Exploring Text Structures in Non-fiction
Learning Objective
Total Time: 1 minute
Students will identify and describe different text structures used in non-fiction texts.
Assessments
Total Time: 1 minute
Students will illustrate a chosen text structure in a ‘Text Structure Map’ summarizing its characteristics.
Key Points
Total Time: 4 minutes
Text Structures: Definition and importance in understanding non-fiction.
Types of Text Structures: Description, sequence, cause and effect, compare and contrast, problem and solution.
Purpose: How authors organize information to enhance comprehension.
Opening
Total Time: 3 minutes
Begin with a quick discussion: "What makes a piece of writing easy or hard to understand?"
Show a variety of non-fiction book covers and ask students to suggest what type of information these might contain?
Explain that today's lesson will explore how information is structured.
Introduction to New Material
Total Time: 5 minutes
Introduce text structures by explaining each type with simple definitions and examples.
Use a visual aid (like a chart or infographic) to display the different text structures.
Highlight common transition words or phrases that signal each structure, such as ‘first’, ‘but’, or ‘therefore’.
Guided Practice
Total Time: 4 minutes
Group students in pairs and give them a short excerpt of a non-fiction text.
Ask them to identify the text structure used and discuss reasons why the author may have chosen that structure.
Regroup as a class and have a few pairs share their texts and findings.
Independent Practice
Total Time: 3 minutes
Each student will receive a blank ‘Text Structure Map’.
They will choose one type of text structure and create their map including the structure name, its purpose, and an example from a text they read recently.
Closing
Total Time: 2 minutes
Have students pair up to discuss their ‘Text Structure Maps’.
Ask each pair to share one insight about text structures they learned today.
Extension Activity
Total Time: 1 minute
Challenge students to collect an example of a non-fiction text (like an article or a page from a book) and identify the text structure used for sharing in the next class.
Homework
Total Time: 1 minute
Encourage students to find a non-fiction text at home or in a library, identify its text structure, and write a sentence explaining why that structure is effective.
Standards Aligned
Total Time: 1 minute
This lesson aligns with RI.4.5, which involves analyzing various text structures to understand and interpret information more effectively.