Informational Texts TEXT STRUCTURES

What is Text Structure? Text Structure refers to how a piece of text is ____________. Writers use different structures to build their _________. Each structure communicates ideas in a different way.

Why do I need to know this???

Knowing organization patterns helps the reader: Locate ____________ in the text. Differentiate between what is _____________ and unimportant. _________________ what is being read.

Chronological Order (sequence/time order) Events are told in ____________ starting with what happened first, second, third, and so on.

Example Jack and Jill ran up the hill to fetch a pail of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after.

SIGNAL WORDS Before, _______ When ______ At last ______ Until

CAUSE AND EFFECT An event may be explained by what _______ it to happen, or may explain what happened as a ______ of the event.

Example The dodo bird used to roam in large flocks across America.  Interestingly, the dodo wasn’t startled by gun shot.  Because of this, frontiersmen would kill entire flocks in one sitting.  Unable to sustain these attacks, the dodo was hunted to extinction.

Signal Words For this reason Hence _______ Made ___________ On that account Hence _______ Made

Compare and Contrast Facts are presented by showing how they are ___________ and ___________ from each other.

Example Linux and Windows are both operating systems.  Computers use them to run programs.  Linux is totally free and open source, so users can improve or otherwise modify the source code.  Windows is proprietary, so it costs money to use and users are prohibited from altering the source code.

SIGNAL WORDS On the other hand _____ However In the same way ________

PROBLEM AND SOLUTION The writer describes a current _______ and proposes a __________, or shows how a past problem was solved. Example: editorials

Example Thousand of people die each year in car accidents involving drugs or alcohol.  Lives could be saved if our town adopts a free public taxi service.  By providing such a service, we could prevent intoxicated drivers from endangering themselves or others.

ORDER OF IMPORTANCE _________ facts are organized with the most __________ fact first, followed by facts in ___________ order of importance.

Example Here are the three worst things that you can do on a date.  First, you could tell jokes that aren’t funny and laugh really hard to yourself.  This will make you look bad.  Worse though, you could offend your date.  One bad “joke” may cause your date to lash out at you, hence ruining the engagement.  But the worst thing that you can do is to appear slovenly.  By not showering and properly grooming, you may repulse your date, and this is the worst thing that you can do.

Also called ___________ or _________ order Location Order Also called ___________ or _________ order Some texts _____ in an organized way from one __________ to another.

EXAMPLE I was asleep on the second floor of our narrow, gabled green house in Willemstad, on the island of Curacao, the largest of the Dutch islands just off the coast of Venezuela. I remember that on that moonless night in February 1942, they attacked the big Lago oil refinery on Aruba, the sister island west of us. Then they blew up six of our small lake tankers, the tubby one that still bring crude oil from Lake Maracaibo to the refinery, Curacaosche Petroluem Maatschappij, to be made into gasoline, kerosene, and diesel oil. One German sub was even sighted off Willemstad at dawn.

Simple Listing Items are _________ listed in a series of supporting facts or ________. Changing the ______ does not change the ________ of the paragraph.

Signal Words In addition _________ ________ Several

CLASSIFICATION The writer ________ similar things into ____________. Example: A report on popular music would classify various types as rap, pop, rock, country and R& B