Students will concentrate on question-and-answer and compare/contrast text structures in this lesson. Students are going to:
- Examine the organization of nonfiction writing.
- Determine which transitions reinforce the text's structure.
- Provide evidence to back up the text structure identification.

- How can readers decide which information from what they hear, read, and see to believe?
- How do literary and informational texts become meaningful to strategic readers?
- How does interaction with text elicit thought and response?
- What is the true purpose of this text? 

- Compare: Placing together characters, situations, or ideas to show common or differing features in literary selections. 
- Contrast: To compare or appraise differences. 
- Transitions: Words that help maintain the flow of ideas in a text and signal the author’s purpose. 
- Author’s Purpose: The author’s intent is either to inform or teach someone about something, to entertain people, or to persuade or convince the audience to do or not do something. 
- Text Structure: The author’s method of organizing a text. 
- Rhetorical Question: A question to which no answer is expected.

- crocodile or alligator poem, such as “The Crocodile’s Toothache” by Shel Silverstein. http://www.qu-i-x.com/crocodile.html 
- “How Doth the Little Crocodile” by Lewis Carroll. http://www.poetry-online.org/carroll_how_doth_the_little_crocodile.htm 
- “What’s the difference between an alligator and a crocodile?” by Jennifer Horton http://animal.discovery.com/reptiles/alligator-vs-crocodile.htm. 
- Teachers may substitute other texts to provide a range of reading and level of text complexity.
- Compare/Contrast handout (L-8-1-2_Compare Contrast and KEY)
- “What is a Watershed?” Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Conservation http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/watershed/13945/what_is_a_watershed_/588795 

- Using a comparison/contrast and question/answer approach, this lesson aims to expand on students' previous understanding of nonfiction text structures.
- Observe students as they answer the study guide questions to gauge their understanding of the material.
- Emphasize your students' capacity to evaluate the structure of nonfiction texts.
- Find transitional words that enhance the organization of the text.
- Provide evidence to back up the text structure identification.

Explicit instruction, active engagement, and scaffolding
W: Help students investigate possible formats for question-and-answer compare/contrast text structures, and think about how text features and transitions can further the author's goals. 
H: Involve students with a poem to introduce text structure and activate their prior knowledge of terms. 
E: Assist students in examining a text's structure and ask them to provide supporting details in a graphic organizer. 
R: Give students time to hone their understanding of compare/contrast text structure by having them respond to study guide questions. This should be followed by a class discussion. 
E: Ask students to locate and cite instances of textual phrasing and transitions that support text structure to show that they understand the material. 
T: Use appropriate material to differentiate instruction so that students can grasp it at their conceptual levels. 
O: Plan the learning experiences by dividing the class into small groups or individual demonstrations of knowledge, followed by a return to the entire class for the assessment tasks. 

Main Question: How does a writer utilize textual organization to further their goals?

Read aloud "The Crocodile's Toothache" or another poem about an ally or crocodile that is included in the materials to get the class interested in the lesson. Ask students what they already know about crocodiles and whether the poem confirms or contradicts their knowledge. Talk about other literary allusions to crocodiles or alligators, such as the crocodile in Peter Pan, "crocodile/alligator tears," and songs.

Part 1

Give the students the book "What's the difference between a crocodile and an alligator?" to read. Ask, "What is the main text structure that this article uses?" (difference/comparison) Subsequently, instruct students to finish a worksheet designed to aid in their comprehension of the article's structure.

Distribute copies of L-8-1-2_Compare Contrast and Key to students, along with instructions on how to fill them out. Instruct them to cite the article's evidence to back up their responses. Allow them to work in pairs or independently.

Discuss the answers to the Compare/Contrast handout as a class. Next, find out, "Why did the author write this article?" (To assist readers in realizing the similarities and differences between the animals.) Say, "By contrasting and comparing two animals, the author hopes to educate the reader about them. Why was compare/contrast chosen by the author as the main text structure?" If students are having trouble responding, remind them that not everyone understands the difference between alligators and crocodiles. Help them understand how the author can make the differences more clear to the reader by using a compare/contrast text structure.

Part 2

Say, "We're going to talk about another text structure now, which is question/answer. Although a text can have this structure throughout, it is typically utilized in paragraphs, sentences, or headings." Put the following information for students' reference on the board or interactive whiteboard:

asking a single question and providing an answer inside the text
employing a single rhetorical question (one whose answer the reader already knows).
employing a sequence of rhetorical questions to influence the reader's perspective on a situation.

Consider the following: "How does a question/answer strategy help the reader?" Give pupils some time to react. Assist them in realizing that this structure encourages the reader to contribute to deriving meaning, recalling details, and potentially improving attention span. Say, "The answer is often a definition or judgment, and the question is often based on factual knowledge."

Assign the reading "What is a Watershed?" to your students. In the text, have students look for an example of a question/answer structure. (in the first paragraph). Ask, "Which format for the question/answer text is used here?" (posing one question and providing a response inside the text) Assist students in realizing that the passage's structure serves to highlight its main ideas and concentrate its information. Furthermore, since many people are unfamiliar with the subject, these are likely the first questions that come to mind.

Ask, 'What's the difference between an alligator and a crocodile? How and where is it utilized?" (The article's remainder provides an answer to the question posed in the title.) Help students comprehend how the question provides the main focus of the article and how the compare/contrast structure is developed in response to the main question.

In pairs, assign students to compose a paragraph utilizing a question-answer format on a subject that both of them are knowledgeable about. Topics could include the definitions of school rules, specific sports moves and strategies, and well-liked foods and toys. Ask pupils to present their work to the class.

Extension:

Students can finish the following tasks by using the Common Transitions Chart (L-8-1-1_Common Transitions and Key) as a resource:

Students who are prepared to go above and beyond the requirements can select a speech from the Related Resources section of the Online Speech Bank. Ask students to look for textual features and structures in a historical speech.
The compare/contrast chart "Frogs" is listed under Related Resources for students who require more practice understanding compare/contrast structure. Ask them to draw a Venn diagram to illustrate the text's similarities and differences.
Food Safety: Food Storage, Preparation, and Handling, published by the USDA, is a good resource for students who need more practice comprehending the format of questions and answers. Ask them to recognize the kind of question-answer format that is being used and to evaluate why it works well for the subject matter.