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[Music] Welcome to the Overview on 
Helping Students Focus on Text Structure.

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Helping students understand 
how different types

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of texts are structured can greatly
improve their reading comprehension.

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As students gain a firm grasp
of narrative and informational text

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structures, they can apply that knowledge
when they approach more advanced materials.

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This process can begin as early
as kindergarten.

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Let's look first at introducing 
children to narrative texts,

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which can be described as texts
that tell stories about characters.

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This covers a wide range,
from folk tales to biographies.

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Students can learn how to identify
and understand the five main elements

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of structure in narrative text:
Characters, Setting, Problem, Plot,

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and Resolution.

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Teachers can introduce students 
to tools and techniques

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to help them remember the story elements.

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For example, students can count them
off, associating one element

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with each finger on their hand.

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Story maps or graphic organizers can
also be used to teach the parts

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of a story, such as: a chart that 
helps students match structure to content,

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a sequencing activity for younger students
in which they rearrange a scrambled list

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of pictures to accurately represent the
sequence, or a diagram of the plot

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that connects major action points
within the story.

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When introducing these tools,
teachers should explain how each tool

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or strategy can help students 
understand what they are reading.

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This way, students are more likely
to think about the story elements

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as they read, and not just when the 
tools are used in class discussion.

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Instruction on text structure will look
different across grade levels.

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For kindergarten students,
teachers can identify narrative elements

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by asking questions while reading,
such as: "Where does this story take

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place?"; "Who was the main character?";
"What happened?"; "How did the story end?"

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As students get comfortable
with the five elements,

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teachers can introduce stories
with multiple examples of each element

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and have students identify each of them.

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For example, with "Little 
Red Riding Hood,"

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the setting is both the woods 
and grandmother's house.

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With older students, teachers 
should gradually introduce new

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structural elements-- such as 
themes, morals, subplots,

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and multiple conflicts--
while reinforcing those

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that have already been taught.

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Teachers should also introduce students
to the structural elements

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of informational or expository text.

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For beginning learners, it's 
important to use texts

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that provide clear, easy-to-recognize 
examples of the structure being taught.

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Examples of informational text
structures include compare and contrast,

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description, sequence, problem and 
solution, and cause and effect.

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A compare-and-contrast text might
present types of animals or modes

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of transportation.

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Students can work together
to create a table or Venn diagram

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of the similarities and differences
between the objects in the text.

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With a description text, 
students might use the details

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of what is being described
to draw an illustration

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or create a three-dimensional display.

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A text that outlines a sequence
of events can be made visible

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by assigning each event in the text
to a student, and having the class line

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the students up in the correct order.

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When working with a problem-and-solution
text, students may be able to act

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out key parts of the passage.

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Cause-and-effect texts can be 
explored by matching up pictures

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that represent causes and effects
in a game-like activity.

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Students can also be helped
to recognize clue words in a passage

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so that they can identify the
text structure.

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Words such as "alike," "unlike," "both,"
"but," and "however" can signal a

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compare-and-contrast text,
while "before," "after," "next,"

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and "then" can indicate a
sequence-of-events text.

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It is important, however,
that students are not taught

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to rely solely on clue words
to identify text structure.

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As students grow more adept at 
working with informational texts,

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examples can move from short passages
to paragraphs to larger texts

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that may contain multiple structures.

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For example, a magazine article may
include a description of an event,

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some information about its position
in a sequence of other events,

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and an explanation of cause and effect.

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Teachers should provide a variety
of examples when showing students how

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texts can contain more
than one structure.

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Students should be encouraged
to pay attention to text structure

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in all of their reading experiences,
and may need to be reminded to do

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so before reading periods.

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Teachers can use common lesson-planning
time to collaborate on identifying texts

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with clear examples of narrative elements
and expository structures.

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There are also book lists that identify 
ideal texts for this kind of instruction.

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Students can focus on structure
as they discuss text

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or practice comprehension strategies.

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understanding the underlying features
of texts will support them as readers

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and writers as well as in their 
conversations about text.

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This recommendation pairs well
with other K-3 reading comprehension

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recommendations available
on this website.

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[Music] To learn more about Helping 
Students Focus on Text Structure,

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please explore the additional resources
on the Doing What Works website.