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8th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 6 of 12

Forms, Patterns & Visuals

Text forms, patterns and visual design

What your child practices

Comparing text forms such as editorials, news articles, poems and graphic novels, spotting text patterns like problem-solution and compare-contrast, and judging how features, images and design add to meaning.

Maine Learning Results learning standard: Reading 8; Reading 11 · text forms, patterns and visual features

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Text forms: news articles report facts, editorials argue an opinion, graphic novels tell stories in panels.
  2. Text patterns: problem and solution, compare and contrast, cause and effect, sequence.
  3. Features like glossaries, headings, images and design help readers understand.

Example: A passage tells how two bikes are alike and how they differ. Which text pattern does it use? It shows likenesses and differences. That is the compare-and-contrast pattern. Answer: compare and contrast

Forms, Patterns & Visuals in Maine

In the Maine Learning Results, this is unit 6 of 12 in 8th grade English Language Arts, after Whose Story Is It? and before Reading Detective.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Maine Department of Education

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Which words show the writer's purpose?

    A Letter to the Editor

    Dear Editor,

    Every morning, dozens of students cross Maple Road to reach our school, but there is no crosswalk. Last month, a driver nearly hit a boy who was running late. A painted crosswalk with a flashing light would cost the town little and could save a life. I urge the council to approve one before someone is hurt.

    Sincerely, R. Ahmed

    • Every morning
    • I urge the council to approve one
    • Sincerely, R. Ahmed
    • Dear Editor

  2. Question 2

    A letter to the editor often follows which text pattern?

    • a list of steps in order
    • a rhyme scheme
    • a description of a place
    • problem and solution

  3. Question 3

    Which text form is most likely to have a byline, a headline and a lead paragraph?

    • a recipe
    • a diary entry
    • a news article
    • a poem

  4. Question 4

    Which text pattern does the passage mainly use?

    Paper or Screen?

    Printed books and e-books both let readers enjoy stories. A printed book has pages that you hold and turn, and it does not need a battery. An e-book, in contrast, can hold hundreds of titles on one device and lets readers change the size of the text.

    However, many readers find that they remember more of what they read on paper. E-books are easier to carry; printed books are easier on the eyes for some people.

    • problem and solution
    • sequence
    • compare and contrast
    • cause and effect

  5. Question 5

    How is an editorial different from a news report?

    • An editorial gives the writer's opinion; a news report presents facts.
    • An editorial is always longer than a news report.
    • A news report gives opinions; an editorial presents only facts.
    • A news report never has a headline.

  6. Question 6

    What solution does the writer suggest?

    A Letter to the Editor

    Dear Editor,

    Every morning, dozens of students cross Maple Road to reach our school, but there is no crosswalk. Last month, a driver nearly hit a boy who was running late. A painted crosswalk with a flashing light would cost the town little and could save a life. I urge the council to approve one before someone is hurt.

    Sincerely, R. Ahmed

    • a permit for walking
    • a new school
    • a lower speed limit for students
    • a painted crosswalk with a flashing light

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