CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.5
The Standard
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 text.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Informational Text
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify how an informational text is organized. They use details and signal words to explain whether information follows time order, comparison, cause and effect, or problem and solution.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can name the structure of a full passage or one section. The student can point to signal words and details that support the answer.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may name the topic instead of explaining how the information is organized. They may rely on one signal word or confuse time order with cause and effect. They may also mix up a problem with its cause.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: “Owls hunt at night and have strong night vision. Hawks hunt during the day and rely on sharp daytime sight.” Ask students to name the structure and underline supporting details.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs four paragraph cards to sort under labeled mats: time order, comparison, cause and effect, and problem and solution.
After reading a short article, have students write: “The author organized this section by ___ because ___.”
Play Structure Detective: teams identify a passage’s pattern, circle clues, and earn a point only when their evidence matches.
Compare a recipe, a product comparison, a news report, and an advice column, then label how each organizes information.
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Printable RI.4.5 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.5, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
Download the worksheetLearning progression
Where This Standard Sits
See the whole path on the Reading: Informational Text progression map.
Before This Standard
If students are struggling here, check these first.
What This Unlocks
Mastery here sets students up for these next.
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Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.5
Describe how a text presents information (e.g., sequentially, comparatively, causally).
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.3
Analyze a complex set of ideas or sequence of events and explain how specific individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop over the course of the text.
- 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...
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