Text Structure

Jimmy’s pizzeria is my favorite pizza place in the city, but you wouldn’t be able to tell that just by looking at the outside.  It is an inconspicuous brown brick building.   It doesn’t even have a sign, just the name of the establishment in three-inch letters on the storefront window.  The inside isn’t much to speak of either.  There are some chrome swivel stools along a laminate countertop that makes an L shape, separating the register and kitchen area from the dining area.  Booth seating lines the eating area of the restaurant area and a few favorable reviews from local publications are framed and displayed on the walls.  Yeah, the aesthetics of the place are a little underwhelming, but forget the scenery.  I go to Jimmy’s for the pizza.

• Descriptive

• Sequence

• Problem/Solution

• Compare/Contrast

Getting a free pizza from Mortini’s Pizza Parlor is as easy as pie, pizza pie.  You’ll see.  Start by placing your order.  I suggest that you choose a white, New York style pizza with lots of cheese, but you can get whatever floats your boat.  After placing your order, wait until your pizza comes.  It may take thirty minutes to an hour (longer on Super Bowl Sunday).  When your pizza finally arrives, pay your deliver driver.  Don’t forget to tip.  Then, eat your pizza, or just throw it away.  We’re fine with either.  But before you throw it away, grab the coupon off the top of the box and save it in a drawer.   Collect ten of these coupons and the next time you place your order from Mortini’s Pizza Parlor, you can redeem them for a free pizza.  Now you see, getting a free pizza from Mortini’s is as easy as eating pizza.

• Problem/Solution

• Cause/Effect

• Descriptive

• Sequence

If you ask me, the perfect pizza has a thin crust, but not too thin. Even though I’m from Chicago, I prefer the New York style crust. Your perfect pizza might have tomato sauce on it, but mine has pesto on top of the crust. On the pesto I’d like to see lots of cheese: a full layer of shredded mozzarella and Romano cheese, and on top of the shredded mozzarella, I’d like to see some slices of fresh mozzarella. Now you might think I’m crazy for this one, but I’d really like to see some goat cheese in the crust. To top it all off, I’d like to see it polka-dotted with pepperoni slices. Now that’s what I call a pizza pie.

• Sequence

• Problem/Solution

• Cause/Effect

• Descriptive

I do my chores each Saturday.

First, I fold the laundry and put it away.

Then I sweep and mop the kitchen floor.

After that, I empty all the garbage cans and

the recycling. Finally, when all of my chores are

finished, I can go outside to play.

• compare and contrast

• problem and solution

• despriction

• sequence

STAAR Question: The author organizes this selection by ----

What skill are you being asked to use in this question?

• main idea

• text structure

• conflict

• supporting details

The way the author chooses to present information

• Text Stucture

• Point of view

• Flashback

• Conflict

Which words indicate that a passage is structured in chronological order? 

• consequently, effect, cause, because, therefore, so

• next, first, finally, then, second, followed by, after

• the question is, problem, one answer is, solution

• different from, similar to, on the other hand, compared with, as well as

What type of text structure examines similarities and differences between subjects?

• Sequence

• Problem/Solution

• Comparison

• Maps

p. 8: Match the following

• The writer relates results back to an original event.

• compare and contrast

• The writer focuses on a problem and proposed solutions to the problem.

• chronological order

• The writer describes a series of events in the order in which they occur in time.

• problem and solution

• The writer focuses on how ideas are similar (comparison) and how they are different (contrast).

• cause and effect

Match the following

• Information moves from one point to another

• cause and effect

• A problem is explained, then a solution is presented.

• chronological order

• Certain events present a particular outcome.

• problem-solution

• in order by time

• fact by fact