The above is a great nonfiction text feature poster set sold on Amazon by Carson-Dellosa – $9.99! 

Here are some great nonfiction text feature videos for kids!

 

First, check out. . .

• Graphic Organizers to Support Reading Strategy Instruction
• Another great resource! I especially like p. 4!
• Sample nonfiction passages

One-Page Nonfiction Readings by Grade Level – Developed by the Center for Urban Education. These passages are listed at their readability level according to the Fry formula.

Grades 2-3

Grade 4

Grade 5

Grade 6

Grade 7

Grades 8-10

 

The emphasis on informational text has increased significantly with the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. According to these standards, the recommended balance of literary and informational text is as follows:

• 50% literary and 50% informational in 4th grade
• 45% literary and 55% informational in 8th grade
• 30% literary and 70% informational in 12th grade

The Common Core State Standards have elevated the importance of informational texts while redefining content-area literacy.

Why are content reading and writing so difficult?

It isn’t easy because it requires the following:

• knowledge of specialized vocabulary
• background knowledge
• good study/memory ability
• nonfiction reading strategies regarding various text structures (as described here)
• perseverance—there are multiple readability levels within a single text
• the need and ability to monitor for meaning
• judging importance while remembering many concepts
• knowledge of source reliability
• keeping one’s interest

RESEARCH SHOWS… Almost all expository texts students read can be separated into two groups: texts that describe and texts affected by time (Calfee & Patrick, 1995). Thus, elementary students encounter three descriptive and three sequential structures.

Descriptive structures focus on the attributes of something: the qualities that distinguish it from other things. For example, the writer may present the characteristics of New York, glass, or rattlesnakes. The three descriptive patterns that readers encounter most frequently are list, web, and matrix (see Dymock and Nicholson [2007] for an in-depth discussion on these structures).

• List. The simplest descriptive pattern is a list. This may be a grocery list, a list of countries that grow wheat, a list of goods and services sold by street vendors in India, or a science topic, such as the attributes of a kangaroo.
• Web. A web is a more complex structure than a list. This text structure is called a web because it resembles a spider’s web (Calfee & Patrick, 1995). A spiderweb has a center and several fine threads that form a network of lines. On the web, the attributes of an object are discussed. The attributes have a common link. The important thing for the student to remember is that, as a list, a web describes one thing or idea, but the difference is that it has categories.
• Matrix. A matrix is more complex than either a list or a web. The difference between a matrix and a web or list is that a web or list describes just one thing, and a matrix describes more than one thing. It compares and contrasts two or more topics. For example, it could compare types of bears, volcanoes, bicycles, or crocodiles.

Sequential structures present a series of events or steps that progress over time. Typically, sequence texts are set in a first-to-last pattern or in a step-by-step format.

• String. A string is a detailed description of events (e.g., the sequence for baking cookies).
• Cause-Effect. Two (or more) ideas or events interact in the cause-effect text structure. One is the cause, and the other is an effect or result. For example, a text may cover the causes and effects of environmental disasters, such as an oil spill in the ocean. This pattern is typical in history, science, and health publications.
• Problem–Solution. In the problem-solution text structure, the writer states a problem or poses a question, followed by a solution or answer. This text has a sequence: first, the problem, and then the solution.

The above information came from…

Dymock, Susan, and Tom Nicholson. “High 5!” Strategies to Enhance Comprehension of Expository Text.” The Reading Teacher 64.3 (2010): 166-78. Web.

Many people ask for the above poster, but I do not own it. 

NONFICTION TEXT STRUCTURES

In the Order to be Taught:

Description, Sequence, Problem-Solution, Cause-Effect, and Compare-Contrast

1. Writers use text structures to organize information. Teachers should point this out whenever students read and write.
2. Skim and scan to predict text structure(s). Make predicting possible text structures a part of every pre-reading activity. Then, during reading, revise predictions about structure.
3. Teach the signal words for each text structure.

