CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.5
The Standard
Analyze the structure an author uses to organize a text, including how the major sections contribute to the whole and to an understanding of the topic.
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts · Reading Standards for Literacy in Science and Technical Subjects 6—12
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify how a science or technical text is organized. They explain what each major section adds and how the sections work together to clarify the topic.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students correctly identify patterns such as cause and effect, sequence, comparison, or problem and solution. They explain how each major section develops the topic and why the order makes sense.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may list headings without explaining each section’s purpose. They may confuse text features, such as diagrams and captions, with organizational patterns or assume every article follows chronological order.
How to Assess It
- Give students a short science article with three labeled sections. Ask: “What job does each section do, and how does the order help explain the topic?”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Cut a short science article into sections, then have groups arrange the pieces and label the job of each section.
Ask students to write: “Which section could not be removed without weakening the explanation, and why?”
Play Structure Sort by matching article excerpts to cards labeled sequence, cause and effect, comparison, and problem and solution.
Examine a medicine label or device manual and identify how its sections help readers find information and act safely.
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Printable RST.6-8.5 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RST.6-8.5, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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Related Standards
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.5
Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.5
Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relat...
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.7.5
Analyze the structure an author uses to organize a text, including how the major sections contribute to the whole and to the development of the ideas.
- CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.5
Analyze how a particular sentence, paragraph, chapter, or section fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the ideas.
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