Text Structures Unit Planning Guide

Unit Title: Text Structures

Goal: Readers compare how different text structures

contribute to meaning and impact the reader.

Focused Subject Areas: ELA

Grade: 5

Created By:

Nicole Gardin and Amy Hughes

Enduring Understandings:

The understanding of text structures and their uses aids

in reading comprehension.

Essential Questions:

How do various text structures aid in comprehension?

Duration:

21 days

Stage 1

What do we want students know?

*I can analyze how the story elements develop and interact within text.

*I can demonstrate an understanding of the importance of story elements.

*I can apply a knowledge of text features in various text structures for fiction and nonfiction.

Factual Knowledge

Students will know:

• Text structures are

found in both fiction

and nonfiction.

• Different text

structures help you

comprehend texts.

• Readers use more

than one text

structure at a time.

Procedural Knowledge

Students will be able to:

7.2 Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes, topics, and patterns of events depicted in diverse modalities. 8.1 Cite evidence within text to: a. analyze two or more characters, events, or settings in a text and explain the impact on the plot; and, b. explain the influence of cultural,

historical, social and political context on

characters, setting, and plot development.

Identify problem and solution

12.1 Explain how text structures in prose, drama, or poetry differ using terms unique to the genre. 12.2 Compare how different crafted text structures contribute to meaning and impact the reader 10.1 Use cause and effect relationships and comparisons to determine the meaning of words or phrases. 11.1 Apply knowledge of text structures across multiple texts to locate information and gain meaning.

Conceptual Knowledge

Students will understand:

• How setting influences the problem of

the story.

• Use graphic organizers to analyze

cause and effect relationships.

11.1 Explain how the author’s choice of the point of view of a narrator or character impacts content, meaning, and how events are described. 2.1 Analyze ideas, perspectives and information using examples and supporting evidence related to the topic.

Stage 2

How will we know that students understand what has been taught and what should they be able to do?

*Daily Assessments

*Create Common Assessments

*Determine expectations and levels of proficiency

Projects, Research, etc.

Unit Pre-Assessment:

• Computer generated game on text structures

as a pre-assessment of student knowledge

Other Evidence/Assessments:

• Assessments noted throughout the lessons

Extensions:

Students create their own books utilizing one of the

studied text structures.

Differentiation Considerations:

Various levels of text

Interest of students

Student’s choice

Integration of core subject matter

Stage 3

What daily instructional strategies, activities, and resources will be used to facilitate student learning?

*Instructional Strategies *Literature/Multimedia Resources *Materials *Professional Resources *Field Studies/Speakers

Strategies

I see, I think, I wonder,

Graphic Organizers

Story Maps

Use of novel excerpts

Stage 4

Daily Lesson Plans

Will be reflected weekly

Day 1: Standards: SCCCRS RL 8.1, 12.2, 12.1 Vocabulary: Character Setting Problem Solution Plot Event

Day 2: Standards: SCCCRS RL 8.1, 12.1, 12.2 Vocabulary:

Day 3: Standards: SCCCRS RL 8.1 Vocabulary:

Day 4: Standards: SCCCRS RL 8.1 Vocabulary: Rising Action Climax Falling Action Resolution

Day 5: Standards: SCCCRS RL 8.1

Lesson:

• Introduce story elements using an anchor chart.

• Choose a read aloud to help introduce story elements.

• Suggestions: Enemy Pie, The Other Side, The Sweetest Fig, Thundercake, Verdi

• Introduce vocabulary

• Create a story map using your chosen read- aloud and story elements.

Figure 1 Story Map Day 1

Lesson: • Review the story

elements chart. • Complete another

read aloud (refer to yesterday’s suggestions) and story map. Possibly turn story map into a poster sized anchor chart.

• Have students complete a story map on their own during independent reading.

Figure 2 Vertical Story Map Day 2

Lesson:

• Review plot from the story elements chart.

• Discuss what plot is more in depth.

• Use the plot diagram. Make sure every child has a copy in his/her journal.

Figure 3 Plot Diagram Day 3

• Read aloud the

book Henry’s Freedom Box, Enemy Pie, or Verdi and complete a Plot Diagram.

Figure 4 Blank Plot Diagram Day 3

Lesson:

• Review plot from yesterday.

• Introduce the more complex vocabulary terms that accompany plot.

