CurriculumGrade 7English Language Arts

How Structure Organizes a Text

Aligned to RI.7.5 — Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.

What this lesson teaches

Authors organize texts by cause-effect, compare-contrast, problem-solution, or sequence. Analyze how the major sections fit together and build the main ideas.

Worked example

An article on floods first describes the problem, then explains causes, then offers solutions. That problem-cause-solution order helps readers move from worry to action — structure guides understanding.

Practice questions

  1. In an article, identify the organizing pattern (sequence, cause-effect, compare, problem-solution).
  2. Explain how one section prepares you for the next.
  3. Describe how the ending section pulls the ideas together.

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.

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En español

Cómo la estructura organiza un texto

Los autores organizan textos por causa-efecto, comparación, problema-solución o secuencia. Analiza cómo encajan las secciones y construyen las ideas principales.

Ejemplo: Un artículo sobre inundaciones describe el problema, luego las causas, luego soluciones. Ese orden problema-causa-solución lleva al lector de la preocupación a la acción.

More Reading: Informational lessons

Tracing & Evaluating an ArgumentRI.7.8Evidence in NonfictionRI.7.1Two Central IdeasRI.7.2How Ideas and Events ConnectRI.7.3Word Choice in NonfictionRI.7.4Author's Purpose and PositionRI.7.6

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