CPALMS Logo Generated on 9/16/2025 at 2:39 AM
The webpage this document was printed/exported from can be found at the following URL:
https://www.cpalms.org/PreviewIdea/Preview/1606
Standard 2 : Craft and StructureArchived
Cluster Standards

This cluster includes the following benchmarks.

Visit the specific benchmark webpage to find related instructional resources.

  • LAFS.5.RI.2.4 : Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 5 topic or subject area.
  • LAFS.5.RI.2.5 : Compare and contrast the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in two or more texts.
  • LAFS.5.RI.2.6 : Analyze multiple accounts of the same event or topic, noting important similarities and differences in the point of view they represent.
Cluster Information
Number:
LAFS.5.RI.2
Title:
Craft and Structure
Type:
Cluster
Subject:
English Language Arts - Archived
Grade:
5
Strand
Reading Standards for Informational Text
Cluster Access Points

This cluster includes the following Access Points.

  • LAFS.5.RI.2.AP.4a : Determine the meaning of general academic words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 5 topic or subject area.
  • LAFS.5.RI.2.AP.4b : Determine the meaning of domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 5 topic or subject area.
  • LAFS.5.RI.2.AP.5a : Use signal words as a means of locating information (e.g., knowing that “because” or “as a result of” may help link a cause to a result).
  • LAFS.5.RI.2.AP.5b : Use signal word to identify common types of text structure.
  • LAFS.5.RI.2.AP.5c : Identify the structure of both texts (chronological order, compare/contrast, cause/effect, problem/solution).
  • LAFS.5.RI.2.AP.5d : Compare and contrast the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts or information in two or more texts.
  • LAFS.5.RI.2.AP.6a : Analyze multiple accounts of the same event or topic.
  • LAFS.5.RI.2.AP.6b : Note similarities and differences in the point of view of multiple accounts of the same event or topic.
Cluster Resources

Vetted resources educators can use to teach the concepts and skills in this topic.

Original Student Tutorials
  • Why Did the Author Write That?: Learn how to analyze multiple accounts of the same topic or event and note important similarities and differences in the points of view they represent with this interactive tutorial.

  • What's the Matter in the Galaxy?: Learn to identify components within a galaxy such as gas, dust, stars and objects that orbit stars with this interactive tutorial.

Lesson Plans
  • Newton's First Law of Motion Part 1 of 3: This lesson plan is the first in a series of connected lessons on Sir Isaac Newton's Laws of Motion published on CPALMS. This lesson provides a brief background of Sir Isaac Newton and covers Newton's First Law of Motion.

  • Making It Rain: This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. In this lesson, students will analyze an informational text that addresses how different types of precipitation are formed. The lesson plan includes a note-taking guide, text-dependent questions, a writing prompt, answer keys, and a writing rubric. Options to extend the lesson are also included.

  • Name That Organ!: Can you name that organ with one clue? What about two? Students will get the opportunity to research organs and create clue cards with at least four clues that will help others Name That Organ!

  • A Better Understanding of “Civil Rights on a City Bus”: This lesson consists of students reading a challenging text, "Civil Rights on a City Bus," about Rosa Parks. This text requires students to determine the claims made in the article by the author and the reasons and evidence used to support them. Students will also have a chance to use context clues to define vocabulary words within the text and answer text-dependent questions. Upon completion of the reading activities, students will write a short response that provides evidence to prove each claim made by the author.

  • Wildlife Refuges: A Project on Research and Reliable Resources: In this lesson, students will conduct research on the history of wildlife refuges in Costa Rica using a variety of reliable resources. They will collect information in pairs and work collaboratively to compare the information they found on different wildlife refuges to make sure the information is reliable. They will use the information they have found to independently create a brochure to present the information with pictures, graphics, or other multimedia elements to support their details.

  • Compare and Contrast: The Great Chicago Fire: This lesson will engage students in discussions involving how two texts on the same event can be compared. Students will read one text on the Great Chicago Fire that is a primary source, and another text that is a secondary source. For the summative assessment, students will write a summary about the Great Chicago Fire that includes the central idea and relevant details from the texts, and the similarities in how each author describes the Chicago fire.

  • Not Such a Secret: Summarizing, Central Idea, and Vocabulary: In this lesson, students will be read the non-fiction article, "A Well-Kept Secret." The students will work to determine the meaning of selected vocabulary from the article and find evidence in the passage to answer a set of text-dependent questions. Students will also explain how the relevant details support the central ideas and summarize the article.

  • Newton's Third Law of Motion: This lesson plan is the third in a series of connected lessons on Sir Isaac Newton's laws of motion published to CPALMS. This lesson plan teaches Newton's third law of motion.

