Name and describe two text structures you might teach in informational texts and how they support comprehension.

• A. Compare/contrast is the only structure.
• B. Cause/effect explains why things happen; problem/solution presents an issue and remedies. Both help readers anticipate content and organize information.
• C. Chronological order is not used in informational texts.
• D. Descriptive structure describes a topic and its features.

Answer: (B)

Understanding how informational texts are organized helps readers anticipate content, track relationships, and summarize what they read. Two text structures you might teach are cause/effect and problem/solution.

Cause/effect shows how one event or action leads to another, helping readers see reasons and outcomes. When students learn to spot cause words (because, since, due to) and effect words (therefore, as a result, leads to), they can map how ideas connect and predict what might come next. This structure helps with organizing information by cause and consequence, making it easier to understand processes, reasons, and results. A graphic organizer like a cause/effect chart can guide students to identify the trigger events and their impacts.

Problem/solution presents a challenge and then one or more ways to address it. This structure steers attention to the central issue, the constraints involved, and the effectiveness of proposed remedies. Students learn to recognize the problem, possible solutions, and criteria for evaluating them, which supports critical thinking and helps with summarizing the text. A problem/solution chart or outline can help students compare options and see how a proposed solution fits the issue.

Other structures mentioned in the distractor ideas aren’t as accurate if stated as the only structure or as not used at all. In reality, informational texts use a variety of structures, including descriptive and chronological orders, but cause/effect and problem/solution offer clear, distinct ways to build readers’ understanding by highlighting reasoning and remedies, which is why they’re a strong pair to teach together.