Expository Text Structures
Identify the five expository structures and the signal words that give each away.
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0/15 sorted
How to run it
Sort them, then use them. Once the five bins are filled, give a topic and ask for one sentence using a word from each bin — that is where the abstract categories become usable. The description bin is the one students find hardest to recognise as a structure at all, since for example feels like a detail rather than an organising move. Fifteen minutes covers the sort and a few sentences.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentPresent the item and wait 5 seconds of quiet before helping.Log as correct
- Question promptAsk a story-grammar question: who, where, what was the problem, what happened next?Log as cued
- Two choicesOffer two possible next parts of the story and let the student pick and say it.Log as cued
- ModelTell that part yourself; the student tells it back in their own words.Log as cued
Adjust it
Use fewer parts, and keep a first-next-last visual on the table.
Ask for the retell without the pictures, with a feeling or a reason added to each part.
Matching IEP goal
Given a picture or story prompt, Student will explain a topic with a main idea and supporting details in 4 of 5 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than one question prompt.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Fifteen signal words sorted into the five expository structures they give away: because, as a result and therefore for cause and effect; however, unlike and whereas for compare and contrast; first, next and finally for sequence; the issue is, one answer and to fix this for problem and solution; for example, such as and characteristics include for description. Signal words are the shortest route into text structure, because they are visible on the page.
What to listen for
Watch however and unlike, which both signal contrast but sit in different places in a sentence — however joins two sentences and unlike opens one. A student who writes However gas engines, electric motors… has the category and not the syntax. Notice whether the student uses signal words in their own writing afterwards, which is the only outcome that matters here.
Carrying it home
Signal words are worth noticing while reading anything. Pointing out a however and asking what is being contrasted takes five seconds and builds a habit that works on any page.
What's in this activity
- Cause and effect
- Compare and contrast
- Sequence
- Problem and solution
- Description
Questions
- What grades is this for?
- Sixth through eighth, alongside the middle school text structure board.
- Do I need an account?
- No, it plays free in the browser.
- Are signal words always reliable?
- Mostly, and reliably enough to be worth teaching. A writer can build a comparison without the word unlike, so signal words are a strong clue rather than a rule — which is worth saying to students who over-trust them.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.