DESCRIPTION – Teach 1st

Description: This structure describes something by listing its features, characteristics, or examples. Signal Words:

Mentor Texts to teach Description

SEQUENCE – Teach 2nd

Sequence: Describes events in order or tells the steps to follow to make or do something. Signal Words:

• to begin with
• most important
• also
• for instance
• in fact
• for example
• another
• not long after

Mentor Texts to teach Sequence

PROBLEM AND SOLUTION – Teach 3rd

Problem-Solution:  Explains the nature of a problem and provides one or more possible solutions to address it. Signal Words:

• solution is
• difficulty is

Mentor Texts to teach Problem/Solution

CAUSE AND EFFECT—Teach 4th

Cause-Effect: Cause is why something happened. Effect is what happened. Signal Words:

•  accordingly

Mentor Texts to teach Cause/Effect

Cause and Effect Mentor Texts

COMPARE AND CONTRAST—Teach 5th

Compare/Contrast: This shows how two or more things are alike or different.   Signal Words:

not only…but also

• unless
• vs.

Mentor Texts to teach Compare/Contrast

• Teach and model the use of graphic organizers to go with each text structure. Teachers must identify text structures in advance and provide corresponding graphic organizers.
• Teachers should model how to determine the text structure and note-taking on a corresponding graphic organizer.  Then, students should practice with teacher support. Finally, students should apply the skills and strategies they have learned in independent practice.
• Explicit instruction must show students how and when to use strategies such as attending to signal words while reading different content areas or using signal words when writing expository text.
• Use the think-aloud strategy. First, the teacher reads aloud a paragraph, pausing at appropriate points to share their comprehension strategies and understanding of the text. Next, adopt a shared-reading strategy, encouraging students to discuss aloud as they engage in the process with the teacher. For example, the teacher asks students to examine clues to identify the text structure.
• Ask focusing questions that target the text structure, such as which signal words are used to indicate a particular relationship among ideas within a text structure.
• Pictures can be drawn to model the sequence structure.
• Create and provide guides and teacher-made organizers that reflect the structure of the original text. This can help students focus on the critical elements of the reading selection.
• Present students with a completed graphic organizer as a pre-reading strategy. Have students write a probable paragraph using a predicted text structure before reading the passage. After reading, compare the students’ probable passages with the original text.
• Write using the text structures. The teacher should model writing a paragraph using a particular text structure and describe their actions as they are writing. Then, students write their paragraphs using text structures or paragraph frames as templates.
• Make the connection between reading and writing. When students read an example of a particular text structure, have them write using that same text structure. Writing can be done as a pre-reading or post-reading strategy.
• Rewrite a paragraph or passage using a different text structure than the original. Compare the two and analyze why the author might have chosen the original pattern.
• Use summary frame questions to guide students’ comprehension before, during, and after reading. Each organizational structure suggests questions readers should consider as they read and answer once they’ve finished reading the passage.
• Use text coding strategies—such as highlighters and Post-it notes—to target specific text structures. Teachers must model these strategies and be consistent in their procedures (using the same color each time).

Identifying patterns within the organization is not the final goal; the ultimate goal is for students to internalize the various text structures to improve their nonfiction reading comprehension and expository writing organization. 

When teaching nonfiction, consider the following activities: before reading (assessing and building content knowledge), during reading (supporting and monitoring comprehension), and after reading (evaluating, extending, and transferring content knowledge).  

BEFORE READING

Activate Prior Knowledge—Elicit from the students what they already know.

The K-W-L Chart consists of three parts: K (what I know), W (what I want to know), and L (what I learned). This activity helps activate background knowledge while building background knowledge for peers. Students can develop a list of questions about what they would like to know, drawing on their background knowledge. Synthesizing occurs when they write about what they have learned.

Skimming and scanning are necessary to locate the most critical information in a text quickly. Have students work in pairs to skim and scan the nonfiction text features (title, headings, glossary, maps, charts, bold-faced words, etc.), and have them read only the first and last paragraphs. Ask what they think the text or chapter will be about. Next, have students write down questions/comments in one column and facts they quickly learned in another. What will be the critical points in the text or chapter? (Teachers may ask in what section certain information would be found. This will help assess critical thinking.)

