Teaching Text Structure

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Teaching Text Structure

• A quick guide for teachers

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Overview

• What is text structure?
• What are the common text structures?
• How does text structure help readers understand
  nonfiction?
• Suggestions for teaching text structure
• Where do I find texts?
• References and resources

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What is text structure?

• Text structure refers to the internal
  organization of a text
• As authors write a text to communicate an idea,
  they will use a structure that goes along with
  the idea (Meyer 1985)

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What is text structure?

• Suppose an author wanted to show how hawks and
  owls compare
• The author would help the reader to understand
  the similarities and differences by using words
  and phrases such as similarity, difference, on
  the other hand, also, and as well

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What is text structure?

• The author would be using the text structure of
  compare and contrast

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What is text structure?

• A nonfiction text can have one overall text
  structure, or several different text structures
• For example, a page from a social studies
  textbook may be written in chronological order,
  but contain a paragraph that explains a cause and
  effect

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What are the common text structures?

• Its important to understand that there is no
  official list of text structures
• Different writers have different lists of text
  structures
• Check your state standards for the exact
  terminology in your state

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What are the common text structures?

• Chronological order
• Also known as time order, sequence, or temporal
  order
• This structure is organized from one point in
  time to another

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What are the common text structures?

• Chronological order
• Transition words such as first, next, later, and
  finally are included to help the reader
  understand how events relate to one another
• Dates and times are also used

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What are the common text structures?

• Chronological order
• This is one of the easiest text structures for
  students to understand, since it matches the way
  that they experience the world

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What are the common text structures?

• Cause and effect
• This text structure shows how one or more causes
  led to one or more effects
• This text structure also has a strong time
  component, since causes come before effects

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What are the common text structures?

• Cause and effect
• Transition words such as cause, effect, as a
  result, consequently, and because are used
• Time order transitions are also used, which can
  lead to some confusion for students

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What are the common text structures?

• Cause and effect
• Another complication is that many texts do not
  include just one cause leading to one
  effectinstead, there may be several causes and
  several effects

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What are the common text structures?

• Problem and solution
• This text structure presents a problem, and shows
  how it can be (or has been) solved
• This text structure can be confused with cause
  and effect

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What are the common text structures?

• Problem and solution
• The key difference is that problem and solution
  always has a solution, while cause and effect
  does not
• Transitions may include problem, solution, solve,
  effect, hopeful, and so forth

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What are the common text structures?

• Compare and contrast
• This text structure shows how two or more ideas
  or items are similar or different
• This text structure is also fairly easy for
  students to understand
• The text may use a clustered approach, with
  details about one topic followed by details about
  the other
• The text may also show an alternating approach,
  with the author going back between the two topics

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What are the common text structures?

• Compare and contrast
• Transition words may include like, similar,
  unlike, on the other hand, also, and too
• Compare and contrast paragraphs are often
  embedded in other text structures as an author
  needs to explain a similarity or difference

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What are the common text structures?

• Description
• This text structure shows what an item or place
  is like
• Transitions in this structure might include
  spatial words, such as next to, on top of,
  beside, and so forth

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Where things get tricky

• Some texts will categorize typical main idea and
  detail paragraphs as description
• I find its easier to call them main idea and
  detail with my students

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Where things get tricky

• Main idea and detail
• Some texts will also refer to these paragraphs as
  statement and support
• This kind of text makes a statement, and then
  uses details to support it

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Where things get tricky

• Main idea and detail
• Transition words include for example, also, one
  reason, and another reason
• This is the typical paragraph structure thats
  often taught in elementary school

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How does text structure help readers?

• Why bother with text structure?
• As it turns out, a knowledge of text structure
  can be very helpful for readers

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How does text structure help readers?

• When readers do not have a strong knowledge of
  the topic of a text, they depend more on the
  structure (Cataldo and Oakhill)
• A well-written text guides the reader through the
  content

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How does text structure help readers?

• Research shows that efficient searchers use the
  structure of the text to help them find specific
  information

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How does text structure help readers?

• The structure of a text can help readers find
  answers to questions, as well
• For example, knowing that causes come before
  effects can help students to narrow their search
  as theyre trying to find the answer to a question

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How does text structure help readers?

• Text structure is also an important component to
  summarizing
• When readers summarize, they need to reflect the
  text structure in the summary

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Suggestions for teaching text structure

• First, dont be discouraged if your students
  dont understand at first
• Text structure is a big concept
• Be prepared to spend serious time working with
  this idea

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Suggestions for teaching text structure

• If you are working with students in grades 3-5,
  be certain that they understand the word
  structure
• Without knowing this word, the metaphor of text
  structure will be meaningless

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Suggestions for teaching text structure

• The picture book Word Builder by Ann Whitford
  Paul is a great resource to reinforce the concept
  that authors build with words

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Suggestions for teaching text structure

• Its also important to make sure that students
  understand the thinking behind the structures,
  especially cause and effect and compare and
  contrast
• It can help to work with this kind of thinking
  using clear, concrete examples from students
  lives

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Suggestions for teaching text structure

• For example, students understand cause and effect
  very well when we connect it to student behavior!
• Comparing and contrasting two rooms in the school
  can also be easy for students to understand

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Suggestions for teaching text structure

