English SOL Institute Secondary Nonfiction Reading Strand

1. English SOL Institute • Secondary Nonfiction Reading Strand Teaching Text Structures Allison Carey, Reading Teacher Rachel Carson Middle School, FCPS

2. Secondary Nonfiction Reading • Key Points in Nonfiction Reading • Nonfiction includes both informational and functional passages • Emphasis on text structures and organizational patterns. Examples in the Curriculum Framework • Comprehension of nonfiction reading is a reporting category on new SOL tests.

3. Secondary Nonfiction Reading • Key Points in Nonfiction Reading • Pair passages of same topic: fiction and nonfiction • 9-12 nonfiction standards include identification of faulty reasoning • More nonfiction items on SOL test beginning at 5th grade

4. Secondary Nonfiction Reading4-12 Reading Blueprints

5. Teaching Text Structure • Structure is the key to comprehension– to comprehend a passage is to create a mental structure. (Calfee) • If students lack background knowledge on a topic, they depend on the structure of the text. (Caltaldo and Oakhill) • An understanding of text structure helps students summarize because a summary needs to reflect the structure of the text. (Kissner)

6. Brainstorming Background Knowledge

7. Text Structure • Italics • Bold or colored print • Underlining • Indentation • Sidebars • Illustrations • Graphics • Photographs • Headings • Subheading • Footnotes • Annotations • Typeset • Hyperlinks • Timelines • Charts • Graphs

8. Text Structure • Interactive Text Feature Wall- a bulletin board where students can post examples of different text features like bold print, italics, graphs, photographs, captions, etc.

9. Text Structures • Textmapping- a hands-on strategy to teach students about text features and to improve comprehension • http://www.textmapping.org/overview.html

10. Textmapping • Tape the pages of the chapter together to make a scroll • Use highlighters to mark the following parts of the chapter:

11. Textmapping

12. Text Structure/Organizational Patterns • Cause and effect • Compare and contrast • Concept/definition • Chronological or sequential • Generalization or principle • Listing or enumeration • Problem/solution • Process

13. Teaching Text Structure • Create a flip book with an example of each text structure. • Introduce a graphic organizer with each text structure. • Devote a few days to teach each internal text structure. • Explicitly teach each internal text structure. • Read an example of each text structure as a class. • Have students read an example of each structure with a partner. • Have each student independently read an example of each structure. • Complete a scavenger hunt to find an example of each structure. • Use the text structure work mat when reading nonfiction.

14. Text Structure Scavenger Hunt • Students work in pairs to search for an example of each internal text structure. • Pairs pick a topic to focus on as they gather an example of each text structure. • Some possible topics are sports, foods, athletes, musicians, or instruments. • Each example must be about the chosen topic. • The topic doesn’t change, but the internal text structure changes. • Students need to cite the source of each example. • All of the examples will be displayed and labeled on a poster. • Students will include a visual of the topic on the poster.

15. Online Resources • Words that Signal a Text’s Organizational Pattern • http://www.somers.k12.ny.us/intranet/reading/signalwords.html#gen • Teaching Text Features • http://emilykissner.blogspot.com/2009/08/teaching-text-features.html • Text Structures and Text Features • http://home.roadrunner.com/~EXCELLENCE1/Text%20Structure%20Text%20Features.htm • Text Structure Resources • http://literacyleader.com/?q=textstructure • E Reading Worksheets: Text Structure • http://www.ereadingworksheets.com/text-structure/

16. References • “Exploring Ways Authors Use Text Structures to Convey Meaning." Pennsylvania Department of Education Standards Aligned System. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 July 2012. <http://pdesas.org/module/content/resources/13035/view.ashx>. • "In My Classroom: The Forest and the Trees: Teaching Text Structure." In My Classroom: The Forest and the Trees. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 July 2012. <http://emilykissner.blogspot.com/2009/07/teaching-text-structure.html>. • Conklin, Tom. Nonfiction comprehension cliffhangers. New York: Teaching Resources, 2008. Print. • Daniels, Harvey, and Nancy Steineke. Texts and lessons for content-area reading. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2011. Print. • Kissner, Emily. Summarizing, paraphrasing, and retelling: skills for better reading, writing, and test taking. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2006. Print. • "Text Structure | Reading Worksheets." ereadingworksheets | Free Reading Worksheets. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 July 2012. <http://www.ereadingworksheets.com/text-structure/>. • "The Textmapping Project - Home." The Textmapping Project - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 July 2012. <http://www.textmapping.org/>.

17. Contact Information • Allison Carey • adcarey@fcps.edu

18. Disclaimer Reference within this presentation to any specific commercial or non-commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer or otherwise does not constitute or imply an endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the Virginia Department of Education.