Middle School English Language Arts Instructional Guide

Scaffold for Writing Text Dependent Questions Grade6-12

Craft and Structure

Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and fgurative meanings, and analyze how specifc word choices shape meaning or tone. ● What does ____ mean? What is your evidence? ● Let’s take apart this sentence. Who is “you”? Explain your thinking. ● How do you know? ● Any other phrases that are confusing? ● What is the difference between (2 vocabulary words)?Defne _____. ● Where is (an apostrophe) used in this book?

Analyze the structure of texts including how specifc sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and thewhole. different when the author used dialogue versus when the narrator just spoke / told the story? What do you learn when there is dialogue? ● How is dialogue used in this book? ● When there is dialogue, is the narrator speaking? Who is speaking? ● What point of view does ● How is this narrative the author use? How does that contribute to the story? sequencing of the text add to the meaning? ● Is the character good or bad at the end of the story? Why / why not? ● How does the author’s ● How does the

Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

● When does our author use humor? Why did the author do that? ● What tone does the author use? Why? ● How do we learn the character’s name before the author told us? ● Why do you think the author chose (character) to be the smartest? ● How do the pictures tell the story? ● What is the symbolism of ____________? ● How does the author use descriptive language to infuence the tone ● When the ________ speaks directly how does this infuence the reader? ● What rhetorical devices does the author use, and what is their impact? ● What is conveyed through __________?

Where does it represent a contraction / possession?

use of__________ impact the (central idea/ theme/ characterization etc.) of the text? foreshadowing affect the impact of the piece?

● How does the use of

Last Updated June, 2023 Middle School ELA, Page 83