• Once you are sure that students understand
  structure, you can begin with an overview of the
  text structures

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Suggestions for teaching text structure

• I have my students create a foldable flip book
  with all of the text structures listed
• Each day, we refer back to our books and add new
  information about new text structures

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Suggestions for teaching text structure

• Plan to teach each text structure in depth
• At minimum, plan to spend one day introducing the
  structure and an accompanying graphic organizer,
  one day reading a text together, and one day for
  independent practice

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Suggestions for teaching text structure

• To lend some continuity to your instruction, you
  may want to use texts that are centered on a
  given topic
• Its interesting to see how the same topic can be
  discussed in different text structures

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Suggestions for teaching text structure

• Its also helpful to give students copies of
  texts that have the transition words highlighted
• This will help them to match transition words to
  text structures
• Remember, though Its not just about finding the
  text structure. The main point is to use the text
  structure to build meaning

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Suggestions for teaching text structure

• Students also benefit from learning questions to
  ask of each text structure
• This helps them to use text structure to build
  their comprehension

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Suggestions for teaching text structure

• Chronological order How are the steps organized?
  What is the time span from the first event to the
  last? How does the author signal the change from
  one event to the next? What do all of the events
  explain?

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Suggestions for teaching text structure

• Cause and effect What is the cause? What are the
  effects? Were there several causes and several
  effects? How did the cause lead to the effects?
  How did people react?

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Suggestions for teaching text structure

• Problem and solution What is the problem? What
  are the solutions? Who worked to solve the
  problem? Has the problem been solved yet, or will
  it be solved in the future? What caused the
  problem?

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Suggestions for teaching text structure

• Compare and contrast What is being compared?
  What are the similarities? What are the
  differences? Which similarities and differences
  are the most significant? Are the details
  alternating or clustered?

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Suggestions for teaching text structure

• Description What is being described? How does
  the author organize the description? Which detail
  is the most important? How do all of the details
  fit together?

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Finding Texts

• Finding the texts to teach text structure is
  challenging!
• I usually use a picture book to introduce the
  text structure, and then follow up with a short
  article for students to read
• The books come from combing the shelves at the
  local library

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Finding Texts

• The Scholastic book Teaching Students to Read
  Nonfiction includes high interest articles with
  different text structures
• Toolkit Texts (from Heinemann) include texts with
  different structures, sometimes organized around
  a particular theme
• Magazines like Click and Ask, available from
  Carus, have articles that show a variety of text
  structures

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Finding Texts

• Chronological Order
• Picture books about the life cycle of an animal
  are high interest and show this structure quite
  well
• A short biography is also a good choice
• Because directions are also organized in
  chronological order, its a good idea to also
  have students work with directions or a recipe

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Finding Texts

• Chronological Order
• A House Spiders Life by John Himmelman is a nice
  introduction to this text structure
• I usually go a level or two down for teaching
  text structure, so students do not have to cope
  with difficult text and the new concept of text
  structure

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Finding Texts

• Cause and effect
• Natural disaster books and articles often show
  this text structure
• Some paragraphs within biographies also use this
  text structure, often to explain why someone
  chose a particular path in life

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Finding Texts

• Problem and solution
• A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry is a good
  example of a problem and solution text
• This text also has a strong chronological order
  component, which leads to interesting discussions
• Many environmental books are organized in this
  pattern

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Finding Texts

• Compare and contrast
• This text structure is often found embedded in
  longer texts
• However, the Backyard Books series by Judy Allen
  (Are You a Grasshopper?) contain strong elements
  of compare and contrast

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Finding Texts

• If you are in need of some short texts, you may
  also write to me at elkissn_at_yahoo.com and Ill
  send you some that I created for my classroom

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Resources

• A chapter about text structure can be found in my
  first book, Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and
  Retelling (Emily Kissner)
• Information about how students can use transition
  words to find details can be found in my second
  book, The Forest AND the Trees Helping Readers
  Identify Important Details

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Resources

• Toolkit Texts Heinemann Firsthand. Available at
• www.comprehensiontoolkit.com

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Resources

• A free Powerpoint for teaching text structure to
  students is available at TeacherspayTeachers
• Understanding Text Structures explicitly
  teaches the different structures

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Resources

• Teaching Students to Read Nonfiction, by Alice
  Boynton and Wiley Blevins, is an excellent
  resource with short texts for students
• Available from Scholastic

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Resources

• Nonfiction Passages with Graphic Organizers, also
  available from Scholastic, is another good
  resource

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Workshops by Emily Kissner

• Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and Retelling
  Nonfiction Focus
• Making Inferences and Visualizing in Text
• Reading Strategies in the Intermediate Grades
• Summarizing in Every Class
• elkissn_at_yahoo.com

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References

• Cataldo, Maria and Jane Oakhill. 2000. Why Are
  Poor Comprehenders Inefficient Searchers? An
  Investigation into the Effects of Text
  Representation and Spatial Memory on the Ability
  to Locate Information in Text. Journal of
  Educational Psychology 92 (4) 791-799.
• Meyer, B.J.F. 1985. Prose Analysis Purpose,
  Procedures, and Problems. In Understanding
  Expository Text, edited by B.K. Britton, and J.B.
  Black. Hillsdale, NJ Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

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by Emily Kissner