  • Newton's Second Law of Motion Part 2 of 3: This lesson plan is the second in a series of connected lessons on Sir Isaac Newton's laws of motion published to CPALMS. This lesson teaches Newton's second law of motion.

  • Inventions and Innovations MEA: Inventive minds have persisted throughout history. Inventors have improved our lives with inventions created out of a desire to solve a problem or make the quality of peoples' lives better. Our president is concerned that we are not keeping up with other countries in the area of engineering and inventive thinking. Why is this? As students explore famous inventions from around the world throughout history, they will decide what the best inventions of all time are and support their opinion with strong reasons.

  • Making Connections!: Lights, camera, action! Well, you would have action if the camera was on, and it can only turn on if it has a battery, and it can only work if the battery is charged. Put it all together, and you have a complete circuit! In this lesson, students will learn that a circuit can be connected in more than one way to make something work. The students will work to connect circuits and test different items to identify if they are conductors or insulators.

  • Baseball Dilemma MEA: In this Model-Eliciting Activity, students will work in teams to determine a procedure for selecting a company from which to purchase baseball helmets. Students will make decisions based on a table that includes company, cost per helmet, material helmet are made of, framework, and comfort. Students will determine procedure for company selection with provided information, and write a letter to the client providing evidence for their decisions.


    Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. MEAs resemble engineering problems and encourage students to create solutions in the form of mathematical and scientific models. Students work in teams to apply their knowledge of science and mathematics to solve an open-ended problem while considering constraints and tradeoffs. Students integrate their ELA skills into MEAs as they are asked to clearly document their thought processes. MEAs follow a problem-based, student-centered approach to learning, where students are encouraged to grapple with the problem while the teacher acts as a facilitator. To learn more about MEAs visit: https://www.cpalms.org/cpalms/mea.aspx

  • Sammy's Solar Fountains: In this Model-Eliciting Activity (MEA), students are presented with start-up business that needs to buy solar batteries for their business. Students will form engineering teams to review battery choices. Students will understand that solar energy is transferred into electrical energy.


    Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. MEAs resemble engineering problems and encourage students to create solutions in the form of mathematical and scientific models. Students work in teams to apply their knowledge of science and mathematics to solve an open-ended problem while considering constraints and tradeoffs. Students integrate their ELA skills into MEAs as they are asked to clearly document their thought processes. MEAs follow a problem-based, student-centered approach to learning, where students are encouraged to grapple with the problem while the teacher acts as a facilitator. To learn more about MEAs visit: https://www.cpalms.org/cpalms/mea.aspx

  • Wazzup Charter Schools Playground Dilemma MEA: This Model Eliciting Activity (MEA) is written at a 5th grade level. The Wazzup Charter School MEA provides students with an engineering problem in which they must work as a team to design a procedure to select the best type of surface for a playground at a charter school.

    Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. Click here to learn more about MEAs and how they can transform your classroom.

  • What’s New at the Zoo?—an Engineering Design Challenge: This Engineering Design Challenge is intended to help fifth grade students apply the concepts of plant and animal life cycles and physical characteristics, as well as animal behaviors in a compare and contrast situation. It is not intended as an initial introduction to this benchmark.

  • Informational Texts: Analyzing Relationships and Perspectives Across Multiple Texts: This lesson is an instructional routine for informational text in which teachers provide guided practice and students practice comparing perspectives from multiple texts.

    Culminating activity includes writing an expository essay to compare and contrast the journey of two travelers using evidence from multiple sources to support the response.

  • Making the Cut!: In this Model-Eliciting Activity (MEA), the general manager (GM) of a National Football League (NFL) team has to decide which injured players to going to cut (remove) from the team and which players to keep. This is a very difficult decision for the GM to make. The GM cares about the players and this decision will end the football careers of those who are cut. This happens every season, so the GM wants a system that can be used to make this decision every year. Experts in the organs of the human body and their functions are needed to create this system.

    Model Eliciting Activities, MEAs, are open-ended, interdisciplinary problem-solving activities that are meant to reveal students’ thinking about the concepts embedded in realistic situations. MEAs resemble engineering problems and encourage students to create solutions in the form of mathematical and scientific models. Students work in teams to apply their knowledge of science and mathematics to solve an open-ended problem while considering constraints and tradeoffs. Students integrate their ELA skills into MEAs as they are asked to clearly document their thought processes. MEAs follow a problem-based, student-centered approach to learning, where students are encouraged to grapple with the problem while the teacher acts as a facilitator. To learn more about MEAs visit: https://www.cpalms.org/cpalms/mea.aspx

  • Proverbs: From Understanding to Application—Using Proverbs to Create an Original Narrative: In this lesson, students will identify and analyze common proverbs. They will create a definition and understanding of proverbs using vocabulary strategies for unknown words and phrases. Then using the literary text "The Story of Wang Li," students will identify the proverbs in the text, decipher them, and evaluate the appropriateness of them. The culminating activity will require students to use one of the proverbs from the literary text to create their own narrative in a present-day setting.

