Missouri Grade 7 English

Compare authors’ choices about structure

Two writers can discuss the same topic while organizing information differently. The original passages below concern a school’s found-property shelf. Compare how their order and wording guide the reader, rather than only listing facts they share.

Curriculum reference: Missouri Grades 6–12 English Language Arts expectations, from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education ELA directory.

Missouri Grade 7 references for this activity

DESE’s current directory links the Missouri English Language Arts expectations adopted in April 2016. The Grades 6–12 PDF identifies a June 2020 update. References here name the selected strand, section, letter, and grade column in the state document; the 2026 download path is not a new adoption date. Read the complete expectations and the school’s curriculum to plan beyond this activity.

These selected reference labels identify an activity focus, with the grade column and PDF page linked separately. Read the complete state requirements and the school’s sequence, including reading, writing, language, speaking, and listening. This short original example does not fulfill the entire curriculum or establish a student’s grade-level proficiency.

A worked Grade 7 reading investigation

This original classroom example is separate from official assessment questions.

Text A — How a lost item returns

A student brings a found item to the office. Staff record where it was found and place it on the found-property shelf. When someone asks about an item, staff check the description with them before returning it. These steps connect a found object with a person’s request.

Text B — Why descriptions matter

Several coats on a found-property shelf may be the same color. Color alone can leave staff uncertain which coat a person means. Describing another feature, such as a named label or a distinctive pocket, helps narrow the match. A description is therefore useful because it adds information beyond a broad category.

Try the activity

Compare the authors’ structural choices. How does each organize its explanation, and what does that choice help a reader understand? Identify a wording choice that supports each structure.

Follow the reasoning

Text A follows a process from arrival to recording to a possible return. Its order helps readers trace what happens at each stage. When introduces the point where a person’s request enters the process, while before clarifies the check preceding return. Text B begins with a difficulty: similar coat colors. It explains why that difficulty matters and how another descriptive feature can narrow a match. Therefore brings the explanation back to its conclusion about information. Both discuss identification, but A emphasizes a sequence and B explains a need and response. A comparison should connect each structural choice to its effect on the explanation, with evidence from both texts.

Notice what needs more practice

Text A does not guarantee that every found item is returned, and Text B does not say a distinctive pocket proves ownership on its own. These are invented reading passages, not a school’s actual policy. A time word in A is useful evidence because it supports the broader sequence; one isolated signal word would not be enough to classify every text. Text B’s example is part of its reasoning, not a report that all coats share one color. Calling both texts “about lost things” identifies the common topic but leaves the authors’ choices unexplained.

Grade 7 English worksheets

Choose printable practice that matches the skill being taught. Check the task, reading difficulty, and directions before assigning it; the collection is independently published.

Browse Grade 7 English worksheets

Use the next session to build independence

1. Describe what each passage does first, next, and last, using the actual ideas.
2. Identify a structural choice and a supporting wording choice in each text.
3. Write a comparison explaining how those choices shape what the reader understands.

Compare longer texts about a shared topic in the next session. Consider order, examples, transitions, and emphasis. If more than one structure appears, describe the main arrangement and explain where another approach contributes to it.

For more general reading and writing resources, visit the Grade 7 English Online Center.

Missouri Grade 7 English: useful planning questions

Is comparing shared facts enough to compare structure?

No. Explain how each author arranges those facts or ideas and how that arrangement supports the explanation. Use evidence from both texts.

Where are the complete state requirements?

DESE’s current directory links the Missouri English Language Arts expectations adopted in April 2016. The Grades 6–12 PDF identifies a June 2020 update. References here name the selected strand, section, letter, and grade column in the state document; the 2026 download path is not a new adoption date. Read the complete expectations and the school’s curriculum to plan beyond this activity. The school’s sequence also includes reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language work beyond this example.