RI.3.8
Describe how the author connects ideas between sentences and paragraphs to support specific points in a text.
Step 1: Lesson Standards & Learning Goals
Vertical Progressions
RI.3.8 Describe how the author connects ideas between sentences and paragraphs to support specific points in a text.
------------------------------------------------
RI.2.8 Identify the reasons an author gives to support ideas in a text.
RI.4.8 Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text.
Students will be able to...
❏ Identify how the author connects ideas between sentences and paragraphs
❏ Describe how the author connects ideas between sentences and paragraphs
❏ Describe how the author connects ideas between sentences and paragraphs to support specific points in a text
Vocabulary
describe, description, descriptive details – to
explain something in words; the details necessary to give a full and precise account
LEQ - How does knowledge about the structure of the text help a reader describe ideas connected in sentences and paragraphs?
Step 2: Assessment
Have students read an informational text and highlight each sentence/paragraph that explains or describes cause/effect, sequence, or comparison. Students then write a response describing ideas connected in sentences/paragraphs and how the text structure helped them describe ideas.
Step 3: Lesson Instructions
Classroom Application
Students explain how the author creates relationships between ideas using sentences and paragraphs to convey particular points in the text. Relationships include: cause/effect, comparisons, or first/second/third
in a sequence.
In the Classroom:
During a shared reading, the teacher models aloud how to determine the organizational pattern (comparison, cause/effect, first/second/third) between paragraphs or sentences by discussing and highlighting signal words. Students read a short text and highlight the signal words that help them determine how the sentences and paragraphs relate. Students share their findings.
The teacher gives students three organizational patterns (comparison, cause/effect, first/second/third). Students work in pairs to read various paragraphs and sets of sentences to determine how they are connected. Students place the paragraphs and sentences in the
correct category.
Prepare sentence strips with particular sentences from a text (comparison, cause/effect, sequence). Direct students to arrange strips in the order seen in the text, Analyze and record the connections between the sentences. Discuss signal words that help determine connections.
Have students write their own sentences on an informational topic and explain how the sentences are connected.
Resources & Sample Lesson Plan
Better Lessons - Cause and Effect Unit (may need to create a FREE account!)