Goal Identification

This worksheet helps students in Grades 3, 4, and 5 strengthen reading comprehension, main idea identification, historical understanding, and inferencing skills by examining short passages about individuals in early America. Students read four brief descriptions and underline the sentence that best reveals each person’s dream or goal, focusing on motivation, purpose, and determination in early American life.

Learning Goals

• Identifying Main Ideas & Details (Grades 3-5) – Students locate the sentence that best represents a character’s goal or motivation.
• Reading Comprehension – Learners practice close reading to distinguish important ideas from supporting details.
• Understanding Early American Life – The activity highlights opportunity, hardship, and ambition in early U.S. society.
• Inferring Motivation & Purpose – Students analyze text clues to understand why individuals worked toward specific goals.

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource – Designed by educators to align with elementary ELA and social studies standards.
• Clear, Focused Passages – Short texts make the activity accessible while still encouraging careful reading.
• Builds Historical Thinking – Final reflection question prompts students to consider broader reasons behind early American effort and perseverance.
• Flexible Classroom Use – Works well for independent practice, guided reading, assessment, or homework.
• Low-Prep Printable – Ready for classroom or homeschool use with minimal preparation.

This Goal Identification worksheet helps students understand how dreams and goals shaped early American life while strengthening essential reading skills. By identifying main ideas and reflecting on motivation, learners build comprehension, inference, and historical awareness in a meaningful, age-appropriate way.

This worksheet is part of our The American Dream Worksheets collection.