Text Structure Worksheets

Text structures are ways that texts can be organized. Some common types include chronological order, cause and effect, and compare and contrast. Some paragraphs use multiple types of text structures. Some use no discernible structure. That's why I made these worksheets.

These worksheets feature paragraphs that are clearly organized using one of these patterns of organization. Students are required to identify how the text is structured. Then, to help them focus their critical thinking skills, they are to use information from each passage in a graphic organizer. This will help them make connections between text and visual representations of text.

Read the passages. Identify the text structure. Write information from the passage into the appropriate graphic organizer. Graphic organizers are available at the top of the page. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 6-10.

Here's a fun and interesting text structure worksheet about dinosaurs. Read the passages and put the information from each passage into an appropriate graphic organizer. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 6-10.

Here's an interesting text structure worksheet about natural disasters. Students read the following passages and determine the text structure. Then, put information from the text into the appropriate graphic organizer. Remember to focus on the main idea of each paragraph. This one is 4 pages. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 6-10.

Here's another fun text structure worksheet. This one themed around pizza. Students read each passage and determine the text structure. Then, they put information from the text into the appropriate graphic organizer. This one is four pages long. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 5-9.

Here is a single-sided text structure worksheet. It is themed around tornados. Students read five passages and write information from each into graphic organizers on a separate sheet of paper. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 5-9.

Here is another single-sided text structure worksheet. This one is about schools. Students read five passages and determine the pattern of organization in each. Then they write information from the passages into appropriate graphic organizer on the backside or a separate sheet of paper. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 7-11.

In this text structure worksheet, students will read five nonfiction passages about the American War for Independence. They will determine the structure of each passage and create visual representations of the text. Each should include information from the passages. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 7-11.

Here's another double-sided text structure worksheet. This one has six passages related to modern phones. It will help your students master text structure. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 5-9.

Here's another interesting double-sided text structure worksheet. This one is about cats. It has six nonfiction passages to give students practice with identifying text structure. Identify the pattern of organization and create graphic organizers to visualize the text. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 5-9.

Get ready for some explosive fun with text structure! This worksheet features eleven nonfiction passages about fireworks. Students read the passages, identify the text structure, and represent the text using graphic organizers. Kaboom! Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 7-11.

Beep, boop, beep! This worksheet has ten text structure passages about computers. Students read the passages, identify the text structure, and represent the information using the appropriate graphic organizer. This worksheet will require students to perform many literary computations. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 6-10.

If the shoe were on the other foot, I’d love to complete this text structure worksheet about shoes. It has six passages to help your students practice and review their text structure skills. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 4-8.

Here is another fun text structure worksheet. This one’s about dogs, so it could get a little ruff. Ha ha. Just joking. The language in this worksheet is a little less complex so younger students can find success with this one too. Students read passages, identify text structures, and use the text in graphic organizers. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 4-8.

Here is a PowerPoint slide show about text structure. It covers many patterns of organization including cause and effect, sequence, chronological, problem and solution, and compare and contrast. It also includes a ten question practice activity after the lesson. Check it out!

Here is another PowerPoint slide show about text structure. It is a revision of my other text structure lesson. If I were trying to choose between the two text structure lessons, I’d go with this one. It’s an improvement over the previous lesson. This lesson features animated graphic organizers and a practice assessment at the end.

Are you teaching main idea? Are you reviewing text structure? Want to do both at the same time? Check out this reading worksheet. It features six nonfiction passages where students identify the main idea, represent the text structure, and come up with an appropriate title. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 7-11.

Aren’t robots great? Won’t it going to be great when they take over the world? Here’s another text structure worksheet. This time it is themed around robots. This worksheet features six more nonfiction passages where students identify and represent main ideas and text structure. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 6-10.

Do your students keep forgetting their text structure lessons? Here’s another single-sided text structure worksheet with six nonfiction passages. This worksheet is themed around amnesia and memory loss. Students determine the main idea and text structure of each passage and then come up with an appropriate title. They also create graphic organizers that visually represent information from each paragraph. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 7-11.

Want to drive your students nuts? Give them this main idea and text structure worksheet about cars. Ha ha. That’s just a joke. We all know who’s driving whom where. This automotive-themed worksheet will give your students more practice with main idea and text structure. Students read each passage, come up with an appropriate title, put the main idea into their own words, and identify the text structure. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 5-9.

Here are five exciting passages about cotton candy. Students read each passage, explain the main idea, create a graphic organizer representing the information in the text, and come up with a title representing the main idea of the passage. I hope your students enjoy this sweet activity. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 5-9.

This worksheet contains five nonfiction passages themed around bicycles. Students will almost feel like they are out riding a bike instead of doing school work, except that they will be doing school work. This is great practice for standardized tests. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 6-10.

Your students will LOVE working through these six passages, expressing the main idea of each, titling them, and visually representing the text using graphic organizers. Suggested reading level for this text: Grade 7-11.

Here is a constructive and fun text structure project. Students create booklets where each page defines a pattern of organization and includes an original example. Students may work alone or they may partner up, in which case they must draw a picture for each definition. Feel free to modify the project sheet to require all students to draw a picture. This student-centered text structure project will give students practice with writing an synthesizing their knowledge.

Thanks for checking out my resources on text structure! You may also want to check out my text structure activities, which includes lessons, tests, and projects. I hope that you found what you were looking for. Best wishes!

Text Structure
Common Core State Standards

R.5 - Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.

RI.4.5 - Describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text.
RI.5.5 - Compare and contrast the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in two or more texts.
RI.6.5 - 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.
RI.7.5 - 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.By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 4–5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
RI.8.5 - 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.
RI.11-12.5 - Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the structure an author uses in his or her exposition or argument, including whether the structure makes points clear, convincing, and engaging.