Your Literacy Standards Companion, Grades 6-8. Jim Burke

       6 Analyze how a particular sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza fits into the overall structure of a text and contributes to the development of the theme, setting, or plot.

       7 Analyze how a drama’s or poem’s form or structure (e.g., soliloquy, sonnet) contributes to its meaning.

       8 Compare and contrast the structure of two or more texts and analyze how the differing structure of each text contributes to its meaning and style.

       6 Describe how a text presents information (e.g., sequentially, comparatively, causally).

       7 Describe how a text presents information (e.g., sequentially, comparatively, causally).

       8 Describe how a text presents information (e.g., sequentially, comparatively, causally).

       6 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.

       7 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.

       8 Analyze in detail the structure of a specific paragraph in a text, including the role of particular sentences in developing and refining a key concept.

       6 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.

       7 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.

       8 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.

       6 Gist: Break down the text’s structure to see how one component—a sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza—helps develop the theme, setting, or plot.Which component—a sentence, chapter, scene, or stanza—contributes most to the development of the theme, setting, or plot?How does this specific component affect the development of the theme, setting, or plot of this text?

       7 Gist: Break down the design of a poem or play to show how one component (e.g., a soliloquy, a sonnet) adds to the meaning of that text.Which form or structure (e.g., a soliloquy, a sonnet) does the author use in this play or poem?How does the author’s use of this specific form or structure contribute to the meaning of the poem or play?

       8 Gist: Examine the similarities and differences between the design of multiple texts, explaining how these different designs affect the meaning and style of each text.What are the key structural similarities and differences between these different texts?How do the different structures contribute to the meaning and style of each text?

       6 Gist: Discuss the structural approach the author uses to present information in this text (e.g., sequential, comparison/contrast, cause-effect).What information is the author examining in this text?How does the author organize the information presented in this text (e.g., by time, category, problem-solution)?

       7 Gist: Discuss the structural approach the author uses to present information in this text (e.g., sequential, comparison/contrast, cause-effect).What information is the author examining in this text?How does the author organize the information presented in this text (e.g., by time, category, problem-solution)?

       8 Gist: Discuss the structural approach the author uses to present information in this text (e.g., sequential, comparison/contrast, cause-effect).What information is the author examining in this text?How does the author organize the information presented in this text (e.g., by time, category, problem-solution)?

       6 Gist: Break down the text’s structure to see how one component—a sentence, paragraph, chapter, or section—helps develop the ideas in that text.Which component—a sentence, paragraph, chapter, or section—contributes most to the development of ideas in the text?How does this specific component help to develop the author’s ideas?

       7 Gist: Break down a text’s design, showing how the major sections (e.g., chapters, subsections) add to the text as a whole and develop its ideas.Which organizational approach (e.g., chapters, subsections) does the author use in this text?How does the author’s use of this structure contribute to the text as a whole and the development of its ideas?

       8 Gist: Break down the structure of a particular paragraph, examining in depth its design and how specific sentences enhance and clarify a main idea within that paragraph.What are the key structural elements in this paragraph that develop its ideas?Which sentence in this paragraph does most to develop and refine a key idea—and how does it do that?

       6 Gist: Break down the organizational approach to the text, examining how the main sections add to the meaning of the text as a whole and help the reader understand the subject discussed in the text.What organizational techniques or patterns does the author use in this text?How do this organizational approach and the main sections improve the text and the reader’s understanding of it?

       7 Gist: Break down the organizational approach to the text, examining how the main sections add to the meaning of the text as a whole and help the reader understand the subject discussed in the text.What organizational techniques or patterns does the author use in this text?How do this organizational approach and the main sections improve the text and the reader’s understanding of it?

       8 Gist: Break down the organizational approach to the text, examining how the main sections add to the meaning of the text as a whole and help the reader understand the subject discussed in the text.What organizational techniques or patterns does the author use in this text?How do this organizational approach and the main sections improve the text and the reader’s understanding of it?

       Have students determine the author’s purpose, audience, and occasion for a text; then ask them to identify how these factors influence the choices the author made about the text’s structure.

       Identify the organizational pattern or rhetorical mode of this text—compare–contrast, problem–solution, cause–effect, chronological, and so on—and then examine what additional choices the author makes and how these choices shape the meaning.

       Model for students how you determine the structure of a complex text and use that knowledge to better understand and analyze the text through close reading.