In this activity, students will identify the relationship between sections of the text or the reason the author included a particular section. In this example, students answer, “Why did the author include the opening six paragraphs?”
Possible answers include:
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Student Instructions
Invite students to work in small groups to discuss how different paragraphs connect or build on each other in a text. This encourages meaningful conversation and helps students practice identifying relationships between sections.
Read a short passage aloud and verbalize your thinking as you explain why one paragraph follows another. This demonstrates for students how to look for author choices and relationships between ideas.
Assign a color to each type of relationship (such as cause/effect, compare/contrast, example, etc.) and have students highlight paragraphs accordingly. This visual strategy makes it easier for students to spot patterns and connections.
Work with students to list and display common transition words authors use to indicate relationships (like 'because,' 'for example,' or 'however'). Reference these charts during reading activities to reinforce learning.
Give students a short text and ask them to write one or two sentences explaining how each paragraph connects to the next. This quick activity builds analytical skills and confidence in identifying text structure.
To help students understand the relationship between paragraphs, encourage them to identify how each section connects to the main idea, supports details, or transitions to new information. Graphic organizers like a spider map can make these connections clear.
The opening six paragraphs in 'Seeing Eye to Eye' are included to show that animal and human eyes work similarly, describe how eyes help with survival, and capture the reader’s attention at the start of the topic.
A spider map is a graphic organizer that visually displays the main idea at the center with supporting points branching out. It's useful in reading activities for helping students organize and explain key concepts from a text.
Effective strategies include asking guiding questions (like “Why did the author write this part?”), modeling think-alouds, and using tools such as spider maps for students to organize their thoughts and explanations.
Teachers can create quick lessons by focusing on a specific skill, like identifying paragraph relationships, providing clear instructions, using graphic organizers, and encouraging students to illustrate their ideas for better understanding.