How Text Structure Builds Ideas
Aligned to RI.6.5 — Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.
What this lesson teaches
Authors organize nonfiction on purpose — by cause and effect, problem and solution, sequence, or comparison. Identify the structure and explain how one paragraph or section fits it to develop the main ideas.
Worked example
An article opens with a problem (a park is littered), then a section on why (no bins), then one on the fix (add recycling). That problem-solution structure means the middle section explains the cause the ending resolves.
Practice questions
- Name the overall structure of an article (cause/effect, problem/solution, sequence, compare).
- Explain the job one paragraph does within that structure.
- Describe how the ending section builds on the sections before it.
Watch the lesson
Every lesson comes with a video taught in English and Spanish — the same video the QR code in the printed workbook opens.
▶ Watch this lessonEn español
Como la Estructura Construye las Ideas
Los autores organizan los textos informativos a proposito: por causa y efecto, problema y solucion, secuencia o comparacion. Identifica la estructura y explica como un parrafo o seccion encaja en ella para desarrollar las ideas principales.
Ejemplo: Un articulo empieza con un problema (un parque lleno de basura), luego una seccion sobre por que (no hay botes) y otra sobre la solucion (poner reciclaje). Esa estructura de problema-solucion hace que la seccion del medio explique la causa que resuelve el final.
More Reading: Informational lessons
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