Module 3 - Text Structures...What's that?
The environment of informational science textbooks
When teaching science, it is a great idea to acclimate the students to the book and the way in which the text dispenses information. The first thing to explain to the students is that the texts typically relate science information in an orderly and cyclical manner usually laid out in units. For example, when studying chemistry, it is not uncommon to find textbooks starting at the micro level and move towards the macro level. This means that the beginning unit may start with the structure of atoms, moving to the periodic table and its’ organizational structure. The units build on themselves in terms of the use of previous knowledge that was dispensed in the previous chapter. In this manner, chapters build in complexity making it difficult to teach content out of order, as the chapters work to construct the basic terminology and understanding for the unit. The units also build on the knowledge presented in the previous units. This type of chapter and unit construction is common throughout all science courses and is especially valuable for the construction of knowledge in chemistry, portions of biology and earth science, and in some cases depending how it is laid out, physics. Walking students through the text in the very beginning of courses will help students understand how the knowledge construction happens very much like constructing a visual concept map for the students.
When teaching science, it is a great idea to acclimate the students to the book and the way in which the text dispenses information. The first thing to explain to the students is that the texts typically relate science information in an orderly and cyclical manner usually laid out in units. For example, when studying chemistry, it is not uncommon to find textbooks starting at the micro level and move towards the macro level. This means that the beginning unit may start with the structure of atoms, moving to the periodic table and its’ organizational structure. The units build on themselves in terms of the use of previous knowledge that was dispensed in the previous chapter. In this manner, chapters build in complexity making it difficult to teach content out of order, as the chapters work to construct the basic terminology and understanding for the unit. The units also build on the knowledge presented in the previous units. This type of chapter and unit construction is common throughout all science courses and is especially valuable for the construction of knowledge in chemistry, portions of biology and earth science, and in some cases depending how it is laid out, physics. Walking students through the text in the very beginning of courses will help students understand how the knowledge construction happens very much like constructing a visual concept map for the students.
The chapter layout
All science textbooks vary in the chapter layout that they provide for the student. Typically, however each chapter will display the same format throughout. By this I mean that the same predictable “genres” will appear in the approximate same order in each chapter. (Remember that genres refer to a section that has its own characteristic structure in addition to language features). Some examples of these genres might be objectives for the chapter, explanation features, question sections, biography sections that feature scientists, procedural genres that outline experiments, historical genres that outline how something might have been discovered, and exposition genres that highlight arguments for and against issues. Each of these genres are engaged with and read in a slightly different manner. This may be apparent to the teacher who is used to reading science text, but may not be to the novice reader. Taking the time to point out the different features of each genre may actually save you, the teacher time later and greatly augment the learning of the novice reader.
All science textbooks vary in the chapter layout that they provide for the student. Typically, however each chapter will display the same format throughout. By this I mean that the same predictable “genres” will appear in the approximate same order in each chapter. (Remember that genres refer to a section that has its own characteristic structure in addition to language features). Some examples of these genres might be objectives for the chapter, explanation features, question sections, biography sections that feature scientists, procedural genres that outline experiments, historical genres that outline how something might have been discovered, and exposition genres that highlight arguments for and against issues. Each of these genres are engaged with and read in a slightly different manner. This may be apparent to the teacher who is used to reading science text, but may not be to the novice reader. Taking the time to point out the different features of each genre may actually save you, the teacher time later and greatly augment the learning of the novice reader.
By way of review, let’s look at a few examples of several features within the different genre:
The first thing that the reader might find out in reading a procedural genre, is the goal of the procedure. Pointing this out may greatly enhance the lesson for all of your students. Following that will be a series of prompts that guide the student through a series of sequential steps.
In a report genre, there is frequently some sort of generalization, often followed by a definition or a series of definitions about the important words that the topic is explaining. This is often accompanied by explanations about phenomena that is typically organized in a systematic way that relates the phenomena together in some way. These relationships are sometimes organized into taxonomies or classification systems that are typically found in science. For example, in chemistry these words are typically put together in a taxonomy of sorts: electrons, protons, neutrons, atoms, molecules, and compounds. In biology these words may be some kind of classification system.
A historical genre will explain in sequential detail how a finding might have come to be and how the discovery might be situated in time and relate to other activities and findings.
The first thing that the reader might find out in reading a procedural genre, is the goal of the procedure. Pointing this out may greatly enhance the lesson for all of your students. Following that will be a series of prompts that guide the student through a series of sequential steps.
