Informational Text Structures

Informational Text Structures Sketch Notes

Sketch Notes: A visual way to recall information.

As we move through the interactive presentation, take notes on your Sketch Notes worksheet. You may choose to highlight important information and add color to your notes to help you better recall information. Various questions will pop up to test your knowledge on your notes.

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How does an author use text structure to convey and add meaning to individual text sections?

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You should be able to answer this question by the end of the lesson.

Essential Question:

1. sequential

2. cause and effect

3. problem - solution

4. compare and contrast

5. chronological

6. description

Vocabulary:

Text structure refers to the organizational pattern authors of Informational texts use to present information. explaining, analyzing, and evaluating how authors use text structure to convey purpose and meaning in individual text sections will help you better understand what you read.

Defintion:

What are Text Structures?

chronological

Take notes on your Sketch Notes!

Example:

a text structure that presents facts, events, or details in the order in which they occurred in time

Definition:

​Signal Words:

first

second

third

finally

last

next

after

​No one knows the true origin of ice-cream, but the first published ice-cream recipe appears in “Mrs. Mary Eales's Receipts,” a cook book that was printed in London in 1718. Sometime around 1832, an African American confectioner named Augustus Jackson created multiple ice cream recipes and invented a superior technique to manufacture ice cream. Ice cream soda was invented around 1874, but the real breakthrough may have been at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri, when the American ice-cream cone was unveiled!

Sequential

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Making ice-cream is not easy.  Cream and sugar have to first be mixed in a frozen container.  Ingredients may be added at this point, if desired.  The mixture must be stirred and whipped until the cream and sugar mixture is frozen.  Depending on the equipment, this may take as long as an hour.  After the ice-cream is prepared, it must be kept frozen until it is ready to be enjoyed.  Making ice-cream is difficult, but most people would agree that it is worth the trouble.

Example:

a text structure that presents steps in a process

Definition:

​Signal Words:

first

second

third

finally

last

next

after

Cause & effect

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Example:

a text structure that explains how or why something happened

Definition:

​Signal Words:

as a result

because of

consequently

since

so

therefore

​Have you ever had an ice-cream headache? That’s when a painful sensation resonates in your head after eating something cold (usually ice-cream) on a hot day. This pain is produced by a nerve center in the roof of your mouth. The nerve center is overreacting to the cold by trying to heat your brain. Ice-cream headaches have turned many smiles to frowns.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following text structures is being in the excerpt below?

Chocolate is a delicious treat enjoyed around the world. The chocolate making process contains many steps. First, the beans are harvested from the cacao trees. After that, they are set in the sun to dry and then roasted. It’s important that in the next step they shell the beans before they are ground into a liquid. Lastly, sugar and flavoring are added before they prepare it to be sold.

• Chronological

• Sequential

• Cause and Effect

• None

Compare & Contrast

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Example:

Definition:

​Signal Words:

Ice-cream is a delicious frozen treat that comes in a many different colors and flavors. Two of my favorite flavors are strawberry and chocolate. Though both of these flavors are delicious, strawberry may contain pieces of fruit while chocolate usually will not. Even though more chocolate ice-cream is sold across the country annually than strawberry, each flavor tastes great inside of a milk shake.

​a text structure that explains similarities and differences between two or more things

​also

as opposed to

in contrast to, both

but

instead of

on the other hand

similarly

however

description

Take notes on your Sketch Notes!

Example:

Definition:

​Signal Words:

a text structure that details a subject’s characteristics

​details

for example

in particular

specifically

such as

​The ice-cream shop around the corner from my house has the best ice-cream in the city. When you first walk inside, there is a long chrome counter with matching stools extending to alongside the far wall. Right where the counter stops, the booth seating begins. There are lots of old-timey knickknacks on the walls and chrome napkin holders on all the tables. My favorite part of the shop is behind the counter glass, where they keep all of the ice-cream flavors. A rainbow of delicious sugary flavors is kept cool and delicious behind the counter glass.

Poll

Which of the following text structures is being used in the excerpt below?

Theodor Seuss Geisel and Roald Dahl are two famous children’s authors. Both authors enjoyed writing fun and imaginative stories that have helped millions of children love to read. While these authors have much in common, such as their writing had been inspired by their childhoods, there are also many differences as well. One difference is that Roald Dahl was a British author who joined the Royal Air Force while Dr. Seuss was an American writer who went on to college.

• Cause and Effect

• Description

• Compare and Contrast

• Chronological

Problem & Solution

Take notes on your Sketch Notes!

Example:

Definition:

​Signal Words:

a text structure that presents a problem or series with suggestions on how to solve them

​consequence of

a possible soultion to

challenge of

dilemma

issue

resolution

​The ice-cream shop around the corner from my house has the best ice-cream in the city. When you first walk inside, there is a long chrome counter with matching stools extending to alongside the far wall. Right where the counter stops, the booth seating begins. There are lots of old-timey knickknacks on the walls and chrome napkin holders on all the tables. My favorite part of the shop is behind the counter glass, where they keep all of the ice-cream flavors. A rainbow of delicious sugary flavors is kept cool and delicious behind the counter glass.

Multiple Choice

Which of these topics would be best written in cause and effect text structure?

• Explaining how basketballs and volleyballs are both used in sports but are made of very different materials

• Explaining how to prevent a house fire and what to do if there is a fire

• Explaining how to bake a triple chocolate fudge birthday cake

• Explaining why many animals of the rain forest are losing their homes

  Show answersExplanationPreviousNext

Poll

Which text structure best describes how this paragraph is written? Have you ever wanted to buy something but didn’t have enough money? As a kid, one way to solve this dilemma is to help your parents. Many times parents will pay children an allowance to complete extra chores. Another possible way to resolve this issue is offering to help your neighbors, rake their yard, help clean, or walk a dog.

• Compare and Contrast

• Problem and Solution

• Sequence

• C