Reading nonfiction: structure, purpose, and arguments (grade 6) · lesson

How a text is organized

💡 Spotting a text's structure tells you how its ideas connect.

Nonfiction uses a few common structures. Description explains what something is or how its parts work. Time order tells events in the order they happened. Steps explain how a process works.

Problem and solution shows a problem, then how it was fixed. An argument states a claim, gives reasons, answers the other side, and ends with a conclusion.

To find the structure, ask what each paragraph is doing: telling events, explaining parts, solving a problem, or arguing.

🧠 Let's work it out

Paragraph: "First the farmer cuts the wheat. Next a machine shakes out the grain. Last the grain goes to a mill."

Each sentence is one step, in order.
So the paragraph explains a process step by step.

What do you think comes next?

text structure: the way a text is organized
chronological: in time order

🔗 Khan Academy: Integration of knowledge and ideas (grade 6) · Khan Academy ↗

Why the author wrote it

💡 Every text and every part of a text has a job, such as to explain, persuade, or show why something matters.

An author writes to explain, to persuade, or to entertain. Ask which one fits the whole text. A text full of facts that asks you to do nothing is explaining.

Parts of a text have jobs too. An opening may show a problem. A last paragraph may show why the topic still matters today.

Ask: what would be missing if this part were cut? That tells you its job.

🧠 Let's work it out

A passage about bridges ends: "Today, these same ideas keep highways safe." Why end there?

Cut it, and you lose the link to today.
So its job is to show the topic still matters to people now.

What do you think comes next?

author's purpose: the reason an author wrote a text or part of a text

Strong, weak, and off-topic evidence

💡 Good evidence is relevant to the claim and comes from a trustworthy source, not one person's opinion.

Strong evidence includes facts, research, and advice from experts. It applies to many people, not just one.

Weak evidence is one person's story or feeling. "My friend liked it" does not prove much.

Off-topic evidence does not connect to the claim at all. Ask: does this sentence give a reason for what the author wants? If not, it does not support the claim.

🧠 Let's work it out

Claim: "Our school should add a recycling program."

A: "Schools that recycle cut their trash by a third." Strong: a fact.
B: "My neighbor says recycling is good." Weak: one opinion.
C: "Our gym was painted blue last year." Off-topic: nothing to do with recycling.

What do you think comes next?

evidence: facts and examples that support a claim
relevant: connected to the point being made

Answering the other side

💡 A strong argument admits the other side's point, then shows why the claim still works.

A counterclaim is what someone on the other side would say. Good writers bring it up on purpose, often with words like "some people argue."

Next comes a turn. Words like "however" and "but" signal that the author is about to answer the critics.

The answer often admits the concern is fair, then gives a solution or a better reason.

🧠 Let's work it out

"Some people say longer recess wastes class time. That is a fair worry. However, kids focus better after they move."

The first sentence is the counterclaim.
"However" signals the turn.
The last sentence answers it.

What do you think comes next?

counterclaim: a point from the other side of an argument
signal word: a word like "however" that shows how ideas connect