1. Informational Texts
Expository Texts

2. Informational Text
Writing that gives readers researched facts about real people, places, events, ideas, and things

3. Expository Text
Type of informational text that explains something about a specific topic. A writer may want to explain or describe something to persuade, or inform the reader.
Type of Text
Description
Article
Presents information on a particular topic
Essay
Writing that shares the author’s outlook or point of view
Speech
An oral presentation on a topic
Textbook
A book of factual information on a broad topic
Interview
A person’s experiences, ideas, and opinions revealed in conversation with another person

4. Main idea (central idea)- the most important idea the author wants to convey about a topic
Supporting Details- facts, reasons, examples, statistics, and quotations that contribute to the main idea of the overall article
Drawing conclusions- connecting the main idea and details to understand the meaning of the text
Inference- using facts and details to make a guess about the topic

5. Author’s Purpose To inform
Objective- uses formal language to present the facts in a neutral way, without expressing his or her point of view
Commonplace assertions- claims that are widely believed to be true but cannot be verified
Opinions- the author’s beliefs

6. Chronological/ Sequence
Pattern
Description
Transition/Key Words
Chronological/ Sequence
Organizes details in chronological or time order
Before, during, next, then, finally, first, second, last
Compare and contrast
Shows how two or more people, things, ideas, or events are similar and different
Compare: also, same as, like, similarly, in the same way
Contrast: however, but, in contrast, unlike, yet
Problem and Solution
States a problem and suggests one or more solutions
Questions, answer, problem, solution, if/ then, because
Cause and Effect
Examines what happened and why
Because, then, as a result, therefore, thus, hence
Question and Answer
Poses a question then explores the answer
What, when, who, where, why, how, one may conclude
Spatial
Organizes information by location
Right, left, on top of, over, under, north, east, south, west

7. Text Features and Graphics
Text features- help readers locate information quickly in a text
Headings, subheadings, boldface and italics, bulleted lists, sidebars
Graphics- present information visually
Tables and charts, photographs, captions, maps