Name: _______________________________________________
Text Structure Worksheet 13

Directions: Read the passages and determine how each is mainly structured. On a sheet of paper, put the information from each passage into an appropriate graphic organizer. The following graphic organizers are examples. Feel free to make changes if necessary. 

Chronological	Sequence	Cause and Effect	Problem and Solution	Compare and Contrast	

Step-by-step

   Timeline

1

2

3

4

Cause

Cause 

Cause 

 Effect

Solution

Problem

  Alike
_______
_______
_______

 Different
_______
_______
_______

	

1. Having a dog in your home can serve many purposes, but living with a poorly trained dog is not worth the mess. These mangy mutts will go potty inside of your home. This can stain your floors and make your house smell bad. In order to prevent this you have to teach your dog to go potty outside. This may require you to go on a lot more walks with your dog. You may have to sit outside for long periods of time while you are waiting for your dog to use it. But it will be worth it to not have a bunch of dog mess all over your house. So if you love your dog but hate cleaning dog-doo off of the rug, teach your dog the right way to go.

2. If you want to form a strong relationship with your dog, try playing fetch. It’s fun and easy to do, and if everything goes well your dog should do most of the fetching. Just find something that your dog wants to retrieve, such as a stick, a thick rope tied in knots, or a squeaky toy. Show it to your dog to get his or her interest. Shake it around in your hand and call out the dog’s name. Once they are paying attention, throw the object as far as you can. Be careful not to throw it anywhere that you wouldn’t want your dog to go, like the middle of the road or under a china cabinet. Hopefully your dog will bring the object back to you. When he or she does, praise your dog and command him or her to drop the object. Pick it up and repeat the process for the next 10 to 15 years.

3. The lion is often thought of as the king of the jungle, but the African wild dog may be a better hunter. Both lions and African wild dogs are pack animals and have females lead their hunts, but they have different hunting styles. Although lions are very fast, they do not have much stamina. They attack in short, ferocious bursts because they get tired quickly. On the other hand, African wild dogs are not very fast, but they have incredible stamina. They can run for hours and often chase their prey to exhaustion. Dr. George Schaller studied African wild dogs in the Serengeti and found that 9 out of 10 of their hunts ended in kills, while lions are only successful in 3 out of 10 hunts. So you see, it’s not always good to be king.

4. I started working on my history project right after I came home. I spent over six hours building the Great Pyramid of Giza out of sugar cubes. It took a long time but it looked beautiful when I was done. I went to sleep around midnight feeling good about my work, but when I woke up the next morning, I was shocked to find that my sugar cube pyramid had been completely destroyed. Much of it was crushed and melted and there was a trail of sugar cubes leading out of my room. I followed the trail across the hallway and down the stairs, where it led to my dog. He was curled up in pain. I wanted to punish him for what he did, but he looked so sick from eating all of that glue and sugar. I figured that he had already received his punishment and would think twice about eating my homework again.

5. There’s a reason why dogs are called “man’s best friend.” The good friendship that we have with dogs is thousands of years old and, as with most good friendships, was formed by mutual benefit. Dogs are of great value to people because they use their keen senses to detect threats and alert their owners by barking. You may find your dog’s yapping to be quite annoying, but under some circumstances it can be quite helpful. But people are of great value to dogs too. Dogs who live with people usually have easier access to food and a safer place to stay than they would on their own, and that truly is what friends are for.