Contributed by Caitlin B
Rationale
Examining text structures improves reading comprehension, strategic reading, and the "structural coherence of their writing" (Goldman & Rakestraw, 2000; Hare, Rabinowitz, and Schiebe, 1989; Richgels, 1987; Garner & Gillingham, 1987; Gordon, 1990; Miller & George, 1992--as cited in Alvermann et al, 2007). Explicitly teaching students common text structures can help them read with more purpose and to organize their thinking with expository text. The strategy can also be used with narratives in terms of common text structure, for storylines.
Procedure
i. Activities: Outlining text structure to teach main idea (as pre-reading activity and prior knowledge building activity for Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton)
--explicitly teach the common text structures for expository text
--reteach "cause and effect" and "problem-solution" structure as they appear in academic articles
--guided practice: preview one article and outline the structure before reading; read; then make adjustments as a class
--small group work: use separate articles and assign them to small groups in the class. Ask them to use their knowledge of common structures to outline their article. Have them read, and then mark any adjustments they need to make in their outline.
--have groups report back the class demonstrating pre thinking and post thinking with the article. Together, evaluate each group's work outlining and come up with the main point.
ii. Resources: Various academic articles from science journals on bioengineering
iii. Alvermann, Donna, Stephen Phelps, & Victoria Ridgeway. (2007). Content Area Reading and Literacy: Succeeding in Today's Diverse Classrooms. Boston: Pearson, p. 215-225.
Other Procedures
Text: Of Mice and Men
The text structure in this story is varied in each section, and we would make a point of studying each individually as well as the story overall. There are elements of sequence in the way the climax and resolution happen, and students need to explicitly think this through to understand how if even ONE element had been different, the story may not have resolved the way it did. There are also compare/contrast elements: characters are similar and different as is their current life compared to their dream life. Finally, there is a combination cause/effect and problem-solution element within the final 50 pages of the book. Students would analyze and consider the construction of the climax and resolution for pieces of each type of text structure and select which they believe the end is (and perhaps construct an essay based on this).
Contrubuted by Lisa Holton
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