Text Structures

WRite this number from memory:

Now Let me give you a structure to remember it

It was much easier to remember

Nonfiction Text contains both text structures and text features. Text features are things like bold and charts and bullet lists. Text structures means the way the information is organized.

There are 5 Text Structures

• Description
• Compare and contrast
• Problem and Solution
• Cause and Effect
• Sequence or Chronological Order

Description

Signal Words

• For example
• Such as
• Looks like
• Most important
• For instance

Example Paragraph:
Nonfiction is a type of writing. It is made of facts and information. A characteristic of nonfiction is that it is true. For example, biographies and history books are nonfiction.

Compare and Contrast

Signal Words

• Also
• Both
• In contrast
• Same as
• On the other hand
• However

Example:
Horse and cows are alike in some ways. First both are found on farms and eat grass and hay. Both also have four legs and are covered with hair. On the other hand, cows are used for food while horses are not.

Sequence/chronological order

Signal Words

• First
• Next
• Then
• Last
• Finally
• At the same time
• Following
• Not long after

Example:
To make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich you first take two slices of bread. Next spread peanut butter on one slice and jelly on the other slice. Finally, put two slice together with the peanut butter and jelly facing each other.

Problem and solution

Signal Words

• Problem
• Solve
• Solution
• Question
• Answer
• The main difficulty..

Example:
The problem of cyberbullying really boils down to respect for differences. In the past the common solution has been increased policing of the Internet. However, a better solution would be to teach children to treat others with respect.

Cause and EFfect

Signal Words

• Reasons why
• If ..then
• As a result of
• Lead to
• Caused by
• Result/outcome

Example:
The causes of World War II are not easy to define. Most people think the cause was Hitler's treatment of the Jews. Others believe the main cause was Hitler's conquest of European countries.

So why does this matter?

If you know how the information is organized/presented, you will better understand what you are reading.