ALEX Resources

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SS2010] ALA (4) 2 :

2 ) Relate reasons for European exploration and settlement in Alabama to the impact of European explorers on trade, health, and land expansion in Alabama.

•  Locating on maps European settlements in early Alabama, including Fort Condé, Fort Toulouse, and Fort Mims

•  Tracing on maps and globes, the routes of early explorers of the New World, including Juan Ponce de León, Hernando de Soto, and Vasco Núñez de Balboa

•  Explaining reasons for conflicts between Europeans and American Indians in Alabama from 1519 to 1840, including differing beliefs regarding land ownership, religion, and culture

[ELA2021] (4) 22 :

22. Analyze events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in informational texts, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.

a. Cite evidence to explain the author's perspective toward a topic in an informational text.

[ELA2021] (4) 23 :

23. Evaluate how text features and structures contribute to the meaning of an informational text.

a. Identify and describe the structures within a text, including description, comparison and contrast, sequence, problem and solution, and cause and effect.

b. Interpret information from text features in both print and digital formats.

[ELA2021] (4) 30 :

30. Synthesize information on a topic in order to write or speak knowledgeably about the subject.

a. Make complex inferences within and across texts to determine the importance of information.

b. Use evidence to explain information across texts including different perspectives and/or points of view.

[ELA2021] (4) -6 :

R1. Utilize active listening skills during discussion and conversation in pairs, small groups, or whole-class settings, following agreed-upon rules for participation.

[ELA2021] (4) 20 :

20. Use details and examples from a text to indicate what the text explicitly states.

a. Interpret facts from an informational article, using details and examples from the text to explain the interpretation.

b. List the main questions answered by an informational article.

c. Categorize statements in an article or other informational text as fact or opinion and give reasons for each choice.

d. Explain the differences between primary and secondary sources, giving examples from texts.

Students will use primary sources to gain information about Hernando de Soto, his route, and his interactions with Native Americans in Alabama. Students will read two articles in order to identify information about Hernando de Soto and his journey through Alabama. Students will also learn about the impact of European Exploration on the Native Americans who were in Alabama in the 1500s. 

This lesson was created in partnership with the Alabama Department of Archives and History.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2021] (3) 19 :

19. Determine the explicit or implied main idea and supporting details of a text.

a. Explain how supporting details contribute to the main idea, using textual evidence.

b. Recount or summarize the key ideas from the text.

[ELA2021] (3) 23 :

23. Identify and use text features in informational passages to locate information.

Examples: headings, photographs, illustrations, labels, charts, graphs, legends

a. Explain how text features support details in the text.

b. Explain how illustrations contribute to meaning in a story.

c. Interpret text features used in written and digital formats.

[ELA2021] (4) 21 :

21. Explain how relevant details support the implied or explicit main idea of a text.

a. Determine the central idea or theme of a text.

b. Explain the difference between implied and explicit details.

c. Summarize the key supporting details by citing evidence from a text.

[ELA2021] (4) 23 :

23. Evaluate how text features and structures contribute to the meaning of an informational text.

a. Identify and describe the structures within a text, including description, comparison and contrast, sequence, problem and solution, and cause and effect.

b. Interpret information from text features in both print and digital formats.

[ELA2021] (5) 22 :

22. Determine the implied and/or explicit main idea in literary and informational texts.

[ELA2021] (5) 24 :

24. Determine and evaluate the effectiveness of digital and print text features and structures, including comparison and contrast, problem and solution, and cause and effect.

a. Identify various text features used in diverse forms of text.

b. Compare and contrast the overall structure of events, ideas, concepts, or information in multiple texts.

Save the Earth from all kinds of waste and trash. Rap with Mister C, read charts with a landfill rat, break the code for recycling symbols, then share this dirty, rotten, self-paced lesson with your friends.

This resource guides students as they identify the main idea and support details of a text.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2021] (2) 27 :

27. Identify the text structures within literary and informational texts, including cause and effect, problem and solution, and sequence of events.

[ELA2021] (3) 24 :

24. Identify the text structures within literary and informational texts.

a. Explain how the structures, including comparison and contrast, sequence of events, problem and solution, and cause and effect, contribute to the meaning of the text, using textual evidence.

[ELA2021] (4) 23 :

23. Evaluate how text features and structures contribute to the meaning of an informational text.

a. Identify and describe the structures within a text, including description, comparison and contrast, sequence, problem and solution, and cause and effect.

b. Interpret information from text features in both print and digital formats.

[ELA2021] (5) 24 :

24. Determine and evaluate the effectiveness of digital and print text features and structures, including comparison and contrast, problem and solution, and cause and effect.

a. Identify various text features used in diverse forms of text.

b. Compare and contrast the overall structure of events, ideas, concepts, or information in multiple texts.

[ELA2021] (6) 2 :

2. Make inferences and draw logical conclusions from the content and structures of informational texts, including comparison and contrast, problem and solution, claims and evidence, cause and effect, description, and sequencing.

[ELA2021] (7) 2 :

2. Evaluate how effectively an author uses structures of informational texts, including comparison and contrast, problem and solution, cause and effect, and substantiated or unsubstantiated claims and evidence, to achieve a purpose.

Text structures refer to the way authors organize information in text. Recognizing the underlying structure of texts can help students focus attention on key concepts and relationships, anticipate what is to come, and monitor their comprehension as they read.

This informational material will provide students and teachers with background knowledge related to these structures:

• • Narrative
  • Chronological, process, or sequence
  • Cause and effect
  • Problem/solution
  • Compare and contrast
  • Definition or description

This document provides a definition, graphic organizer, transition words, and guiding questions for each type of text structure.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2021] (3) 24 :

24. Identify the text structures within literary and informational texts.

a. Explain how the structures, including comparison and contrast, sequence of events, problem and solution, and cause and effect, contribute to the meaning of the text, using textual evidence.

[ELA2021] (3) 38 :

38. Compose and develop a well-organized paragraph with a topic sentence, details to support, and a concluding sentence.

[ELA2021] (4) 23 :

23. Evaluate how text features and structures contribute to the meaning of an informational text.

a. Identify and describe the structures within a text, including description, comparison and contrast, sequence, problem and solution, and cause and effect.

b. Interpret information from text features in both print and digital formats.

[ELA2021] (4) 32 :

32. Respond in writing to literature and informational text, including stories, dramas, poetry, and cross-curricular texts, both independently and with support, demonstrating grade-level proficiency.

[ELA2021] (5) 24 :

24. Determine and evaluate the effectiveness of digital and print text features and structures, including comparison and contrast, problem and solution, and cause and effect.

a. Identify various text features used in diverse forms of text.

b. Compare and contrast the overall structure of events, ideas, concepts, or information in multiple texts.

[ELA2021] (5) 32 :

32. Respond in writing to literature and informational text, including stories, dramas, poetry, and cross-curricular texts, independently and with grade-level proficiency.

Expository texts are a key component of literacy but often do not get introduced to students until the later grades. This lesson helps third- through fifth-grade students explore the nature and structure of expository texts that focus on cause and effect. Students begin by activating prior knowledge about cause and effect; the teacher then models discovering these relationships in a text and recording in a graphic organizer the relationships that the class finds. Students work in small groups to apply what they learned using related books and then write paragraphs outlining the cause-and-effect relationships they have found.