In a report genre, there is frequently some sort of generalization, often followed by a definition or a series of definitions about the important words that the topic is explaining. This is often accompanied by explanations about phenomena that is typically organized in a systematic way that relates the phenomena together in some way. These relationships are sometimes organized into taxonomies or classification systems that are typically found in science. For example, in chemistry these words are typically put together in a taxonomy of sorts: electrons, protons, neutrons, atoms, molecules, and compounds. In biology these words may be some kind of classification system.
A historical genre will explain in sequential detail how a finding might have come to be and how the discovery might be situated in time and relate to other activities and findings.
Text Structures
Helping students analyze text structures will allow your students to exercise mental awareness as to how the authors have organized the information. This means that the student is actively looking for headings, subheadings, keywords in addition to others cues to cognitively aggregate the meaning of the information (Dymock & Nicholson, 2010). Subheadings about multiple subspecies of a type of hook worm should engender a different cognitive response than subheadings that indicate the historical significance of fossil finds. This last listing of subheadings should cue the reader to a sequence of events, whereas the first example should cue the reader into a classification system. Both require a different way of reading for cognitive organization of the information given.
Signal or cue words also guide the reader to the authors intent. When indication sequencing, the authors will use words like “then”, “to begin with”, “afterwards”, and “followed by”. This is typical is the procedural genre and historical genre. Cue words like “described as’, “looks like” and “lives on” are consistent with a report genre. Other guiding structures as to the intent of the author are titles of graphs and charts, captions, figures that relate to the text, and subheadings within sections of the text. Pointing these markers out to students, allows students to build their own skills at reading the “map” of the text.
Activity 3.1: Choose a chapter in your book. Use the signal words, headings, subheading, and other cues to construct a concept map of the chapter. Think about this in terms of a preliminary chapter activity for your students.
Helping students analyze text structures will allow your students to exercise mental awareness as to how the authors have organized the information. This means that the student is actively looking for headings, subheadings, keywords in addition to others cues to cognitively aggregate the meaning of the information (Dymock & Nicholson, 2010). Subheadings about multiple subspecies of a type of hook worm should engender a different cognitive response than subheadings that indicate the historical significance of fossil finds. This last listing of subheadings should cue the reader to a sequence of events, whereas the first example should cue the reader into a classification system. Both require a different way of reading for cognitive organization of the information given.
Signal or cue words also guide the reader to the authors intent. When indication sequencing, the authors will use words like “then”, “to begin with”, “afterwards”, and “followed by”. This is typical is the procedural genre and historical genre. Cue words like “described as’, “looks like” and “lives on” are consistent with a report genre. Other guiding structures as to the intent of the author are titles of graphs and charts, captions, figures that relate to the text, and subheadings within sections of the text. Pointing these markers out to students, allows students to build their own skills at reading the “map” of the text.
Activity 3.1: Choose a chapter in your book. Use the signal words, headings, subheading, and other cues to construct a concept map of the chapter. Think about this in terms of a preliminary chapter activity for your students.
Examples of Different Text Structures Found in Science Text
Descriptive Text Structures
These structures impart to the reader a description and attributes of an item or phenomena in science. Often times these structures often appear in one of three ways: list, web, and matrix (Dymock & Nicholson, 2007). The list structure is as it sounds and is the least complicated of the three and the order of the information does not matter. For example, a list structure describing a animal in the tortoise family may be that it has a shell, lives on land, has four legs, moves slowly, and eats plants. Indeed, it simply lists information.
A web structure is a bit more complicated. It would remind one of a simple bubble map or a spider web with a topic at the center and a number of attributes that describe the topic radiating out from the center. Students can be reminded of this as they reread a chosen descriptive paragraph and visually reconstruct the web structure of the description.
A matrix descriptive text is the most complex because it combines more than one topic into a matrix. Typically this type of text compares and contrasts as it discusses. For example, the text may discuss likeness and differences of freshwater and saltwater dolphins in a paragraph. Thus the description becomes more involved because it also describes another entity. Here is a partial list of words that may be used to alert one into the fact that compare and contrast are being used or about to be used:
however still
even though otherwise
on the contrary in comparison
but on the other hand
yet despite
Pointing these words out to your students via a "Think-aloud" or even through reading aloud, will make your student more aware of what is about to happen. This type of practice makes readers learn to attend to the cue words they are reading, making them more attuned to the information at hand.
These structures impart to the reader a description and attributes of an item or phenomena in science. Often times these structures often appear in one of three ways: list, web, and matrix (Dymock & Nicholson, 2007). The list structure is as it sounds and is the least complicated of the three and the order of the information does not matter. For example, a list structure describing a animal in the tortoise family may be that it has a shell, lives on land, has four legs, moves slowly, and eats plants. Indeed, it simply lists information.
