8.9.B
ELA8th Grade
The Standard
analyze how the use of text structure contributes to the author's purpose
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English Language Arts and Reading
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students identify how a text is organized and connect that choice to what the author wants readers to think, feel, or do. They explain the connection using evidence from the text.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students correctly identify structures such as cause and effect, comparison, sequence, or problem and solution. They cite details and explain how the organization supports the author’s goal.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may name a structure without explaining its effect. They may also confuse structure with genre, topic, or the author’s message.
How to Assess It
- Give students a short article and ask: “What structure does the author use, and how does it help achieve the author’s purpose?”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs a cut-up article to reorder, then have them explain how the final organization supports the writer’s goal.
Ask students to write: “Why did the author present causes before effects, and how does that choice shape the reader’s response?”
Play a card match game using passage cards, structure labels, purpose cards, and one-sentence evidence explanations.
Compare a news report and advertisement about the same product, then identify how each structure serves a different purpose.
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