A. Literacy Connections and Applications / C. Comprehension: Understanding and Responding to Texts · Understanding and Responding to Texts

Cracking Complex Texts: Cohesive Ties, Prior Knowledge and Fix-Up Strategies

C1.1 C2.1 C2.4 A3.1About 50 minutes

Learning goals

I can use what I know about words, grammar, cohesive ties and sentence structure to understand complex texts.
I can activate prior knowledge from my own life and from other subjects, such as History and Science, before I read.
I can monitor my understanding and choose fix-up strategies such as rereading, using a glossary, asking questions and consulting references.

Words to know

complex text
A text with challenging vocabulary, long sentences, ideas that depend on background knowledge, or several connected ideas.

cohesive ties
Words that link sentences and ideas together so a text holds together, such as pronouns (it, they, this), transition words (however, as a result) and synonyms.

referent
The word or idea that a pronoun or other reference word points back to.

prior knowledge
What you already know from experience, reading and other subjects before you start a new text.

monitor
To keep checking whether you understand while you read, listen or view.

fix-up strategy
Something you do to repair your understanding when it breaks down, such as rereading or looking up a word.

reference source
A trusted resource for checking information, such as a dictionary, atlas, encyclopedia or official website.

Remember from Grade 7

In Grade 7 you used prior knowledge, made predictions and chose fix-up strategies when a text got confusing.

In Grade 8, texts get harder: longer sentences, more specialized words, and ideas that depend on what you learned in other subjects. This lesson gives you tools for cracking complex texts, the kind you'll meet every day in Grade 9.

Hook: Lost in a sentence?

Try reading this aloud in one breath: Lieutenant-Colonel John By of the Royal Engineers, who was put in charge of the project in 1826, chose a bold design.

Did you lose track of who did what? Long sentences hide a simple core inside. By the end of this lesson, you'll find it in seconds.

Before reading: what do I already know?

The passage below is about the Rideau Canal. Before you read, activate prior knowledge:

From Grade 7 History: the War of 1812 was fought between the United States and Britain, and Upper Canada was a battleground.
From Geography and maps: the St. Lawrence River forms part of the border between Ontario and the United States. Kingston is on Lake Ontario; Ottawa is on the Ottawa River.
From Science: water flows downhill, and a level surface of water stays level. (In Grade 8 Science you study fluids and water systems.)
From life: maybe you've skated on a canal or a frozen pond, or seen a boat go through a lock.

The Rideau Canal: Built for War, Kept for Peace (an informational text written for this website)

(1) After the War of 1812, British military leaders worried that the United States might attack Upper Canada again. (2) Their main supply route, the St. Lawrence River, ran right along the American border, where enemy forces could easily cut it. (3) They needed another way to move soldiers and supplies between Montréal and Kingston, the naval base on Lake Ontario. (4) The answer was the Rideau Canal.

(5) Lieutenant-Colonel John By of the Royal Engineers, who was put in charge of the project in 1826, chose a bold design. (6) Rather than digging a channel the whole way, his engineers built dams that raised rivers and lakes, creating a slackwater system, and they added locks wherever boats needed to be lifted or lowered. (7) This approach was faster and cheaper; however, it also flooded large areas of land, including lands and waters long used by Algonquin and Mississauga (Anishinaabe) peoples.

(8) The work was dangerous. (9) Thousands of labourers, many of them Irish immigrants and French Canadians, cut through forest, swamp and rock with hand tools and black powder. (10) Many fell ill with malaria, a disease spread by mosquitoes that was then common in the area's swamps, and many workers and members of their families died.

(11) The canal opened in 1832. (12) It was never needed for war. (13) Instead, it carried trade and, later, pleasure boats. (14) Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and each winter, part of it in Ottawa becomes the Rideau Canal Skateway.

Glossary: lock: a section of canal with gates at each end, where the water level can be raised or lowered to move boats between different heights. slackwater: calm, deep water created by damming a river so boats can travel easily. malaria: a serious disease caused by a parasite and spread by the bites of certain mosquitoes.