A web structure is a bit more complicated. It would remind one of a simple bubble map or a spider web with a topic at the center and a number of attributes that describe the topic radiating out from the center. Students can be reminded of this as they reread a chosen descriptive paragraph and visually reconstruct the web structure of the description.
A matrix descriptive text is the most complex because it combines more than one topic into a matrix. Typically this type of text compares and contrasts as it discusses. For example, the text may discuss likeness and differences of freshwater and saltwater dolphins in a paragraph. Thus the description becomes more involved because it also describes another entity. Here is a partial list of words that may be used to alert one into the fact that compare and contrast are being used or about to be used:
however still
even though otherwise
on the contrary in comparison
but on the other hand
yet despite
Pointing these words out to your students via a "Think-aloud" or even through reading aloud, will make your student more aware of what is about to happen. This type of practice makes readers learn to attend to the cue words they are reading, making them more attuned to the information at hand.
Cause and Effect Text Structure
These structures concentrate on inviting the reader to reflect on the interactions of ideas or events with other ideas and/or events. This can be quite common in science text as events are very often a stimulus to effectuate some action. For example, in the environmental arena, large oil spills can quite often cause more regulation in the oil and gas business to be proposed. Whether it gets passed or not is another story because typically enough time passes that the push for something can diminish. However, long term investigation of water quality issues did serve to put into place many regulations in the 1960's and 1970's that have had positive affects on our waterways in the US. Cause and effect structures can prove to be quite linear and do have cue words associated with them. The following word list could be useful as cues in text to indicate the possibility of a cause and effect structure:
These structures concentrate on inviting the reader to reflect on the interactions of ideas or events with other ideas and/or events. This can be quite common in science text as events are very often a stimulus to effectuate some action. For example, in the environmental arena, large oil spills can quite often cause more regulation in the oil and gas business to be proposed. Whether it gets passed or not is another story because typically enough time passes that the push for something can diminish. However, long term investigation of water quality issues did serve to put into place many regulations in the 1960's and 1970's that have had positive affects on our waterways in the US. Cause and effect structures can prove to be quite linear and do have cue words associated with them. The following word list could be useful as cues in text to indicate the possibility of a cause and effect structure:
Sequential Text Structures
These structures also have cue words that let the reader know a sequence of things is about to be discussed. As the name implies, readers in this type of text will be involved in reading about a sequential event or possibly something that involves some sort of procedure. This structure takes on a string appearance - one event or piece of relevant information after another. In science this may well be how to make something or it may be a string of events that describe how an animal might build its' den or its' nest. Here are the cue words you should look for to indicate this structure:
addition few many the following
also finally several
another furthermore some
besides likewise then
These structures also have cue words that let the reader know a sequence of things is about to be discussed. As the name implies, readers in this type of text will be involved in reading about a sequential event or possibly something that involves some sort of procedure. This structure takes on a string appearance - one event or piece of relevant information after another. In science this may well be how to make something or it may be a string of events that describe how an animal might build its' den or its' nest. Here are the cue words you should look for to indicate this structure:
addition few many the following
also finally several
another furthermore some
besides likewise then
Problem/Solution
This one is easy and is very common in science texts and lab books. A problem is presented and solutions offered. There are a number of cue words associated with this structure also:
problem issue
solution answer explanation resolution
because cause
since
as a result so that
This one is easy and is very common in science texts and lab books. A problem is presented and solutions offered. There are a number of cue words associated with this structure also:
problem issue
solution answer explanation resolution
because cause
since
as a result so that
Activity 3.2: Think about the classes you are teaching and the strategies discussed above. How could you mix the text strategies mentioned with the idea of making thinking visible? In other words, is there a way you could have your students search for the cue words in their text in a chapter that you are working on, by way of the construction of a quick graphic of their own for a quick check of their understanding? Can you think of other ways you could implement the understanding of these structure into their learning so they become more skilled readers of informational text?
Additional great reading(s):
Dymock, S., & Nicholson, T. (2010). "High 5": Strategies to enhance comprehension of expository text. The Reading Teacher, 64 (3), p. 166-178.
Dymock, S., & Nicholson, T. (2010). "High 5": Strategies to enhance comprehension of expository text. The Reading Teacher, 64 (3), p. 166-178.
This module was written by Carmen Woodhall, Ph.D., East Carolina University, 2014.