Identifying Structure

 

Subject Area: Reading/Language Arts

Concept/skill: Identifying Structure

Grade: 3-6

Time Frame: 60 minutes

Language Arts State Goals: 1.B.2b

Goal: 

bullet Students will be able to determine the structure of a book and using a model organizer, analyze its parts.

Objectives:

bullet Students will be able to identify the structure of a story to improve comprehension.

Materials: My Brother Martin

 Instructional Procedures: 

bullet It is important to discuss with students the different types of story structures that exist. 
bullet Using the organizers as a starting point, discuss with students, description, compare/contrast, cause and effect, and sequencing. 
bullet The book My Brother Martin lends itself to sequencing. 
bullet After thoroughly discussing the different patterns, have students come up with examples of different items that could be used in each category.

Activity:

bullet Read My Brother Martin with students.
bullet Discuss with students what point of view is.  This story is written from the perspective of a sister.  Another good point of view story is The True Story of the Three Little Pigs.
bullet Discuss with students what a biography is.  A biography is the story of a person’s life. 
bullet Discuss with students how the author organizes her thoughts.
bullet Using large chucks of the story, when he was born, pranks they used to play, playing in their neighborhood, getting older and facing certain realities, the effects this had on MLK’s life work, talk about the pattern that is emerging.
bullet Have students decide on a pattern and then have students analyze the story to use that pattern.
bullet Allow students to work in pairs.

Assessment:

bullet Have students sequence the events of Christine’s life (or another biography) using one of the patterns.

 

Cause and Effect

Compare and Contrast

Descriptive Chart

Problem/Solution Chart

Sequencing Chain

 

 

 

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