Seminar: how is this text built?
The class analyses the structure of a shared text and argues about what the writer gained by choosing it.
- Close Reading Seminar move: Structural analysis debated as a class
- Evidence it produces: A shared judgement about the writer's structural choice
Route status: the learning intentions and mini-lesson scaffold are shared with the workshop route; the Do Now, activities, adjudication, evidence and exit below are this route’s own. The difference is how ākonga work — one shared text, competing claims settled on the words, and a collective record — not which strategies are taught.
Lesson 5: Analysing Text Structures: Cause/Effect & Compare/Contrast
Building confident, active readers through Te Ao Māori perspectives, comprehension strategies, and rich Aotearoa texts.
🎯 Ngā Whāinga Akoranga | Learning Intentions
Common non-fiction text structures (cause and effect, compare and contrast, problem and solution, chronological order) and signal transition words (however, as a result, similarly, consequently).
Identify non-fiction text structure types using signal words, construct cause-and-effect flowcharts, and fill Venn diagrams comparing two perspectives.
🎥 Media Anchor & Pedagogical Scaffold
Non-Fiction Text Structures & Signal Words
Video: kaiako to select — guidance below.
🎬 Kaiako: Select and embed a video here
Suggested search: "Non-Fiction Text Structures & Signal Words"
Search YouTube for a short clip (5–10 min) on this topic. Verify it is age-appropriate and plays correctly before embedding.
🧠 1. Before Viewing (Activate & Predict)
How do signal words like 'because', 'therefore', and 'in contrast' help readers navigate complex non-fiction texts?
👁️ 2. During Viewing (Watch With a Job)
- Early in the clip: Spot cause-and-effect transition words (because, leads to, consequently, resulting in).
- Midway: Spot compare-and-contrast transition words (similar to, unlike, on the other hand, whereas).
- Later in the clip: Map text information into visual graphic organizers (flowcharts, double-bubble maps).
🗣️ 3. After Viewing & Kaiako Move (Process & Apply)
Kaiako Move: Provide colour-coded signal word bookmark cards for students to reference while reading articles.
Immediate Task: Complete Section 5 of your Reading Journal: Cause-and-Effect Flowchart & Venn Diagram Comparison.
⚡ Whakaoho | Do Now: Silent signal hunt (8 mins)
A section of the shared text is displayed with nothing highlighted. Silently underline every word you suspect is a signal word — a word doing structural work rather than carrying content. No calling out; your list is your opening position.
🗣️ Activity 1: Competing structure claims (20 mins)
Teams each claim an overall structure for the section — cause and effect, compare and contrast, problem and solution, chronological — and map their case on the board: which signal words and which paragraph jobs support their claim. Different parts of a real text pull different ways, so competing claims are expected; each team must also name the strongest evidence against its own claim.
⚖️ Adjudication: tally the evidence (12 mins)
- The class tallies each claim’s evidence: signal words found, and what job each paragraph is doing.
- The dominant structure is settled on the tally — and the minority evidence is recorded honestly beside it, because the text really does contain it.
- The class then tests the verdict: if this is the structure, what should the next section do? Read on together and check.
A structure claim that predicts what comes next has earned its verdict; one that only describes what came before is a guess that got lucky.
📋 Activity 2: The class structure map (10 mins)
Record on the class chart: the claims → the signal-word tally → the settled structure → the minority evidence → what the verdict predicted and whether the text delivered. One-minute individual journal entry: the settled structure and the single strongest signal word.
🚪 Exit (5 mins)
One line: the structure the class settled on and the piece of evidence that swung the tally.
🏫 Kaiako Planning & Pedagogy Notes
Years 7–8 Curriculum Alignment: Te Mātaiaho English Phase 3 — Reading and Viewing for meaning. Builds core comprehension, critical literacy, and cultural connectedness through Aotearoa literature and pūrākau.