CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.5
The Standard
Describe how a text presents information (e.g., sequentially, comparatively, causally).
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies 6—12
What This Standard Means
Students need to notice how a history or social studies text is organized. They should be able to say if the author is putting events in time order, comparing groups or ideas, showing cause and effect, or using another clear structure.
Mastery looks like students naming the structure and using evidence from headings, signal words, dates, and sentence patterns. They can explain how the structure helps the reader understand the topic. Students often get stuck by summarizing the topic instead of describing the organization, or by spotting one signal word and ignoring the whole passage.
Ways to Teach It
- Give pairs a short article cut into paragraphs, then have them arrange it and label the structure with evidence from the text.
- Ask students to write: How did the author organize this section, and why might that choice help a reader?
- Use an exit ticket with one paragraph where students identify the structure and underline two clues that prove it.
- Show a news article about a local issue, then have students decide whether it explains causes, compares views, or tells events in order.
Plan a Lesson for CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.5
Generate a complete lesson plan aligned to this standard, with objectives, activities, and materials. Free, no account needed.
Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.5
Compare and contrast the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in two or m...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.7
Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web p...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.5
Describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a ...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.3.3
Describe the relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that p...