English Language Arts and Reading.2.10.B

The student is expected to

discuss how the use of text structure contributes to the author's purpose;

author's purpose strand teks talk image

Knowledge and Skills Statement

Author's purpose and craft: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. The student uses critical inquiry to analyze the authors' choices and how they influence and communicate meaning within a variety of texts. The student analyzes and applies author's craft purposefully in order to develop his or her own products and performances.

Use a checklist to monitor which students master the skill and which students need more practice. A checklist is helpful since this SE asks students to discuss the use of text structure not just understand it. Students should be able to identify comparing and contrasting, problem and solution, sequencing, cause and solution, and sequencing. While reading a text in a whole-group or small-group context, ask students to identify the text structure used. 

Examples:

  • What structure did the author use in the book and why would the author have chosen that?
  • I see a lot of words and phrases like however and on the other hand. What structure is the author using and why do you think the author is using that structure?
  • Do you think this book uses the structure of problem and solution or comparing and contrasting?
  • Do you see any sequencing in this story, or does chronological order matter in this story?
  • Is there any cause and effect evident in this story?
the author’s primary goal in a piece of writing, such as to narrate, to argue, to review, to explain, or to examine
Text structure is the pattern or structure an author uses to construct and organize the author’s ideas for their audience (e.g., main idea/details, cause and effect, compare and contrast, problem and solution, sequencing, description); it is also referred to as organizational pattern.