Anticipation Guide—Anticipation guides are designed to activate students’ background knowledge and generate interest in an upcoming lesson. Teachers determine critical ideas in a text or chapter. Then, they make 3–8 statements that tap into the student’s background knowledge and include statements that could be opinions, not just facts that can only be answered by reading the text. Instruct students to read the statements and circle their responses as either agree, disagree, or yes/no. Working with a partner enables students to engage in discussions that expand their knowledge and understanding. Then, students revisit the statements after reading the text, circling ‘agree’ or ‘disagree’ (yes/no).

Predict-O-Gram—This is an excellent way to highlight language in a text, make predictions, and create questions before reading. The teacher reads aloud a portion of a text, then supplies the students with words that appear on the upcoming pages. The students utilize the words to predict forthcoming events, propose potential uses for the words, and pose questions they believe could provide answers.

Admit Slip—Admit slips serve as a purpose for reading, which research shows leads to a deeper understanding of a text and higher retention of information, as readers create connections and store new information in meaningful ways. The teacher copies an illustration from a textbook and lists headings and subtitles used in the text. Next, the students must write three questions they believe the reading will answer or list three pieces of information they think they will learn. Have students discuss their predictions/questions before reading and list them together. Then, read to confirm/answer the items on the list.

Teach New Words Before Reading—Whether you teach new words in context, through association, integration with background knowledge, structural analysis, comparison/contrast, or visuals, understanding the new vocabulary will significantly improve students’ comprehension. Connect the new words to the reading. Not all new words need to be formally taught to understand the passages; students may figure out many new words in context. Always use integration, repetition, and meaningful usage to make the new vocabulary memorable.

Advance Organizer—A graphic organizer provides students with general information about a topic before reading.

Assessing Preconceptions and Addressing Misconceptions— Brainstorm what students think they know before introducing a topic. Clarify misconceptions with hands-on activities, explanations, photographs, and examples before the students read; this way, they can better accept the new ideas as they progress through the material.

Ask Questions Before, During, and After Reading—Questions to Ask

DURING READING

Close Reading—An excellent description of this process—”The first time you dig your shovel in (read), you just scrape the surface off the ground. The second time you dig in (reread the text), you get a little more dirt (meaning). And every time you dig in (read) after that, your hole gets bigger and bigger until it’s just right and you get the full meaning” (quote from the UNE course). See the chart:

Close Reading

SQ4R—Survey, write Questions for each heading and subheading. Read the information in a single section and take notes. Recite the vital information. Relate
what you’ve read to what you already know. This step helps with long-term understanding and retention. Review questions.

Reciprocal Teaching—This strategy helps students focus and monitor their reading to achieve higher comprehension. After watching teacher demonstrations of predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing a short passage, students practice these four skills with a partner. First, assign each student a reading partner. They will read a short section and work through the four stages together. For example, at the questioning stage, one student will ask questions of the other. This role is changed in the next section. Finally, they can predict, clarify, and summarize together.

Classify/Categorize Information—

DR-TA (Directed Reading-Thinking Activity) – This strategy is advantageous due to its four components that extend and support students’ reading and thinking: activate prior knowledge, predict, read, and revisit predictions to confirm or revise. First, the teacher asks the class to brainstorm words or ideas associated with a topic. These are recorded. Second, students examine the text’s or chapter’s features, such as illustrations, graphs, charts, etc. They form predictions and questions about what they will read. Third, they have a purpose for reading. Read. Finally, students discuss the predictions that were confirmed. They discuss the predictions they revise as they read and refer to their lists to determine if further reading is still necessary before predictions can be confirmed or changed.

TAG (Textbook Activity Guide)—TAG is designed to support students as they read and learn. Prompts are written to help students focus on strategic processes and self-monitoring strategies, enabling them to understand a text better. The teacher reads the section on her own first, highlighting critical content. The teacher then creates a TAG to guide the students to this content as they read. In a TAG, students work with a partner or small group. A TAG often incorporates words such as “predict” and “skim,” along with references to nonfiction text features, including glossaries, boldfaced words, and maps. Questions are asked, and the page numbers where the answers can be found are provided. This type of material can become a study guide.

