Nonfiction Text Structures: Task Cards with 32 Informational Passages

This set of 32 task cards will give your upper elementary and middle school students an opportunity to practice reading nonfiction passages and determining which of the five types of text structures was used by the author. Just print and go! Identifying the structure of a nonfiction text is a critical reading skill that students often struggle with. These nonfiction text structure task cards have been designed to help your students gain proficiency and confidence in their ability to read an informational passage and recognize its text structure.

These task cards address the following five text structures:

→ Sequence

→ Compare and Contrast

→ Cause and Effect

→ Problem and Solution

→ Description

One unique feature of these informational text structure task cards is that each set of four task cards is related to the same topic. Therefore, students have an opportunity to see how different text structures can be applied to a topic, resulting in very different paragraphs. The topics are as follows:

Cards 1-4: Bears

Cards 5-8: The Grand Canyon

Cards 9-12: French Fries

Cards 13-16: Wildfires

Cards 17- 20: Bicycles

Cards 21-24: Glaciers

Cards 24-28: Tsunamis

Cards 29-32: Olympics

An answer key is included.

Many teachers report posting the task cards around the room to give their students an opportunity to get up and walk around the room. Others say that they use these as a whole class formative activity where they place a task card under their doc cam, and then have students write their chosen answer on whiteboards. Both activities provide an engaging alternative to a traditional worksheet activity!

Open the preview to take a closer look!

********This resource is available in three formats:

1. Traditional Printables- Print the PDF and distribute paper task cards and recording sheets.
2. Easel Activity- With this digital format, there is one task card per slide. Students read the passage and identify its text structure. They push the button beside the correct answer. No checking is necessary! When your students turn it in, you will see their score and the number of attempts they made on each card.
3. Easel Assessment- Students complete this self-grading quiz on a device, as well. After reading each passage, students select the text structure from a list of five possible answer choices. With this option, the teacher chooses whether or not his or her students receive immediate feedback.

Here's what teachers like you have to say about these task cards with their students:

⭐️ Kayla D. said, "Teaching text structures always stresses me out but with these cards, it made centers more bearable and the students didn't depend on me nearly as much. I enjoyed using them and plan to for years to come."

⭐️ Once Upon a 4th Grade said, "These are great for a review or extra practice. I like to tape these up around the room for practice where students can move around or use them in small groups for extra practice. Great for test prep."

⭐️ Ashante C. said, "Used these task cards in many different ways in class. It was exactly what I was looking for but something that still challenged my students to not just identify clue words but look at the details closely."

⭐️ Christine G. said, "I love how each set of 4 cards has the same topic written in different structures."

***If you would like to have a Google Slides and/or Google Forms version of this activity, click on these links to access the digital version or the bundle.

These are some of the other nonfiction text structure products in my store.

Nonfiction Text Structure FLIPBOOK (including 10 days of lesson plans)

Nonfiction Text Structure PowerPoint

Nonfiction Text Structures Ouch Game

Informational Text Structure Worksheet Packet (including graphic organizers!)

Nonfiction Text Structures: Worksheets or Craftivity

Nonfiction Text Structure Assessment or Practice Worksheet

Copyright Deb Hanson

This item is a paid digital download from my TpT store

www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Deb-Hanson

This product is to be used by the original downloader only. Copying for more than one teacher is prohibited. This item is also bound by copyright laws. Redistributing, editing, selling, or posting this item (or any part thereof) on an Internet site that is not password protected are all strictly prohibited without first gaining permission from the author. Violations are subject to the penalties of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Please contact me if you wish to be granted special permissions!