Stone canal locks with dark wooden gates and balance beams, a small boat waiting in a lock chamber, and green grass on both sides. — A flight of locks on the Rideau Canal as it looks today. Seeing the stepped chambers and gates can help you picture what the passage means when it says locks lift and lower boats. AI-generated image

How a lock works (not to scale). To go up, a boat enters the chamber and the lower gate closes. Water flows in from the upper level until the chamber matches it. Then the upper gate opens and the boat moves on.

Cohesive ties: the glue of a text

Complex texts are held together by cohesive ties. If you miss one, you lose the thread.

Reference (pronouns and pointing words): it, they, their, this, that, these. In sentence 2, Their points back to British military leaders. it (end of sentence 2) points to the St. Lawrence River (their supply route).
Substitution and general words: a new word stands in for an earlier idea. The answer (sentence 4) stands for a solution to their need. the project (sentence 5) = building the canal. This approach (sentence 7) = the dams-and-locks design.
Conjunctions and transitions: show how ideas connect. however (contrast), Instead (replacement), After (time), Rather than (alternative).
Lexical ties: repeated words and synonyms keep a topic going: canal, channel, waterway; labourers, workers.

Worked example

Let's find the core of a long sentence

Break down sentence 6: Rather than digging a channel the whole way, his engineers built dams that raised rivers and lakes, creating a slackwater system, and they added locks wherever boats needed to be lifted or lowered.

Find the main subject and verb(s): his engineers built dams ... and they added locks. That's the core: The engineers built dams and added locks.
Set aside the openers and extras: Rather than digging a channel the whole way tells what they didn't do. that raised rivers and lakes describes the dams. creating a slackwater system tells the result. wherever boats needed to be lifted or lowered tells where the locks went.
Check the cohesive ties: his = John By's (from sentence 5). they = the engineers.
Use the glossary: slackwater = calm, deep water made by damming. Now the result makes sense: dams turned rivers into calm water boats could use.
Rebuild in plain words: Instead of digging the whole canal, By's engineers dammed rivers to make calm water and built locks to move boats up and down.

Core: The engineers built dams and added locks. Everything else adds how, why, what it made and where. Finding the core first, then adding the pieces back, is the key strategy for long sentences.

Sentence 6 taken apart. The core (subject + verbs) is in the middle; each extra phrase hangs off it and adds what, where or why.

Worked example

Let's monitor and fix a breakdown

Jaya reads sentence 7 and thinks: Wait, why would a cheaper approach be bad? I'm confused. Show how she can monitor and fix her understanding.

Notice the breakdown: Jaya names exactly what confuses her. That's monitoring.
Reread slowly: This approach was faster and cheaper; however, it also flooded large areas of land. The word however signals a contrast: good points first, then a cost.
Ask a question: Who was affected by the flooding? The sentence answers it: lands and waters long used by Algonquin and Mississauga (Anishinaabe) peoples. Jaya can ask a further question: How did flooding change those places?
Consult a reference: a map of the Rideau corridor shows how many lakes the canal connects. A trusted source such as Parks Canada can tell her more about the canal's history and its effects.
Connect prior knowledge: from Science, Jaya knows a dam backs water up behind it, so the land behind a dam goes underwater.

Jaya fixed her understanding by naming the problem, rereading for the transition word however, asking questions, consulting references and using prior knowledge. Now she understands: the design saved time and money but had costs, including flooding lands that Indigenous peoples relied on.

When this happens...	Try this fix-up strategy
I don't know a word	Check the glossary; use word parts and context; look it up in a dictionary
I lost track of who or what it or they is	Find the referent: reread the sentence before
A sentence is too long	Find the core subject and verb; set aside extra phrases; rebuild in plain words
I don't have the background	Consult a reference (map, encyclopedia, trusted website); ask someone who knows
My mind wandered	Reread the paragraph; pause and say what it was about in one sentence
Ideas seem to contradict	Look for transition words (however, instead) that signal contrast
I can't picture it	Look at diagrams; sketch it; visualize

Choosing a fix-up strategy

Read with a pencil

Mark complex texts as you go: ? beside confusing parts, a box around new words, an arrow from a pronoun to its referent. When you finish a paragraph, write a 5-word summary in the margin. If you can't, that's your signal to reread.

