contrast Activity

This whose point of view compare and contrast activity has 3rd-5th grade students sort 24 story cards as first or third person. A mat, recording sheet and practice page, with an answer key included.

Activity
Activity4th GradeGuess Who Point of View Activity

Using this Guess Who Point of View Activity, students identify their partner's "secret narrator" as the partner reads a text card.

From our teachers' playbook

Why did the author write this?

What do 4th graders learn about author's purpose?

In younger grades, kids learn the big three: authors write to persuade, inform or entertain. In 4th grade, that question gets deeper. Students look for the specific reasons and evidence an author uses to support a point, and they ask whether the evidence actually holds up. They also compare how two authors write about the same topic, and notice how a firsthand account ("I was there") differs from a secondhand one. The click comes when a student says, "The author only gave facts that help her side!" That is critical reading.

Our favorite ways to teach author's purpose

Fourth graders are ready to read like detectives. These moves give them the tools.

Map the reasons

Kids read a short article and fill in a simple organizer: the author's main point in the middle, each reason in a box, and the evidence underneath. Empty boxes jump out right away and spark great talk about whether the author proved the point.

Why it works: the U.S. Department of Education's guide for teaching elementary math recommends moving from hands-on objects to drawings to numbers.

Informational Text Graphic Organizer WorksheetTry it withInformational Text Graphic Organizer WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →

Find the proof together

Read a paragraph aloud and say, "The author wants me to believe recess should be longer. What did she give me to prove it?" Underline each piece of evidence together. Then kids try the next paragraph on their own.

Why it works: showing first, practicing together, then letting kids try alone is the "gradual release" model teachers have relied on for decades (Pearson and Gallagher, 1983).

Reasons and Evidence ActivityTry it withReasons and Evidence ActivityActivitiesOpen it →

Sing the big three

Use a song to lock in persuade, inform and entertain, then move quickly to harder questions. Once kids can name the purpose in a heartbeat, they have more brain space for how the author pulls it off.

Why it works: a catchy, repeating tune gives the brain a hook to hang words on, so sung text is remembered better (Wallace, 1994).

Author's Purpose Song (MP3)Try it withAuthor's Purpose Song (MP3)SongsOpen it →

Questions parents and teachers ask about author's purpose

What is author's purpose in 4th grade?

It is the reason an author writes a text: to persuade, inform or entertain. Fourth graders also explain how the author uses reasons and evidence to support a point.

What does PIE stand for in author's purpose?

PIE stands for Persuade, Inform and Entertain. It is a quick way for kids to remember the three main reasons authors write.

How do I help my child find the author's purpose?

Ask, "What does the author want you to do, know or feel after reading this?" If it is do, it is probably persuading. Know means informing, and feel often means entertaining.

What is the difference between firsthand and secondhand accounts?

A firsthand account is written by someone who was there, like a diary. A secondhand account is written by someone who learned about it later, like an encyclopedia article. Fourth graders compare the two.