Author's Perspective Graphic Organizer

All 12 organizers

Find the perspective 4

Author's perspective graphic organizer: clues, then the perspective Lines for the title, the author and the topic. A box for words that show what the author thinks stands beside a box for the evidence the author gives, over a box for the perspective in one sentence.
Perspective with text evidence and page numbers The perspective first, then three pieces of text evidence, each with a Page line, for readers who are asked to point to the place in the text.
What is included, what is left out Three boxes side by side for loaded words, facts the author includes and facts or views the author leaves out, over a box for what they show.
Word choice chart One row for each word or phrase the author chose: whether it sounds positive, negative or neutral, and what that tells you.

The author's and mine 2

Before and after reading Three boxes joined by arrows: what you thought about the topic before reading, what the author thinks, and what you think now.
My perspective and the author's What the author thinks beside what you think, each with its reasons, and a box under them for how the two are alike or different.

Show all 12 organizers (6 more)

Two texts or two sides 3

The author and the other side The author's position, another position or conflicting evidence that the text mentions, how the author answers it, and whether the answer convinces you.
Firsthand and secondhand account of one event A box for each account of the same event or topic, and a box under them for the differences in focus and in the information each gives.
Two authors, one topic What each author thinks and the evidence each gives, side by side, with a box at the foot for how their perspectives are alike and different.

Younger readers 2

Author's perspective with primary lines Three boxes down the page on primary lines: the topic, what the author thinks about it, and the words that tell you.
Two to a page: the author thinks, I can tell because Two half sheets with a cut line between them. Each has two short boxes that open with a sentence starter.

Filled-in sample 1

Sample author's perspective organizer, filled in: morning recess The opening sheet done for a made-up opinion article in a school newspaper.

How this list was compiled: Our own layouts and wording; no publisher's organizer is copied. The grade wordings (the author's point of view, firsthand and secondhand accounts, loaded language, conflicting evidence) were checked against the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts, reading standard 6 for literature, informational text and history, read October 12, 2026. The sample is about a made-up article. Licence: own work

How it works

This author's perspective graphic organizer has a reader gather clues before naming what the author thinks: the words the author chose and the evidence the author gives. It is blank, so it fits an article, a speech or a letter.

Read the full guide

Clues first, perspective last

When a text never says outright what the author thinks, collect the clues before deciding. In the filled-in sample, three phrases and three choices of evidence all point the same way, and the last box says so in one sentence.

The reader's view is not the author's

The 3rd grade Common Core standard asks readers to distinguish their own point of view from that of the author, so one sheet sets the two side by side. In 4th and 5th grade the standards turn to accounts of the same event or topic: a firsthand and a secondhand account, then several accounts and the point of view each represents.

Start the sentence with The author thinks. It keeps the reader's own opinion out of the box.
The 6th grade standard also asks how the point of view is conveyed, so older readers quote the words that carry it.

Questions and answers

What is an author's perspective graphic organizer?

A one-page frame for working out what an author thinks or feels about the topic of a text. Its boxes hold the words the author chose and the evidence the author gives, so the perspective written at the foot rests on the text.

What is the difference between author's purpose and author's perspective?

On these sheets, purpose is why the author wrote the text and perspective is what the author thinks about the topic. The Common Core standards for grades 6 to 8 name the two together: determine an author's point of view or purpose.

How do you find the author's perspective?

Look at what the author chose. The Common Core history standard for grades 6 to 8 names two things that reveal an author's point of view: loaded language, and the inclusion or avoidance of particular facts.

Is author's perspective the same as point of view?

The Common Core standards say point of view both for who narrates a story and for the view of the author of an informational text. These sheets say perspective for the second, to keep it apart from first and third person narration.