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Common Core ELA6th GradeReading: Informational

RI.6.6: Find an Author’s Point of View or Purpose

Also written as CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.6 · Cluster: Craft and Structure.

All 41 6th Grade ELA Standards

The Official Wording

Determine an author's point of view or purpose in a text and explain how it is conveyed in the text.

Common Core State Standards, Grade 6, Reading: Informational Text · Read it at the source · Checked October 14, 2026

What RI.6.6 Means in Plain English

Sixth graders decide where a nonfiction author stands and why the piece was written, then find the spots that give it away: a pointed comparison, a loaded word, the line saved for last. An article on jury duty can teach the facts and still argue that citizens should serve.

Fifth graders (RI.5.6) compared several accounts of one event and the points of view behind them. Sixth grade studies a single author closely. Seventh grade (RI.7.6) adds how an author sets their own position apart from what others think.

RI.6.6 I Can Statements

  • I can name an author’s point of view in a nonfiction text.
  • I can tell whether an author wants to inform, persuade or both.
  • I can point to the words and choices that reveal the author’s view.

RI.6.6 Worked Example

The author never writes “I think,” yet the passage takes a clear side, and the weak answer misses it.

Read the Story
Most people picture democracy as voting. But every week across the United States, ordinary people do something more direct: they decide, face to face, whether a neighbor broke the law.The Sixth Amendment promises anyone accused of a crime a trial by an impartial jury. Jurors are chosen from lists of local residents. They need no law degree and wear no badge.A voter is one of thousands, sometimes millions. A juror in a serious criminal case is usually one of twelve, and all twelve must agree before anyone can be found guilty.Many people treat a jury summons as a chore to dodge. It is closer to a privilege: one of the few times the government must hand a decision to its citizens and wait for their answer.
A short passage written for this page.
Question: What is the author’s point of view about jury duty, and how does the author get it across?
Not Yet“The author’s purpose is to inform readers about juries and the Sixth Amendment.”Informing is part of it, but the answer misses the side the author takes. It also points to nothing in the text, so there is no way to check it.
Meets the Standard“The author thinks jury duty is one of the most powerful things a citizen does and should not be dodged. The opening calls it ‘more direct’ than voting. The numbers make the same point: a voter is one of millions, a juror ‘one of twelve.’ The last paragraph says it outright, calling a summons ‘closer to a privilege’ than ‘a chore to dodge.’”It states the view as a full claim, then traces it through three choices the author made: a comparison, a pair of numbers and a reframed ending.
Question Stems to Use
What does the author want readers to think or do after reading?Which words show how the author feels about the subject?What comparison does the author set up, and what does it suggest?Why does the author end with this sentence?Is the purpose to inform, to persuade or both? How can you tell?

Common Mistakes with RI.6.6

Stopping at “to inform”

“The purpose is to give information about juries.”

Try this: Ask “What does the author want you to believe once you know this?” until the answer names a side, not just a topic.

Looking only for “I think”

“The author doesn’t give an opinion because it’s all facts.”

Try this: Show students how a comparison, a choice of numbers or a final line can carry a view, then hunt for each in the text.

Naming the view without the evidence

“The author likes juries.”

Try this: Require every point-of-view claim to come with two places in the text where it shows and a sentence on how each one shows it.

Where RI.6.6 Fits

Comes BeforeRI.5.6Compare several accounts of one event and the points of view they show.
AlongsideRL.6.6Explain how an author builds a narrator’s or speaker’s point of view in fiction and poetry.RH.6-8.6Spot the loaded language and chosen or skipped facts that reveal a history author’s view.
Comes NextRI.7.6Explain how an author sets their position apart from other people’s.

Practice RI.6.6

Quick Check

  1. What is the author’s point of view about jury duty?
  2. How does the comparison in the third paragraph support that view?
  3. Which sentence states the author’s view most directly?

RI.6.6: Other Names

RI.6.6CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.6

Common Core State Standards © Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved. Official wording from the Common Core State Standards PDFs at corestandards.org, last checked October 14, 2026. The explanation, I can statements, example, mistakes and practice on this page are EMStudio’s own, written beside the official wording. They are not part of the standard.