Taking the Next Step in

Content Area
Reading and Writing:
Teaching Text Structure

Dr. Karen Blake Ruffner

School and District
Improvement Coach
815-978-1855
karenblakeruffner@gmail.com

Agenda
Why is text structure important?
What are the kinds of text
structures?
How can we teach students about
text structure?

Why is Text Structure

important?
Research shows that the Knowledge
about the ways different types of
texts are structured and the ways
these structures reveal the
organization and interweaving of the
authors ideas have been shown to
influence comprehension, memory
and writing/composition skills.
Karen Hess, National Center for the Improvement of Educational
Assessment, 2008.

Common Core
Anchor Standards for Reading
Craft and Structure:
5. Analyze the structure of texts,
including how specific sentences,
paragraphs, and larger portions of
the text (e.g., a section, chapter,
scene, or stanza) relate to each other
and the whole.

Common Core
Anchor Standards for Writing
Text Types and Purposes1:
2.Write informative/explanatory texts to examine
and convey complex ideas and information
clearly and accurately through the effective
selection, organization, and analysis of content.
Production and Distribution of Writing:
4.Produce clear and coherent writing in which the
development, organization, and style are
appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

Smarter Balanced
English Language Arts Cognitive
Rigor Matrix
Analyze at DOK 2
Analyze format, organization and text
structures

Text Structures
There is 1 basic text structure for fiction.
Story Map that includes:

Characters
Setting
Problem
Events
Solution

1.
2.
3.

There are 5 basic text structures for nonfiction.

Description/Definition

Description

Process/Chronological Order

1 2 3 4 5 6

Compare and Contrast

Cause and Effect

Cause

Cause

Cause

Incident/Event

Effect

Effect

Effect

Problem and Solution

Problem

Solution

Guided Reading
Demonstration
Stone Soup Level J (beginning 2nd grade)
I Work at Night Level C (end of
kindergarten)
Isadore Blows Ashore Level R (middle 4th)
Where Water Comes From Level O
(middle 3rd)

Beginning Reading
Strategies

Look at the picture. Reread.

Get it started and guess. Reread.
Look for chunks. Reread.
Get it started. Skip the word and read
on. Reread.
Crash through the word. Reread.
After you guess, check to see if the
word
Looks right? Sounds right? Makes sense?

Comprehension
Strategies
Comparing and contrasting supported by
evidence from the text
Summarizing supported by evidence from the
text
Clarifying
Questioning
Visualizing supported by evidence from the text
Predicting supported by evidence from the text
Inferencing supported by evidence from text
Using text structure to analyze the text

Evidence of Learning
A Running Record and/or Anecdotal Notes
Completed Graphic Organizer showing Text
Structure

Any Reading Strategy or Word Work

can and should be taught across the entire
Balanced Literacy framework.

Read Aloud
Shared Reading
Guided Reading or Reciprocal Teaching
Reading Workshop - Literature Circles/Inquiry Circles
Independent Reading
Modeled Writing
Shared or Interactive Writing
Guided Writing
Writing Workshop
Independent Writing

Taking the Next Step in

Content Area
Reading and Writing:
Teaching Text Structure

Dr. Karen Blake Ruffner

School and District
Improvement Coach
815-978-1855
karenblakeruffner@gmail.com