Story Structure

This excerpt is an example of:

Jess Aarons, an eleven-year-old boy living on a country farm with his parents and four sisters, has nurtured one dream all summer long. When school opens, he longs to be the fastest runner in the third, fourth, and fifth grades. Each day at recess races are organized among those three grades, and now that Jess is in fifth grade and at the top of the ladder, he is confident that he can outrun them all.

• Compare and Contrast

• Chronological

• Description

• Cause and Effect

Tags

CCSS.RI.4.5

CCSS.RI.5.5

CCSS.RI.6.5

CCSS.RI.7.5

CCSS.RI.8.5

This excerpt is an example of:

He thinks excitedly of the race coming up, and basks in the idea of winning and distinguishing himself in front of everyone. He pictures the amazement of his schoolmates and the admiration of his family.

However, he is called sharply back to reality when his mother calls him in to breakfast, complaining that he has run too long and will have to milk the cow when he has finished breakfast.

• Descriptive and Cause Effect

• Chronological and Problem/Solution

Tags

CCSS.RI.4.5

CCSS.RI.5.5

CCSS.RI.6.5

CCSS.RI.7.5

CCSS.RI.8.5

This excerpt is an example of:

Jess finishes the chores with his mother. Today she has been canning beans, and the resultant heat from all the boiling has put her in a terrible mood and worn Jess out.

• Cause and Effect

• Chronological Order

• Problem Solution

• Descriptive

Tags

CCSS.RI.4.5

CCSS.RI.5.5

CCSS.RI.6.5

CCSS.RI.7.5

CCSS.RI.8.5

Jess finishes the chores with his mother. Today she has been canning beans, and the resultant heat from all the boiling has put her in a terrible mood and worn Jess out.

This is an example of:

• Cause and Effect

• Descriptive

• Chronological

• Problem Solution

Tags

CCSS.RI.4.5

CCSS.RI.5.5

CCSS.RI.6.5

CCSS.RI.7.5

CCSS.RI.8.5

After a morning's worth of endurance of typical teacher irritability and peer annoyances, recess begins and the races are about to start. Jess is watching quietly as Gary Fulcher bosses everyone around when Leslie comes up to stand beside him. Gary begins to get too high-handed, running the races autocratically and unfairly, so Jess stands up to him, demanding that two boys who tied in their heat both be allowed to run in the finals. Gary, angered, derisively suggests that perhaps Jess wants to let a girl run. Jess agrees and tells her she can run in his heat.

This excerpt is an example of:

• Problem and Solution

• Cause and Effect

• Description

• Compare and Contrast

Tags

CCSS.RL.4.3

CCSS.RL.5.3

CCSS.RL.6.3

CCSS.RL.7.3

CCSS.RL.8.3

Gary wants to kick Leslie out of the race now that she has had her chance and run in her heat, but she demands to run in the finals. Jess backs her up, despite his humiliation and disappointment, by challenging Gary and asking if he's scared to race her. Gary reluctantly agrees to let her race, and she wins the finals as well.

This excerpt is an example of:

• Cause and Effect

• Problem and Solution

• Description

• Chronological

Tags

CCSS.RI.4.5

CCSS.RI.5.5

CCSS.RI.6.5

CCSS.RI.7.5

CCSS.RI.8.5

First Jess lines up with the rest of the boys at recess. Next Gary Fulcher started to give orders to the other students telling the younger ones to leave. After that Leslie arrives and Gary Fulcher tells her that girls should not be in the race.

This excerpt is an example of:

• Chronological

• Cause and Effect

• Problem and Solution

• Compare and Contrast

Tags

CCSS.RI.4.5

CCSS.RI.5.5

CCSS.RI.6.5

CCSS.RI.7.5

CCSS.RI.8.5

One day on the bus, May Belle makes the mistake of shrieking across the bus to a friend that her father gave her Twinkies in her lunch. Unsurprisingly, Janice Avery steals May Belle's Twinkies at lunchtime. May Belle immediately runs screaming to Jess, demanding that he beat her up.

This excerpt is an example of:

• Cause and Effect

• Chronological

• Problem and Solution

• Description

Tags

CCSS.RI.4.5

CCSS.RI.5.5

CCSS.RI.6.5

CCSS.RI.7.5

CCSS.RI.8.5

Unsurprisingly, Janice Avery steals May Belle's Twinkies at lunchtime. In Terabithia, they come up with a plan: they write a love letter to Janice from Willard Hughes, the boy every girl in the seventh grade has a crush on. The letter says that Willard is madly in love with Janice and wants to walk her home from school the next day. The next day in school Jess slips it into her desk. Sure enough, Janice falls for it, and misses the bus the next day, only to have to walk home alone when Willard obviously does not show up. Jess feels a little bit badly for her, but feels they could not have done anything else. The next morning, Janice is furious, and May Belle is thrilled to know that her brother did so much for her.

This excerpt is an example of:

• Cause and Effect with Problem and Solution

• Problem and Solution

• Chronological

• Description with Compare and Contrast

Tags

CCSS.RI.4.5

CCSS.RI.5.5

CCSS.RI.6.5

CCSS.RI.7.5

CCSS.RI.8.5

Which of these excerpts exemplifies description?

• For Jess's present, she gives him an expensive art set, with twenty-four watercolors and a pad of heavy white art paper.

• The next morning Jess exchanges gifts with his family. His parents have splurged on an electric race-car set for him

• Leslie is delighted with the puppy.

• Christmas is coming up, and Jess cannot figure out what to get for Leslie. Money is tight in his household

Tags

CCSS.RI.4.5

CCSS.RI.5.5

CCSS.RI.6.5

CCSS.RI.7.5

CCSS.RI.8.5