This document provides an overview of text structure and suggestions for teaching it to students. It defines text structure as the internal organization of a text and discusses common structures like chronological order, cause and effect, problem and solution, compare and contrast, and description. It explains that understanding text structure helps readers comprehend, search for, and summarize information. The document offers recommendations for teaching text structure, such as using graphic organizers, highlighting transition words, analyzing questions for each structure, and finding leveled texts to practice with.

1. Teaching Text Structure
A quick guide for teachers

2. 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

3. 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)

4. 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

5. What is text structure?
• The author would
be using the text
structure of compare
and contrast

6. 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

7. What are the common text
structures?
• It’s 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. What are the common text
structures?
• Cause and effect
• Another complication
is that many texts do
not include just one
cause leading to one
effect—instead, there
may be several causes
and several effects

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. Where things get tricky
• Some texts will
categorize typical
main idea and detail
paragraphs as
description
• I find it’s easier to
call them main idea
and detail with my
students

20. 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

21. 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
that’s often taught in
elementary school

22. 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

23. 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

24. How does text structure
help readers?
• Research shows that
efficient searchers
use the structure of
the text to help them
find specific
information

25. 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 they’re trying to find
the answer to a
question

26. 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

27. Suggestions for teaching
text structure
• First, don’t be
discouraged if your
students don’t
understand at first
• Text structure is a
big concept
• Be prepared to
spend serious time
working with this
idea

28. 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

29. 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

30. Suggestions for teaching
text structure
• It’s 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

31. 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

32. Suggestions for teaching
text structure
• Once you are sure
that students
understand
structure, you can
begin with an
overview of the text
structures

33. 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

34. 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

35. 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
• It’s interesting to see
how the same topic can
be discussed in
different text structures

36. Suggestions for teaching
text structure
• It’s 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: It’s not
just about finding the text
structure. The main point is
to use the text structure to
build meaning

37. 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

38. 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?

39. 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?

40. 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?

41. 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?

42. 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?

43. Find Te
ing xts
• 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

44. Find Te
ing xts
– 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

45. Find Te
ing xts
• 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, it’s a good idea to also
have students work with directions or a
recipe

46. Find Te
ing xts
• Chronological Order
– A House Spider’s 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

47. Find Te
ing xts
• 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

48. Find Te
ing xts
• 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
– Sparrow Jack, by Mordecai Gerstein, also
shows a problem and a solution

49. Find Te
ing xts
• 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

50. Find Te
ing xts
• If you are in need of some short texts, you
may also write to me at elkissn@yahoo.com
and I’ll send you some that I created for my
classroom

51. Re o e
s urc s
• 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

52. Re o e
s urc s
• Toolkit Texts:
Heinemann
Firsthand. Available
at
www.comprehensiontoolkit.com

53. Re o e
s urc s
• A free Powerpoint
for teaching text
structure to students
is available at
TeacherspayTeachers
or Slideshare.net
• “Understanding Text
Structures” explicitly
teaches the different
structures

54. Re o e
s urc s
• Teaching Students to
Read Nonfiction, by
Alice Boynton and
Wiley Blevins, is an
excellent resource
with short texts for
students
• Available from
Scholastic

55. Re o e
s urc s
• Nonfiction Passages
with Graphic
Organizers, also
available from
Scholastic, is another
good resource

56. W rks p b Em Kis ne
o ho s y ily s r
• Summarizing, Paraphrasing, and
Retelling: Nonfiction Focus
• Making Inferences and Visualizing
in Text
• Reading Strategies in the
Intermediate Grades
• Summarizing in Every Class

57. 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.

58. by Emily Kissner