  • The Water Cycle - Back and Forth: In this lesson, students create a model (drawing) after learning the parts of the water cycle. The drawing will be in their science notebooks and will be something they will build on in future lessons. This lesson is intended to be the beginning of a unit on the water cycle for students to have a basic understanding of the stages within it and the vocabulary associated with it. Vocabulary words will be examined and connected to a model of melting ice in a water bottle.

  • Tone: From Understanding to Application--Using Tone to Create an Original Memoir: In this lesson, students will analyze the artist's tone in the painting "Washington Crossing the Delaware, December 1776." Using the same techniques of looking at the details, students will analyze the tone of the primary account and secondary account in the informational text "Washington Crosses the Delaware, 1776" to gain an understanding of how authors create tone in their writing. The culminating activity will require students to demonstrate an understanding of their study of point of view, tone, and information presented in "Washington Crosses the Delaware, 1776" by writing a historically accurate first-person memoir of the event in which the tone reflects their perspective of the event.

  • What It's Made Of: A Solute to Mixture or Solution: In this lesson, students will explore samples to determine properties of components of mixtures. Over the course of the exploration, the teacher will guide the students to discover what sets a solution apart. Access points included.

Student Center Activities
  • Comprehension: Text Structure Reflection: In this activity, students will identify text structures and complete corresponding graphic organizers. Multiple graphic organizers are provided, and a reference sheet is also provided that includes an explanation, signal words, and graphic organizer templates for each text structure.

  • Comprehension: Text Structure Sort: In this activity, students will sort sentences based on their text structures. As an extension activity, students can write about a topic using each text structure.

  • Comprehension: Write Cause or Effect: In this activity, students will identify the relationship between cause and effect. NOTE: This is an introductory activity for cause and effect. Students will need to extend their learning using text containing a cause/effect text structure to fully meet the expectations of the aligned standards.

Text Resources
  • What Makes it Rain?: This informational text is intended to support reading in the content area. The text informs readers about how several types of precipitation are formed in the atmosphere, including rain, hail, freezing rain, and snow.

  • Why Amazonian Butterflies Hover over Yellow-Spotted Turtles: This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text details the intriguing relationship between turtles and butterflies in the Amazon rainforest: butterflies drink the turtles' tears to get their sodium fix! The article also explores how both organisms are affected by this relationship.

  • Sleet and Freezing Rain: What's the Difference?: This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article and graphics explain the atmospheric conditions needed to form different types of precipitation: snow, freezing rain, and sleet.

  • Your Amazing Brain: This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This National Geographic article describes the amazing attributes of the human brain, comparing its features to everyday objects like a light bulb or a computer.

  • Sea Horses and How They Use Their Heads: This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes how the dwarf seahorse's head shape allows it to be a better predator.

  • Carniverous Plants Say 'Cheese': This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes how, through high-speed video, scientists are able to see how bladderworts (carnivorous plants) trap small animals very quickly.

  • A Matter of Mixing: This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article describes properties of items as hyrdophobic or hyrdophilic and how they work.

  • The Comet that Came in from the Cold: This resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The comet ISON, believed to originate from the frozen Oort cloud, has been studied in order to make predictions about its destiny – will it be destroyed by, or slung around, the sun?

  • The Water Cycle Adventure: This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article walks the reader through the water cycle, from the point of view of a drop of water.

  • Water Cycle: This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article discusses the steps in the water cycle.

  • Restoring a Sense of Touch: This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This text explores the possibility of creating a prosthesis (artificial limb) that can feel things.

  • The Bad Breath Defense: This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes the ability of the hornworm caterpillar to defend itself against predators using its food source.

  • Secrets of the World's Extreme Divers: This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. "Secrets of the World's Extreme Divers" explores the reason sea mammals are able to hold their breath for long periods of time.

Unit/Lesson Sequence
  • The Story of Jackie Robinson: Bravest Man in Baseball: This is a fifth grade book unit on The Story of Jackie Robinson: Bravest Man in Baseball by Margaret Davidson (Lexile 760). The unit features a series of lessons titled: Distinguish Between Biography and Autobiography; Author's Opinion; Retelling a Life; Events and Effects; Text Features. The resource also includes an 18-day pacing guide, student resource packet and answer keys, and a unit assessment and answer keys.