Strategies for Teaching Text Features and Text Structure With Expository Text

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Strategies for Teaching Text Features and Text
Structure With Expository Text

• Kim Hamer

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Understanding Yourself, As a Reader

• How do you use text features to aid your
  comprehension as you read?
• What strategies do you use to help you understand
  these text features?
• Do you employ the same strategies when you read
  different types of expository texts?
• How does the organizational structure of the text
  impact how you read it?

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Please Reflect On The Following Quotes

• Expository text and strategic reading are
  particularly important, given the current
  emphasis on assessing reading achievement.
• - Paola Pilonieta (2011)
• Young children lack early exposure to
  exposition.
• - Barbara Moss (2004)
• Students have not been taught to read expository
  text.
• - Barbara Moss (2004)

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Classroom Connection

• Please take a minute to think about the following
  questions
• - How much expository text do you implement in
  your classroom?
• - Do you have age appropriate examples of
  authentic expository text for children?
• - What are some ways that you explicitly teach
  students to read and understand expository text?

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Interesting Statistics

• Between 2,500 and 5,000 new childrens
  nonfiction books are published each year, more
  than any other genre.
• - Barbara Moss (2004)
• It can be detrimental to students academic
  achievement if they are not exposed to a variety
  of reading material.
• - Paola Pilonieta (2011)
• In a study involving more than 100 hours of
  observations in primary literacy classrooms,
  there was not a single instance of teachers
  modeling reading strategies for reading
  expository text.
• - Barbara Moss (2004)

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What Can We, As Educators Do To Change Things

• How can we change the way our students perceive,
  read, comprehend, and interact with expository
  text?

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Text Features and Text Structure Can Help!!

• Text features include all the components of a
  story or article that are not the main body of
  text. These include the table of contents,
  index, glossary, headings, bold words, sidebars,
  pictures, and captions, and labeled diagrams.
• -Kelley, Clausen-Grace (2010)
• The structure or organization of the text is the
  arrangement of ideas and the relationships among
  the ideas. Text structures include description,
  sequence, compare/contrast, cause/effect, and
  problem/solution.
• -Akhondi, Malayeri, and Samad (2011)

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The Importance of Understanding Text Features

• Expository nonfiction also contains numerous
  text features that supplement and present
  important content that the student must read in
  order to fully comprehend. Interestingly
  thought, students often ignore these essential
  text features, even though they have been taught
  their importance.
• -Kelley, Clausen-Grace (2010)

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Strategies To Use When Teaching Text Features

• The Text Feature Picture Walk (Kelley,
  Clausen-Grace, 2010)
• Understanding Text Features of Different Genres
  (Bluestein, 2010)
• We will explore these strategies in more detail
  during a later session.

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The Text Feature Walk

• Why is the picture walk effective when teaching
  young children how to preview text?
• What strategies do you use when teaching your
  students how to preview expository text?
• Please take a moment and predict what a text
  feature walk is. What do you think this strategy
  looks like and sounds like?

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The Text Feature Walk

• Students work to explore and become familiar with
  the text features in a certain text, before
  actually reading the text.
• Students use these text features in helping them
  to make predictions about the text, and in
  determining the main idea.
• In order for students to successfully implement
  this strategy, the text feature walk must be
  taught using the gradual release of
  responsibility.

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Classroom Connection

• What are your ideas for incorporating a text
  feature walk into your instruction? Think about
  what this strategy will look like and sound like
  in your classroom.

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Text Features and Genres

• We must begin to create a bridge to expository
  text comprehension for our neediest readers by
  scaffolding instruction of the most common
  features of three genres of nonfiction.
• -Bluestein (2010)

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Text Features and Genres

• Please reflect on the following questions.
• What types of expository text do you use in your
  classroom?
• Does your classroom library offer students a
  variety of genres?

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Text Features and Genres

• Biography
• -table of contents, index, timelines,
  photographs, captions
• Journalistic Text Genre
• - pictures, captions, charts, maps, graphs
• Informational Text/Textbooks Genre
• - table of contents, headings/subheadings, bold
  words, summary statements

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The Importance of Understanding Text Structure

• The ability to identify and analyze these text
  structures in expository texts help readers to
  comprehend the text more easily and retain it
  longer.
• -Akhondi, Malayeri, and Abd Samad (2011)

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Types of Text Structure

• Description
• Sequence
• Compare/Contrast
• Cause/Effect
• Problem/Solution

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Strategies For Teaching Text Structure

• Introduce text structure in order, beginning
  with description, and finishing with
  compare/contrast.
• Do not combine text structures. Practice one
  text structure until students are comfortable
  with it. (It helps if the texts are short when
  students are practicing.)
• Highlight/Find signal words
• Introduce students to graphic organizers
• Scaffolding with blank graphic organizers
• Have students practice writing with the
  designated text structure.
• - Akhondi, Malayeri,and Abd Samad (2011)

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Expository Texts and Trade books

• According to Barbara Moss (2004), information
  trade books and using them to retell events from
  the text, will help students begin to understand
  how different texts are organized.

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Expository Texts and Trade books

• When selecting expository trade books, teachers
  should consider
• - the age level and interests of students
• - the readability of the book
• - the text structure being taught

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Classroom Connection

• What expository trade books do you currently use
  in your classroom?
• Which text structure could you use to teach with
  these books?
• How would you evaluate these books in terms of
  being appropriate and capturing the interests of
  your students?

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Resources for Finding Authentic Expository Texts
and Trade books

• http//www.ala.org/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bo
  okmedia/sibermedal/idex.cfm
• Robert F. Siebert Award
• http//www.reading.org/Resource/Booklists/TeacherC
  hoices.aspx
• Reading Teachers Teacher Choice Booklist
• http//www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrant
  s/notalists/ncbindex.cfm
• ALAs Notable Childrens Books

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Thank You For Coming!

• Next session, we will look at expository trade
  books in more depth, as well as choosing
  authentic expository texts.
• I look forward to continue learning with you!

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References

• Akhondi, M., Malayeri, F., Samad, A. (2011).
  How to Teach Expository Text Structure to
  Facilitate Reading Comprehension. Reading
  Teacher, 64(5), 368-372. doi10.1598/RT.64.5.9
• Bluestein, N. (2010). Unlocking Text Features for
  Determining Importance in Expository Text A
  Strategy for Struggling Readers. Reading Teacher,
  63(7), 597-600.
• Kelley, M. J., Clausen-Grace, N. (2010).
  Guiding Students Through Expository Text With
  Text Feature Walks. Reading Teacher, 64(3),
  191-195. doi10.1598/RT.64.3.4
• Moss, B. (2004). Teaching expository text
  structures through information trade book
  retellings. Reading Teacher, 57(8), 710-718.
• Pilonieta, P. (2011). The expository text primer
  A teacher's resource guide for using expository
  text. New England Reading Association Journal,
  46(2), 45-51.