Expository text explains a real topic with facts, definitions, and examples.
Headings preview sections; bar graphs compare amounts and can supply evidence.
An author’s claim is an idea the author wants readers to accept; check the supporting evidence.
Reread difficult sentences and compare texts to clarify the topic.
ORIGINAL MINI-TEXT
Read, mark, and think
A town works best when residents participate. Last year, 18 people attended the first park meeting, but 42 attended the second after students made posters. At the meeting, residents explained where shade and benches were needed. The council used their comments when it approved a new park plan.
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Try this thinking path
Read the heading, predict the section’s focus, study the graph labels, and combine both sources of information in your answer.
Knowledge focus: Why people immigrate to new places
READING TOOLKIT
What to know
Historical fiction places invented characters in a real historical time and setting.
Plot events and setting pressures can change a character’s traits, feelings, and choices.
Use several details to explain theme and character perspective.
Cause-and-effect exposition can explain why migration occurs and what happens afterward.
ORIGINAL MINI-TEXT
Read, mark, and think
In 1912, Tomas gripped his small suitcase as the ferry neared the busy island station. The city skyline looked like a wall of stone and light. He missed his village, but he remembered Papa’s letter about safe work and a room for the family. When a younger traveler dropped her papers, Tomas gathered them and translated the clerk’s directions. His fear did not vanish, but helping someone made him stand taller.
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Try this thinking path
Separate real historical context from invented character details, then trace how one event causes the character to respond or change.
Rhymed verse uses a pattern of end sounds; free verse does not require regular rhyme or rhythm.
A limerick has five lines and a strong rhyme pattern; a haiku traditionally has three short lines.
Alliteration repeats beginning consonant sounds; figurative language creates meaning beyond literal words.
A speaker’s perspective is revealed through word choice and imagery.
ORIGINAL MINI-TEXT
Read, mark, and think
The clue hid under morning light—
not in the lock, not out of sight.
I turned the map a quarter round;
the river’s bend became the ground.
A puzzle wakes when eyes look new.
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Try this thinking path
Read aloud. Mark repeated sounds and end rhymes, identify the form, then explain how one image or figure of speech shapes meaning.
ELA.3.R.2.1–ELA.3.R.2.3 · ELA.3.R.3.3People Make Government WorkExpository TextELA.3.R.1.1–ELA.3.R.1.3 · ELA.3.R.2.1New Places, New BeginningsHistorical FictionELA.3.R.1.3–ELA.3.R.1.4 · ELA.3.R.3.1Poetry Solves and WondersPoetry