• Read ThundercakeProbuditi, or The Sweetest Fig and complete Plot Mountain together. Figure 5 Blank Plot Mountain Day 4

Lesson: • Review plot from

yesterday. • Go over the

diagram we created together.

• Give students a short fictional passage to read.

• They will read and annotate this passage as they complete another plot diagram independently.

• This will be counted as an Assessment.

• Choose one of the provided plot diagrams or one that you have found.

Day 6: Standards: SCCCRS RL 8.1, RI 11.1 Vocabulary: problem solution conflict resolution

Day 7: Standards: SCCCRSRL 8.1, RI 11.1 Vocabulary:

Day 8: Standards: SCCCRS RL 8.1 Vocabulary:

Day 9: Standards: SCCCRS RL 8.1 Vocabulary:

Day 10: Standards: SCCCRS RL 8.1, RI 11.1, RL 12.2, 12.1 Vocabulary:

Lesson: • Introduce problem

and solution. • Make sure to

discuss conflict (problem) and resolution (solution) as well.

Lesson: • Review problem

and solution • Use several

passages (on varying levels) to assist students in identifying

Lesson:

• Review setting from the early chart on story elements.

• Make sure students understand that

Lesson: • Review

Setting from yesterday. Reinforce the concept that setting is TIME and PLACE.

Lesson: • Use this day to

review/reteach the story elements taught so far.

• Use a variety of short passages, fiction and nonfiction, for

• Choose a read aloud and identify problem and solution together.

• Suggestions: Miracle Mud, When the Wolves Returned: Restoring Nature’s Balance in Yellowstone, Where Does the Garbage Go, Jamaica’s Find, Dog Breath, and Something Beautiful.

problem and solution.

• These can be found on newsELA.com, readworks.org, and other online platforms.

• Students will identify Problem and Solution on their own.

• Come together and check.

Figure 6 Problem and Solution Chart Day 7

setting is TIME and PLACE.

• Use excerpts from well-known novels to discuss how the setting impacts the plot.

• Discuss how the plot would have changed had the setting changed.

• Choose a read-aloud where the change of the time or place would totally change the story. As you read, have students filling out and responding to a graphic organizer on setting.

• Some read-aloud suggestions are: Owl Moon, Nettie’s Trip South, Thundercake

Pink and Say, The Wall, The Name Jar, The Other Side

Figure 7 Setting Chart Day 9

students to read and identify the text structure/story element contained within.

Day 11: Standards: SCCCRS RL 8.1, RI 11.1, RL 12.2, 12.1 Vocabulary:

Day 12: Standards: SCCCRS RL 7.1, 7.2, RL 8.1, 8.2, RL 10.1, 11.1, RL 12.1, 12.2 Vocabulary: Cause / Effect Problem and Solution in nonfiction Compare and contrast Sequencing Description

Day 13: Standard: SCCCRS RL 10.1 Vocabulary:

Day 14: Standard: SCCCRS RI 11.1 Vocabulary:

Day 15: Standard: SCCCRS RI 11.1 Vocabulary:

Lesson: Assessment Use this day to assess the skills taught thus far.

Lesson: Text Structures of Informational Text Introduce these text structures using an anchor chart. • Introduce

vocabulary. • Text Structure

video from Flocabulary

• https://www.flocabulary.com/unit/text-structure/ • Explain that writers use certain text structures to organize information in informational text.

Lesson: • Introduce cause and effect; how something makes something else happen (how something occurred because of something else)

• Begin a chart of text structure signal words

Figure 8 Cause and Effect Signal Words Day 13 • Also, from a nonfiction article-create cause and effect paper chains.

Lesson: • Introduce

problem/solution innonfiction text; has events that lead to a problem being solved in the end.

• Use nonfiction articles (pertaining to science and SS) to help determine problemand solution

• Add signal words to the chart for problem/solution

Figure 9 Problem/Solution

Lesson: • Choose a book to

read and share with your students.

• Have them complete a graphic organizer as you read or give them a printed section of the book to use after you finish reading.

• They can complete the organizer independently or in small groups.

• Once finished, come back together to share.

• Create a “noticings” chart from a nonfiction passage. Have students identify the structure they believe it to be. • Suggestions: Use a read aloud from a current unit of study that correlates with Science or Social Studies.

