Text Structures 2

Nonfiction is any text that is based in fact. Biographies, textbooks and cookbooks are all nonfiction. Informational text is a type of nonfiction. Informational text teaches a reader about the natural world or society. It informs, or gives knowledge, about a certain topic. It often contains text features like a table of contents, an index and diagrams. Articles, some essays and textbooks can be considered informational text.

Based on the passage, an informational text might

• tell a made-up story about the ocean.

• contain funny, made-up characters.

• contain facts about oceans.

• not contain any facts.

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Text structure is the way an author organizes information in a text. Description is one type of informational text structure. An author describes, or tells about, a topic and its characteristics. Characteristics are the things that make something different from others. A text that has a description structure will include details about a topic. Words and phrases like “for example,” “such as,” “looks like” and “for instance” can signal that description is being used. You may also see the words “many,” “some,” “including” and “most.”

Which of the following passages has a description text structure?

• Rhesus monkeys and baboons are part of a group called Old World monkeys. Like rhesus monkeys, baboons have tails. However, baboons usually weigh more than rhesus monkeys. Baboons live in Africa and Arabia, while rhesus monkeys live in Asia.

• Scientists were preparing to send the first humans into outer space. However, they didn’t yet understand the effects that space would have on the human body. They didn’t want to put humans in danger. As a solution, they started by sending rhesus monkeys into space and studying the effects on them.

• Rhesus monkeys are primates with brown bodies and red faces. They come from Asian countries, such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. They are very intelligent, and some have even adapted to live near humans. Rhesus monkeys are good climbers and swimmers.

• In 1947, scientists first discovered the Zika virus in a rhesus monkey in Uganda. A year later, they learned that Zika was spread by mosquitoes. In 1952, the first cases of Zika in humans were found. The virus did not make people very sick.

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The text structure sequence is also called time order or chronology. In texts that use sequence, authors tell about events in chronological order, the order that they happened. Words that show sequence is being used include “first,” “next,” “then,” “before,” “during” and “after.” You may also see “now,” “last,” “finally,” “at the same time” or “meanwhile.” You’ll often find dates in the text, too.

Which of the following passages has a sequence text structure?

• 
  

• 
  The Olympic Games started in Greece 3,000 years ago. They took place every four years for hundreds of years. The modern form of the Olympic Games started in 1896. The best athletes from countries all over the world compete. In 2016, the Summer Olympics were held in Brazil.

• Only men were allowed to compete in the original Olympic Games. These men had to be Greek, and they could not be slaves. Slaves, women and people from other countries were excluded from the games.

• 
  It takes a lot of food to feed all of the people who are part of the Olympic Games. It also creates a lot of leftovers. To reduce food waste, some famous chefs came up with a plan. They decided to use the leftover food from the Olympics to help feed the homeless. They cooked meals for the homeless using ingredients that would have been thrown away.

• The Olympic Games always begin with an opening ceremony, a big show that often includes music and dancing. All of the countries that are playing in the games participate. Athletes march, wearing their countries’ colors.

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Cause and effect is another text structure. A cause is something that makes something else happen, or the reason something happens. An effect is something that happens because of something else (a cause). Words and phrases like “because,” “so,” “since,” and “due to” show that a cause and effect structure is being used. You may also see “therefore,” “as a result of” and “if...then…”

Read the following passage.

Piping plovers are losing their habitats. This is because humans are taking many of the beaches where they live to construct buildings. Humans have also changed the level of water in the piping plovers’ homes. Sometimes, there is too much water or too little water. As a result of the loss of their habitats, piping plovers have become an endangered species.

In the passage above, the underlined sentence provides

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  a cause that led to piping plovers losing their habitats.

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  an effect of humans changing the level of water in piping plovers’ homes.

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  a cause that led to there being too many piping plovers.

• an effect of piping plovers leaving their homes.

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Can you guess how text with a problem and solution structure is organized? The author describes a problem and then explains how this problem was solved! In text with a problem and solution structure, you may find words and phrases like “problem,” “issue,” “solution,” “question” and “answer.” You may also see “since,” “as a result,” “so” and “leads to.”

Read the following passage.

Many people think that Thomas Edison built the first light bulb. He did not, but his inventions greatly changed the effect that electricity had on people’s lives. The light bulbs that existed before Edison were not practical for most people to use inside their homes. They needed too much power and were too bright. So Edison developed a new type of light bulb called an incandescent bulb. It was affordable and reliable. It used less power than existing models and became a success.

Which detail from the passage above best describes a problem?

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• “He did not, but his inventions greatly changed the effect electricity had on people’s lives.”

• “It used less power than existing models and became a success.”

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  “So Edison developed a new type of light bulb called an incandescent bulb.”

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  “The light bulbs that existed before Edison were not practical for most people to use inside their homes.”

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