Author's Purpose Test Prep Small Passages Travel Activity

This activity includes 22 small passages written at about a 4th-5th grade level. With each passage is a question about the author's purpose for the passage.

Unlike most author's purpose worksheets, which only offer answers of the specific purpose, these answers include the purpose and the reasoning behind the purpose. This really makes the students think about two things - What is the author's purpose, and what is the passage about (main idea)?

What I like to do with these is place one on each student's desk and allow students to travel around the room, reading and answering each passage. They love it because they are constantly moving around the room, and I love it because they are getting tons of practice with author's purpose and main idea.