Teacher resource: Informational Text Structures Resources

Read aloud suggestions: Milk: From Cow to Carton, What Happens to a Hamburger, Flash, Crash, Rumble, and Roll, Oil Spill, and Aliens from Earth: When Animals and Plants Invade Other Ecosystems

Signal Words Day 14 Figure 10 Problem/Solution Signal Words 2 Day 14

Day 16: Standard: SCCCRS RL 7.2 Vocabulary: Compare Contrast Similarities Differences

Day 17: Standard: SCCCRS RL 7.2 Vocabulary:

Day 18: Standard: SCCCRS C 2.1 Vocabulary: Sequence Steps Chronological order

Day 19: Standard: SCCCRS C 2.1 Vocabulary:

Day 20: Standard: SCCCRS RL 11.1 Vocabulary: description

Lesson: • Introduce compare

and contrast; it compares similarities and differences

• Add signal words to the chart for compare/contrast

• Complete a graphic organizer for comparing and contrasting together.

Figure 11 Compare/Contrast Signal Words Day 16 Book Suggestions: Cats Vs. Dogs, The Pain and the Great One, any Cinderella variant, any fractured fairy tale, Tops and Bottoms, Jumanji and Zathura, any version of the Night Before Christmas

Lesson:

• Choose another book to read and share with your students that is good for comparing and contrasting.

• Have them complete a graphic organizer as you read or give them a printed section of the book to use after you finish reading.

• They can complete the organizer independently or in small groups.

• Once finished, come back together to share.

Figure 12 Venn Diagram Day 17

Lesson: • Introduce sequencing; events written in a specific time order or with steps

• Add signal words to the chart for sequencing

Figure 13 Sequence Signal Words Day 18 • Social Studies articles and read-alouds are good resources for sequencing

Book Suggestions: Anansi the Spider, Rosie Revere,

Engineer, Thundercake, A Chair for My Mother, Dog Breath, Looking at Glass Through the Ages, Trapped by the Ice, Tricky Vic

Lesson:

• Choose another book to read and share with your students that is good for sequencing.

• Have them complete a graphic organizer as you read or give them a printed section of the book to use after you finish reading.

• They can complete the organizer independently or in small groups.

• Once finished, come back together to share.

Figure 14 Sequence Chart Day 19

Lesson: • Introduce

description; has details that tell more about something, someone, or someplace Figure 16 Description Signal Words Day 20

• Distribute a passage, having students identify the topic, then using a bubble map, list attributes of the subject.

Figure 15 Bubble Map Day 20

Day 21: Standard: all those covered Vocabulary:

Lesson: • Assess students

on the various types of text structures taught.

• Distribute a copy of the text structure chart which includes the definition, signal words, graphic organizer, paragraph frame, and summary questions.

Figure 17 Text Structure Chart page 1 Day 21

Figure 18 Text Structure Chart page 2 Day 21

Assess the students possibly using sorting cards as an informal assessment and a teacher created formal assessment.

Stage 5

How many students met the learning target?

*Revisit the standards and reflect on instruction

*Analyze student work

*Discuss progress toward proficiency

*Discuss strengths, weakness, and misconceptions identified

*Determine reteach and extend

Scripted Lesson for Day 12

Concept: Introducing Text Structures

Teaching Point: Readers must understand how authors organize their information to improve their

comprehension.

Connection: Students should begin to note the connection between fiction and nonfiction text in how

the text is structured.

Teach:

“Today we will continue working on text structure, but we will focus on the structure of informational

text. Authors organize their information intentionally. They present their ideas in an organized pattern.

This is called text structure. Understanding text structure empowers readers. When you can identify a

specific structure, you know how to categorize all the details, and seeing relationships between all

these ideas improves your comprehension.”

• The teacher should have an anchor chart made with the text structures listed with a brief

description or signal words and graphic organizer. Figure 20 Informational Text T-chart

(scripted lesson) Discuss this chart with students.

• We can help students discern what structure a text is written in by noting key words.

Transitions act as road signs to help readers navigate a text; they signal to the reader how the

next detail or idea is related to the previous one.

• By highlighting the transition words in a passage before reading it, students begin associating

certain transitions with particular text structures.

• Teacher should explain all the text structures that are utilized in informational texts and how

they differ from fictional texts.