Just for fun

Funny but true: in winter, some people in Ottawa skate to work on the Rideau Canal Skateway, about 7.8 km of ice with no traffic lights. Not bad for a canal built for a war that never came.

Hands-on activity

Complex text workout

You need: a challenging non-fiction text at home (a newspaper feature, a museum website a grown-up opens, a textbook, an appliance manual), a pencil, sticky notes or paper, a map or atlas (paper or online).

Before reading: write three things you already know about the topic and which subject or experience each came from.
During reading: use the pencil marks from the tip box. Draw at least three arrows from pronouns or pointing words (it, this, they) to their referents.
Find the longest sentence. Write its core (subject + verb + what) on a sticky note, then rebuild it in plain words.
When something confuses you, pick a strategy from the table and write which one you used and whether it worked.
Lock in a sink (with a grown-up): put a small plastic container in a sink with a little water, then slowly fill the sink. Watch the container rise as the water level rises. That's how a lock lifts a boat! Explain it to a family member using the diagram.

Your turn

In sentence 2, what does Their refer to?

In sentence 2, what does the final it refer to?

What does This approach in sentence 7 refer to?

Find the core of sentence 9.

Which transition word in sentence 13 signals that the canal's use changed from what was planned?

Which piece of prior knowledge from Grade 7 History helps most with sentence 1?

You don't know what a naval base is (sentence 3). Name two fix-up strategies you could use.

More practice: warm-up

What do cohesive ties do?

Give two pronouns that often act as cohesive ties.

In what year did the Rideau Canal open?

What should you do first with a very long sentence?

Name one reference source you could consult.

More practice: on your own

Why did British leaders want a route other than the St. Lawrence River?

Explain how a lock lifts a boat, in your own words.

Sentence 12 says the canal was never needed for war. How does this connect to the passage's title?

Rewrite sentence 10 in two shorter, plain sentences.

A reader keeps reading even though they're confused about who they refers to. What's the risk, and what should they do?

Challenge

Sentence 7 uses a semicolon and however. Explain how these choices help a reader understand the writer's point.

Which cohesive ties connect paragraph 3 to paragraph 2? Explain.

Write three questions you would ask to deepen your understanding of the passage, and say which reference you'd consult for each.

Check your understanding

Quiz

The workers built the dams. They worked through the summer heat. What does They refer to?

Which word is a transition that signals contrast?

What is the core of: The skaters, who had waited all week for the ice to be ready, glided down the canal at sunset?

You don't understand a word that's in bold. What's the best first step?

Which is an example of activating prior knowledge before reading about the Rideau Canal?

What does monitoring your understanding mean?

A boat in a lock goes up when...

For parents and teachers

What this lesson teaches: Grade 8 students comprehend complex texts using knowledge of words, grammar, cohesive ties, sentence structures and background knowledge (C1.1); activate prior knowledge from experience and other subjects (C2.1); and monitor understanding using strategies such as rereading, using a glossary, asking questions and consulting references (C2.4). The lesson also shows how reading skills support History, Geography and Science (A3.1).

How to help at home:

When your teen reads homework from another subject, ask: "What did you already know about this? Where did you learn it?"
Pick a long sentence from a news article and race to find its core subject and verb.
Model your own fix-up strategies aloud: "I lost track here, so I'm rereading."

Common difficulties:

Pushing on when confused. Encourage stopping and naming the confusion.
Losing track of pronouns in long texts. Practise drawing arrows to referents.
Skipping glossaries and diagrams. Point out that they are part of the text.

About the text: The passage was written for this site. Facts used: the Rideau Canal was built after the War of 1812 as a secure military route between Montréal and Kingston that avoided the St. Lawrence border; Lieutenant-Colonel John By of the Royal Engineers directed the work from 1826; it used a slackwater system of dams and locks; thousands of labourers, many Irish and French Canadian, built it, and many workers and family members died, mostly from malaria; it opened in 1832, was never used in war, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007, and part of it in Ottawa becomes the Rideau Canal Skateway in winter. Flooding from the canal's dams affected lands and waters used by Algonquin and Mississauga (Anishinaabe) peoples. Safety: for the sink activity, stay nearby and keep electrical devices away from water.