Problem & Solution is a text structure where an author presents an issue (the problem) and then explains one or more ways it can be fixed (the solution).
This structure shows up in fiction and nonfiction writing. So much of what we read and write, including stories, articles, history and science text, and opinion pieces, revolves around identifying challenges and figuring out how to address them.
Problem & Solution is the structure readers lean on when they:
- Analyze conflicts in stories
- Understand real-world issues in nonfiction
- Write persuasive or argumentative pieces
- Think critically about cause, impact, and possible fixes
It moves readers from just understanding a situation to thinking about what can be done about it.
Free Resources for Problem & Solution Text Structure
Below you’ll find a collection of free problem & solution text structure resources, including:
- Overviews that explain Problem & Solution in plain language.
- Worksheets and activities for identifying problems, solutions, and signal words.
- Free passages and readers that clearly show the problem & solution structure in action.
Use them to introduce the structure, reinforce it, or give learners more practice identifying challenges and thinking through possible solutions.
Problem & Solution Online Lesson: Slideshow that outlines the steps to determining the text structure being used, and how to use a graphic organizer to write a brief summary of a text. Several online “task cards” (short informational paragraphs with questions) about the Panama Canal are provided with this lesson.
Simple Problem & Solution Worksheet
Problem & Solution Practice Activities
Scholastic News Articles – with lesson plans, videos, and worksheets:
Here are some books and graphic organizers for studying the Problem & Solution text structure:
| Free Readers | Graphic Organizers | Books on Amazon (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.) |
|---|---|---|
| Clara Barton | Problem & Solution Graphic Organizer | Recycle! introduces environmental problems and practical solutions |
| Thomas Edison | Problem & Solution Templates | Wangari’s Trees of Peace true story presents environmental challenges and solutions in Kenya |
For more free text structure resources, head to the main text structure post, which serves as the hub for this series.
The point that problem and solution shows up in fiction as well as nonfiction is easy to overlook, since most worksheets treat it as an informational-text skill only. One practical tweak: after students read a story, have them fill a two-column chart with the character’s conflict on one side and what the character actually does about it on the other, then compare that to how a nonfiction passage handles the same structure. That contrast makes the transfer explicit instead of assumed.