Author's Purpose
Key Terms
Nonfiction
STAAR Strategies
Text Structure
100

When an author writes to give facts and teach something, their purpose it to ______.

Inform

100

The most important idea the author wants the reader to understand.

Key Idea/ Main Idea

100

What does a diagram help show?

How something looks or works

100

Notes or markings made while reading to track your thinking.

Annotations

100

This structure tells events in order

Sequential Order

200

When an author tries to convince readers to think or act a certain way, the purpose is to ______.

Persuade

200

A conclusion reached using text clues and background knowledge.

Inference

200

The idea an author wants the reader to agree with when writing an argument.  

Claim

200

If you don’t know a word, what tool(s) can help you?

Context clues or a dictionary

200

This structure explains why something happened and what happened as a result.

Cause and Effect

300

When the author writes a story for readers to enjoy, their purpose it to ________. 

Entertain

300

A brief restatement of the key ideas of the text in your own words.

Summary

300

Why does an author include a map?

To show where something is

300

If a question gives line numbers, what should you do?

Look back and reread that part

300

This structure shows similarities and differences between two things.

Advantage vs. Disadvantage/ Compare & Contrast

400

When the author is giving details about a specific topic, their purpose it to _______. 

Describe

400

The arrangement or organization of ideas in the text

Organization Structure/ Text Structure

400

Details from the text that support an idea or inference.

Evidence

400

What is process of elimination?

Crossing out wrong answers to find the best one

400

This structure describes a challenge and gives one or more solutions.

Problem and solution

500

If an author is giving reasons about a topic, their purpose it to ______. 

Explain

500

Why the author wrote the text or included a particular part.

Author's Purpose

500

Features such as headings, captions, bold print, or illustrations that support understanding.

Text Features

500

Read the sentence. Choose the best definition for the word "object."

After reviewing the evidence, the committee decided to object to the proposal.

A) a physical item you can see or touch
B) to show disagreement
C) a goal someone wants to achieve
D) something used in an experiment

B) to show disagreement

500

This structure lists characteristics, features, or examples of a topic.

Description

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