CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.5.5

ELA5th GradeCraft and Structure

The Standard

Compare and contrast the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in two or more texts.

Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Informational Text

What This Standard Means

Students need to identify how an informational text is built, not just what it says. They should name structures like chronology, compare and contrast, cause and effect, and problem and solution, then explain how that structure helps organize the information.

Mastery looks like comparing two texts on the same topic and saying, with evidence, how their structures are alike or different. Students often get stuck summarizing the topic instead of analyzing the structure. They may also spot signal words but miss the bigger pattern across the whole text.

Ways to Teach It

Give pairs two short articles on volcanoes, one cause and effect and one chronology, and have them sort paragraphs under structure labels.
Ask students to write: How did each author organize the information, and why might that choice work for the topic?
Use a two-question exit ticket: Name each text structure, then copy one sentence that helped you decide.
Compare a recipe and a product review, and discuss how each structure helps readers get different kinds of information.