Identify and Analyze Text Structure
How is the information organized? Authors make decisions about how to present information to readers. They choose from a variety of structures to organize the information for readers:
Chronological/Sequence: (Time/Order) Chronological articles reveal events in a sequence from beginning to end. Words that signal chronological structures include: first, then, next, finally, and specific dates and times.
Cause/Effect: Informational texts often describe cause and effect relationships. The text describes events and identifies or implies causal factors.
Problem/Solution: The text introduces and describes a problem and presents solutions.
Compare/Contrast: Authors use comparisons to describe ideas to readers. Similes, ++++phors, and analogies are used in compare/contrast organizational structures.
De++++++ion: Sensory details help readers visualize information.
Directions: How-To texts frame the information in a series of directions.
Readers experience a variety of text structures. Identifying the structure of a text helps readers read efficiently. Readers select specific comprehension strategies that fit a particular text based on knowledge of how the information is organized. Readers can anticipate what information will be revealed in a selection when they understand text structure. Understanding the pattern of the text helps readers organize ideas for synthesizing and summarizing.
Questions that help readers use text structures to aid comprehension:
• Skim the article for titles, subtitles, headings, and key words. After scanning the text, how do you think the author organized the information?
• Which framework did this author use to organize the information? Chronological? Cause/Effect? Problem/Solution? Compare/Contrast? De++++++ion? Directions?
• Does the author use a combination of structures?
• How did the author organize the text to be “reader-friendly”?
• Which text features helped you collect information from the article?
Identify Author’s Purpose:
Why Did the Author Write the Selection?
Why do you think the author wrote the article? To persuade? To entertain? To inform? To express? Author’s purpose is the reason or reasons an author has for writing a selection. If readers enjoyed what they read, one of the author’s purposes may have been to entertain. If students learn while they are reading, one of the author’s purposes may have been to inform. If readers changed the way they thought about a topic or issue, one of the author’s purposes may have been to persuade. Authors may have more than one purpose for writing. Author’s purpose can be stated explicitly or readers may have to infer the intent.
Reflective readers are able to analyze information more thoughtfully when they know an author’s purpose. Identifying an author’s purpose may give clues to a reader for how to pace their reading. Students need to adjust their reading rate for various selections. Informational articles may require a reader to slow down in order to fully understand ideas described.
Questions that help students explore author’s purpose:
• Based on the title, why do think the author wrote this selection?
• Which words do you think best describe the main reason the author wrote this selection: to provide readers with information? To describe a person, event, or issue? To express their own thoughts and feelings? To persuade readers to think about an issue in a certain way and to take action? Or to entertain the reader?
• Why did the author write the article from a particular point of view?
• How did the author influence your response to the selection?
• Was the author’s purpose specifically stated?
• Do you think that the author achieved his/her intended purposes? Did the article effectively give information? Entertain readers? Express the author’s thoughts and feelings? Persuade readers to think about an issue and/or take action?
• What examples from the text support your conclusions about author’s purpose?
Identify Author’s Viewpoint:
What Does the Author Think?
Author’s viewpoint is the way an author looks at a topic or the ideas being described. The author’s viewpoint includes the content of the text and the language used to present the data. Thoughtful readers decipher an author’s point of view, opinions, hypotheses, assumptions, and possible bias. Instruction for author’s viewpoint helps students read analytically in order to identify the validity of information contained in the text. Students identify words and phrases that show an author’s strong feelings for or against a person, group, or issue. Students identify selections that present various perspectives on a topic. This strategy focuses on helping students ask questions to identify stated and unstated viewpoints.
Questions that help students explore author’s viewpoint:
• What opinions or belief statements are evident in the article?
• Why do you think the author has this particular opinion or point of view?
• What background information about the author does the reader have that may help understand the writer’s point of view? (Point of reference) Would another author have a different point of view depending on his/her background experiences?
• What pictures does the author paint for a reader?
• What evidence did the author include to support their opinions?
• What facts were missing?
• What words and phrases did the author use to present the information? (Students collect samples of the language an author uses to identify the context in which ideas are presented.)
• Why did the author write this selection? Identifying the author’s purpose helps students recognize possible viewpoints, especially in persuasive writing.
Identify Main Ideas and Supporting Details
The main idea is the most important element of a paragraph or selection. It is the focus of the text. Details are sentences that tell about the main idea. Details are “small pieces of information.” Facts are “small pieces of information” that can be proven true. Readers are able to determine the major points of information provided. They distinguish the relative importance of various pieces of information. Readers recall details from a selection, use details to visualize ideas, and use facts to support conclusions, predictions, and responses. Students collect details and facts that support main ideas. They identify details that reveal specific information.
Questions that help students identify main ideas and supporting details:
• Based on the title, what do you think the article will be about?
• What do you think is the BIG IDEA of this article? Of this paragraph?
• What two words would you use to describe the “gist” of the paragraph? selection?
• Which details helped you picture . . .?
• What details from the selection support this hypothesis?
• When students read, they think about what most of the sentences are describing. Is there one sentence that describes the main idea for this topic?
• What was the focus of this reading selection?
Make Inferences and Draw Conclusions
Readers make decisions or form opinions based on information they have read. When readers make an inference or draw a conclusion, they try to figure out something by using clues from the text and what they know from previous experiences. The conclusion is reached after thinking about details and facts from the selection. Thoughtful readers synthesize and evaluate information based on prior knowledge (what experiences they bring to the text). Readers examine an author’s conclusion and evaluate the support details. Readers collect and question details in order to draw conclusions or evaluate conclusions written by the author. Students are invited to go beyond the literal meaning of text to derive interpretative meanings.
Questions that help students make inferences and draw conclusions:
• What conclusions can be made based on the details and facts described in the selection?
• Do the facts add up? How do you know the facts are accurate?
• What evidence does the author provide to support the decision to...?
• What facts led to the author’s conclusions?
• What facts/details support the author’s conclusions?
• What facts were revealed by the following clues…?
• What clues led to your conclusion?
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