Purpose & Genre Assessment

This worksheet supports students in Grades 4, 5, and 6 as they deepen their understanding of how authors use genre to achieve specific purposes. Learners read six varied passages-ranging from fantasy and dystopian fiction to biography, informational text, and drama-and identify both the genre and the author’s likely purpose for each selection. This dual focus strengthens analytical reading and helps students move beyond surface-level comprehension.

Learning Goals

• Identifying Author’s Purpose (Grades 4-6) – Students determine whether a text is meant to inform, entertain, persuade, or reflect.
• Recognizing Genre Characteristics – Learners analyze genre-specific traits such as tone, structure, character development, and plot.
• Connecting Genre to Purpose – Students explain how an author’s genre choice supports their overall goal.
• Analytical Reading Skills – Encourages close evaluation of narrative content and textual clues.

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource – Designed to align with upper-elementary ELA standards for reading comprehension and literary analysis.
• Wide Genre Exposure – Introduces students to multiple text types in one cohesive activity.
• Higher-Order Thinking – Requires synthesis of form (genre) and function (purpose), not simple identification.
• Flexible Classroom Use – Ideal for assessments, guided reading discussions, literacy centers, or test preparation.

This purpose and genre assessment worksheet helps students become more strategic and thoughtful readers by teaching them to analyze why a text was written and how its genre supports that goal. By evaluating tone, structure, and intent together, learners strengthen critical thinking, reading comprehension, and literary awareness-skills essential for understanding increasingly complex texts across subjects.

This worksheet is part of our Genres of Literature Worksheets collection.