Identifying Text Structure

What nonfiction text have you willingly read in the last 24 hours?

Nonfiction texts can also be called:– Expository text– Informational text

Informational text appears in many diverse forms:

Essays Autobiographies Speeches Magazines

The purpose of each of these text types governs its organizational structure.

organizational structure = the language pattern

When readers learn to recognize organizational pattern and the relationship between ideas, they take a giant step toward independent reading and comprehension.

Student familiarity with these patterns and knowing which pattern is being used helps the reader to:

• Locate information in the text • Differentiate between what is important and unimportant • Mentally sequence the main ideas in a logical order • Synthesize ideas that appear in different locations in the text • Link new information to what is already known • Restructure and revise prior knowledge to take into account new information

Content-Area Teachers can help students improve reading comprehension by making sure they understand:

• The difference between informational text and fictional text

• The organizational patterns typically used in your classroom text

• How to recognize these different organizational patterns

• The kinds of questions each pattern is intended to help answer

Think Aloud!

Content area teachers can use the ‘think aloud’ strategy to directly model how to think about and identify text structure.

Click on the Icon below to hear a model think aloud.

Expository Text Structures(Internal Features of Text)

• Description

• Sequence

• Cause/Effect

• Problem/Solution

• Comparison/Contrast

1. Description– Definition

Author describes what things, places, or people look like; characteristics of the topic

Structures for Informational Text

Clue words you might read:

• for example• characteristics• most important• also• in fact

Questions strategic readers might ask themselves while reading:

• What specific person, place, thing, or event is being described? • What are its most important attributes or characteristics? • Would the description change if the order of the attributes were changed? • Why is this description important?

Description Example

A map is a drawing of a place. The drawing shows where things are. A map can show the things in a room such as a classroom. A map can show the houses, buildings, and streets in a town. A map can show the towns, lakes, and mountains in a state or country. A map also can show many other things about the world we live in.

Graphic Organizer - Description

maps

TYPES

OTHER

PURPOSE

State or Country Maps

• Show where things are • Buildings

• Neighborhoods

• Mountain s

• Lakes

• World

Structures for Informational Text2. Sequence

– Definition

Author organizes information or events in number or time order.

Clue words you might read:

• first, second, third• before• not long after• finally• next

Questions strategic readers might askthemselves:

• What sequence of events is being described?• What are the major incidents that occur?• How is this pattern revealed in the text?

Sequence Example

In England in the 1600s and 1700s, people of different religions did not get along. In 1632, King Charles I of England gave the Calvert family a charter to start a colony north of Colonial Virginia.Leonard Calvert and 200 colonists sailed across the Atlantic Ocean and landed in Maryland on March 25, 1634.

Graphic Organizer – Sequence

TIMELINES

1632

King Charles gives Calvert

Family a charter for

the Maryland colony

1634

Leonard Calvert lands in

Maryland with 200 colonists

Structures for Informational Text

3. Cause/Effect– Definition

Author relates ideas to state or imply something caused something to happen.

Clue words you might read:

• reasons why• as a result• because• if … then• because• therefore

Questions strategic readers askthemselves when reading:

• What process or subject is being explained? • What specific causal events occur? • What is the outcome of the causal events?

Life in colonial Maryland was hard in the 1600s. The colonists were still learning how to grow food in soil and weather that was very different from their home back in England. Colonists went hungry a lot of the time. Insects that caused sickness filled Maryland’s swamps, and not many doctors had come to America yet. There was no one to care for the sick. In Maryland’s early years , many adults died young.

Cause/Effect Example

Graphic Organizer - CAUSE/EFFECT

CAUSE

CAUSE

CAUSE

Many adults died young.

Went hungry

Insects caused sickness

Not many doctors

Structures for Informational Text4. Problem/Solution

– Definition

Author identifies a problem or question and follows it with one or more solutions or replies.

Clue words you might read:

• as a result• since• this led to• then, so• therefore

Questions strategic readers might ask themselves while reading:

• What is the problem? • What are the possible solutions? • What are the specific steps in solving the problem? • Do the solutions seem probable? • How is the pattern revealed in the text?

Problem/Solution ExampleRain forests are disappearing at an

alarming pace. Urgent action is needed if they are to survive. There are many ways of protecting the rain forests. Many countries have set up national parks to protect the plants and animals. People have organized campaigns to stop the logging and farming in the rain forest. Children are being educated about the importance of rain forests and their resources so that they may make informed decisions as adults.

Graphic Organizer - PROBLEM/SOLUTION

Problem

Rain forests are disappearing

Solution

Solution

Solution

Setting up national parks

Stopping logging and farming

Educating children to make good decisions

Structures for Informational Text5. Compare/Contrast

– Definition

Author presents likenesses or differences in two or more objects or ideas.

Clue words you might read:

• alike• similarities• same as• differences• but• in contrast• although

Questions strategic readers might ask themselves while reading:

• What items are being compared? • What is it about them that are being compared? What characteristics of the items form the basis of the comparison? • What characteristics do they have in common; how are these items alike? • In what ways are these items different? • What conclusion does the author reach about the degree of similarity or difference between the items? • How did the author reveal this pattern?

Compare/Contrast Example

Criminal suits are cases brought by a state or federal government against a person or group of persons. In a criminal case, the government is accusing someone of having broken a law. They usually involve serious crimes. The goal is to obtain justice by punishment through a prison sentence, a fine, or both. Civil suits are cases brought by one person (or persons) against another person (or persons). A plaintiff is seeking money to make up for damages done by a defendant. The goal is to obtain justice by punishment through a fine.

Compare/Contrast VENN DIAGRAM

Criminal Civil

Differences Differences

Similarities• court

• against a person

• laws broken

• might involve money

• brought about by state or federal government

• serious crimes

• prison sentence

• brought about by one person or persons

• causing damage to person or property

• fine, no prison

Paying attention to how writing is organized offers a reader an

efficient way to access information and to see the relationship among

the elements of the text. Thus, helping the reader remember the

information.