Cornell Note-Taking – This strategy is effective for helping students understand and remember more of what they read or view. It supports students in making connections, developing questions, focusing and monitoring their reading, and analyzing what they have learned. The teacher will model the following first. Fold a piece of paper in half. One side is for questions, the other for notes, and it leaves a space at the bottom to summarize.  When reading or watching a video clip, take notes. Develop questions that your notes will answer. Use these notes to summarize the main ideas at the bottom of the page. Have students complete this task individually, then compare their answers with a partner.

Graphic Organizers—Depending on the text structure, prepare an appropriate graphic organizer for students to fill out as they read.

MORE During Reading Strategies:

Compare and Contrast Ideas

Distinguish Facts from Opinions

Identify Main Ideas and Supporting Details

Make Inferences and Draw Conclusions

Make Generalizations

Recognize Cause and Effect Relationships

Use Context Clues to Decipher Unfamiliar Words

Adjust Reading Rate/Rereading

Visualize Images From Text

AFTER READING

Summarize, Synthesize, Paraphrase/Retell

Sequence Events 

Exit Slips—This strategy is suitable for assessing students’ learning at the end of class. Exit slips are brief prompts for focused writing that provide teachers with valuable feedback. For example, some types of exit slips may include the following prompts:  Write about something you learned today. What questions do you still have? How did what we learned today connect with what we knew prior?

GIST (Generating Interactions Between Schemata and Texts)—This strategy helps students write organized summaries. The teacher models this by finding a short paragraph detailing a concept, event, time period, description, problem, or sequential directions. Read the first sentence and have the class summarize it in 15 words or fewer. Read the second sentence. Now have the class combine the first and second sentences into one sentence, summarized in 15 words or fewer. Continue doing these exercises until the paragraph is read and the whole section is summarized into one sentence of 15 words or fewer. Have students practice on their paragraphs.

Conceptual Questions After the Passage—Have students answer questions after reading to help with recall and apply conceptual information to new situations.

Consider the Author—Identify the Author’s Purpose and Viewpoint: Why Did the Author Write the Selection?

Good Readers of Informational Text

Good readers of nonfiction are ACTIVE readers! Therefore, your students should always read with a pencil in hand to maintain engagement!

• Have clear goals for their reading
• Preview the text before reading, noticing the nonfiction text features
• Activate prior knowledge
• Make predictions
• Use meaning, and expect the text to make sense
• Encourage them to monitor their reading and ask themselves, “Do I understand this?”
• Make connections:  text to self, text to text, text to world
• Create visual images
• Use the text features (headings, captions, maps, etc.) actively and consciously
• Draw inferences and conclusions
• Ask questions as they read
• Read different kinds of informational texts differently
• Skim and scan to recheck the information
• Locate information
• Adjust reading rate to match text demands
• Make a plan when reading—take notes in the margins, and use a color-coded Post-it note system to highlight interesting information, confusing parts, and questions.
• Identify essential ideas and words.
• Shift strategies to match the purpose
• Retell, summarize, synthesize
• Use fix-up strategies: read on and go back, use context clues, make substitutions, and break unfamiliar words into parts.

Nonfiction Writing/Speaking Prompts

• I learned. . .
• I never knew. . .
• I already knew that. . .
• I was wrong to think. . .
• I wonder why. . .
• I still don’t know. . .
• An important date is. . .
• The confusing thing is. . .
• ____ (nonfiction text feature) helped me explain. . .
• I was surprised. . .
• I also want to read. . .
• The index helped me. . .
• I like learning. . .
• I would recommend this book to. . .
• I would like to share my learning by. . .
• Some interesting facts are. . .
• I want to learn more about. . .
• This book answered my questions about. . .

 

 

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Copyright 06/02/2012

Edited on 08/04/2025

References

 Allen, Janet. Tools For Teaching. Stenhouse Publishers, 2004.

Hoyt, Linda. Make It Real. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2002.

www.essdack.org ~ Reading and Writing Consultant, Kristi Orcutt

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