8th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 6 of 16
Text forms, patterns and visual design
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.
New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 8R5; 8R7 · text forms, patterns and visual features
Children can open this short lesson before they practice.
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
In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 6 of 16 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.
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Which text form is most likely to have a byline, a headline and a lead paragraph?
a news article
Hint: These are features of newspaper writing.
Question 2
In a problem-and-solution text, what usually comes after the problem is described?
one or more proposed solutions
Hint: The writer tells how the problem might be fixed.
Question 3
Which text pattern does the passage mainly use?
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.
compare and contrast
Hint: It shows how printed books and e-books are alike and different.
Question 4
According to the passage, which is an advantage of an e-book?
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.
It can hold hundreds of titles on one device.
Hint: Find the sentence about e-books holding titles.
Question 5
Which words show the writer's purpose?
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
I urge the council to approve one
Hint: Which words ask the reader to take action?
Question 6
A news story about a flood uses a photo of a calm, sunny lake. What problem could this cause?
The image does not match the message and could confuse readers.
Hint: Images and words should work together.