familiar texts and their purposes

• text — something people make to communicate meaning through words, images, sounds or symbols
• purpose — the main job a text is designed to do
• story — a literary text with characters and events, often made to entertain
• informative text — a text made to teach facts or information about a topic
• symbol — a picture or mark that carries an agreed meaning
• cover — the front of a book, which can show its title and clues about its content
• topic — what a text is mainly about
• clue — a feature that helps a reader identify the text or its purpose

I can recognise familiar texts and say what they are for.

Learning goal: I can recognise familiar texts and say what they are for.

I am ready when I can

• I can name a familiar text such as a story, information page, sign or instruction.
• I can state whether the text is made to entertain, inform, instruct or guide.
• I can use a cover, symbol, word, image or layout clue to justify the purpose.
• I can group texts by topic without assuming they all have the same purpose.
• I can check an early cover prediction against the content inside the text.

See the skill in action

Compare two covers: The Wombat Who Lost a Sock shows an illustrated character and an adventure title; Wombat Facts shows a labelled photograph and promises true information.

Worked example 2: identify the purpose of an everyday symbol

A green EXIT sign shows a running figure, a doorway and an arrow.

The same routine works for a story, fact page, recipe, sign or message: identify it, name its job and point to the clue.

• All books have the same purpose — Place a story and fact book side by side and use inside-text clues to name the different jobs.
• Pictures always mean a text is imaginative — Compare an illustrated story with a labelled information diagram and ask what each picture helps the text do.
• Texts about the same topic must be the same type — Keep the topic fixed, then sort by purpose: entertain, inform, instruct or guide.

1. Cover detective — Children inspect paired covers, predict Story or Informative text, then open each text and check the prediction.
   Two cover frames with character-event and photograph-label clues
2. Purpose match — Match a story, fact page, recipe and exit sign to entertain, inform, instruct or guide.
   Four text cards connected to four purpose cards
3. Same topic, different jobs — Sort texts about farm animals by topic first, then compare the different purposes within that topic group.
   One Farm animals hoop containing a story, fact book and care instructions

Quick checks

• What is the main purpose of a story book?
• What is the purpose of an EXIT sign?
• Which text would help you learn facts about frogs?
• A school crossing sign is used to do what?

Mastery evidence

• What is the main purpose of a story book?
• What is the purpose of an EXIT sign?
• Which text would help you learn facts about frogs?
• A school crossing sign is used to do what?
• The learner identifies a familiar symbol and explains its practical purpose using a visible feature.
• The learner groups the text appropriately and cites both a cover clue and a confirming content clue.
• The learner groups by shared topic and then distinguishes at least two purposes within the group.