• Show students the “Text Structure” video from Flocabulary -

https://www.flocabulary.com/unit/text-structure/

• Teacher will choose a read aloud (ahead of time) for this lesson. The read aloud can be an

article that supports the science/social studies content area or an informational text. Read this

text aloud to the students.

“Today, as I read (title) aloud, I want you to pay special attention to the text structure of this piece.

When I finish, we are going to create a chart on things we notice about the text and try to determine

which text structure or structures were used.”

Active Engagement:

• After you finish the read aloud, create an anchor chart on “noticings” in the text. Have the

students share what they noticed about the text you read – it may have been some

cause/effect situation, a sequence of events, a specific description, some compare/contrast

they noticed – whatever the students noticed, put on the chart.

• Then have the students group the “noticings” into categories that could begin to point to certain

text structures.

Link:

Today as you are reading, I want to see you making notes as you try to determine the text structure of

the book you are reading. Remember our noticings chart. Make noticings yourself and see which

category they fit in. Use your Post-Its to flag certain sections of your book that you think really

highlight the text structure.

Share:

Restate what the objective during independent reading was. You should have noticed some students

using their flags and really identifying text structures as you were conferring with students. Ask those

students to share what they discovered and add to the anchor chart.

Explaining Vocabulary:

1. Sequencing / Chronological Structure--Use the train image with its sequenced beginning, middle, and

end to show a series of events that happen over time. If the sequence includes numerous steps, use this

longer train image. (This text structure could also be applied to literature specifically using the image of the

train climbing the mountain to symbolize the chronology of plot development.) Access all versions of the

matching Figure 19 Chronological Structure Plot Map. Fine-tune students' ability to retell the sequence of a

text. This will include retelling stories (literature) or processes (informational text) like explaining the life cycle of

a butterfly or the change in the seasons.

2. Main Idea/Categorical Structure--Use the vegetable tray image with its different sections or categories to

explain that enumeration is an organized collection of information. Each item is named and described, one by

one. This is the text structure for main idea/supporting details and descriptive writing. Access the matching

Figure 2020 Enumerative Structure Donut Map.

3. Compare-Contrast Structure--Use the railroad track image to compare the similarities and differences of

two topics, feature by feature. For more than two items being compared, flip the tracks horizontally. Access the

matching Compare/Contrast graphic vertical organizer and the matrix/horizontal version, too.

Using T-Charts, show students how to separate comparable information about each of the topics. Here's an

example completed after reading about two birds--eagles and owls. Show students how to sort information in

the text, grouping like ideas and clustering details about similar facets. Foldables are great for taking notes

while reading about the different facets of a big concept.

4. Cause-Effect Structure--Use Figure 21 Cause/Effect Domino Structure to demonstrate one or more

reasons why something happened. Figure 22 Cause/ Effect Chicken Feet Structure is perfect for one cause

with multiple effects. Using the concepts of before and after, teach students to identify the relationships of

cause(s) and effect(s).

5. Problem-Solution Structure--The concepts of problems and solutions are not foreign to students. They

have heard from an early age that they need to compromise and cooperate. Teach students to read for the

problem first, and then read for the solution(s).

Figure 20 Informational Text T-chart (scripted lesson)

Figure 1 Story Map Day 1

Figure 2 Vertical Story Map Day 2

Figure 3 Plot Diagram Day 3

Figure 4 Blank Plot Diagram Day 3

Figure 5 Blank Plot Mountain Day 4

Figure 6 Problem and Solution Chart Day 7

Figure 7 Setting Chart Day 9

Figure 8 Cause and Effect Signal Words Day 13

Figure 9 Problem/Solution Signal Words Day 14

Figure 10 Problem/Solution Signal Words 2 Day 14

Figure 11 Compare/Contrast Signal Words Day 16

Figure 12 Venn Diagram Day 17

Figure 13 Sequence Signal Words Day 18

Figure 14 Sequence Chart Day 19

Figure 15 Bubble Map Day 20

Figure 16 Description Signal Words Day 20

Figure 17 Text Structure Chart page 1 Day 21

Figure 18 Text Structure Chart page 2 Day 21

Figure 19 Chronological Structure Plot Map

Figure 2020 Enumerative Structure Donut Map

Figure 21 Cause/Effect Domino Structure

Figure 22 Cause/ Effect Chicken Feet Structure