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Text Structures

Covers five of the text structures in the Common Core: Descriptive, Sequence/Process, Compare & Contrast, Cause & Effect, and Problem & Solution. Reading selections were taken from worksheets found at: http://www.ereadingworksheets.com


on 4 April 2013

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Transcript of Text Structures

Improving Comprehension by Understanding How Text is Organized Text Structures Descriptive Sequence or Process Compare and Contrast Cause
and Effect The author will use lots of details so you can visualize, or picture, what the author is describing in your head.

It could be a scene, an event, a character, or even a short story.

Supporting details help develop the image. 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. 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, they both taste great with milk. Shows the relationship between two things when one things makes something else happen.

The author will provide reasons or explanations for an event or series of events. Problem
and Solution If you can figure out how the author organized the text, you will be better able to understand the author's purpose for writing. 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 alongside the far wall. Right where the counter stops, the booth seating begins. There are lots of old-time 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 case. Freezer burn may have wasted more ice-cream than sidewalks. If you don’t know, freezer burn is when ice crystals form on the surface of ice-cream. These ice crystals can ruin the texture and flavor of the ice cream, but freezer burn is preventable. Since freezer burn is caused when melted ice-cream is refrozen, rather than eating your ice-cream from the container as it melts, scoop your ice-cream into a bowl and put the container back in the fridge immediately. Doing this ought to help you keep freezer burn from ruining your favorite frozen flavors. 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! It was the most beautiful banana split that I had ever seen. In the middle of the bowl, there were three scoops of ice-cream: chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla. On top of the ice-cream were a banana and a thick web of chocolate and caramel sauces. A huge puff of whipped cream covered the sauces and a handful of crushed nuts dappled the whipped cream. On top of it all was a cherry, but I have never liked the soggy squish of cherries. One time my mom and I made ice-cream. We added sugar and cream into a big glass bowl. We kept it frozen in the middle of a bigger glass bowl. While it froze, I stirred the mixture with a hand mixer. It was the first time that had I used one and it splattered ice-cream mixture all over the kitchen. The rest of the mixture finally froze, so we ate some ice cream, and then put the remaining portions in the freezer so that it wouldn't get freezer burn. That was a good day. 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 the dilation of 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. When it comes to making ice-cream, you can do it the traditional way, by stirring it in a frozen container, or you can use liquid nitrogen to freeze your mixture. There are some advantages to using liquid nitrogen. Since liquid nitrogen freezes the mixture faster, the crystal grains are smaller, giving the ice-cream a creamier texture. The downside is that ice-crystals grow faster in ice-cream prepared using liquid nitrogen, so it must be stored at much colder temperatures. Both methods produce a distinct texture, and both are delicious. What problem is presented in this example?

What solution is offered? Problem: The taste and texture of ice cream can be ruined by freezer burn.

Solution: Return the carton to the freezer right away so it doesn't have a chance to melt. What causes an ice-cream headache?

What is the effect of an ice-cream headache? Cause: Eating cold ice cream on a hot day Effect: Your nerve center overreacts to the cold by trying to heat your brain. This causes pain in the nerves in the roof of your mouth. What image do you get when you read this paragraph?

What does the scene look like?

Read the paragraph and identify supporting details that help you picture the scene. Identify two similarities and two differences in the paragraph.

Turn to your partner. Each of you should choose your favorite ice cream and compare and contrast your choices. Similarities:
Both are delcious frozen treats.
Both taste great with milk.

Strawberry ice cream has pieces of fruit in it.
Chocolate is a better seller than strawberry. Sometimes called chronological, the author organizes the text in a specific order that makes sense..

This includes a sequence of events, directions, steps in a process, or a brief history. Number your paper from 1-5. Write the step-by-step process for making ice cream. 1. Mix cream and sugar in a frozen container.
2. Add ingredients if you chose.
3. Stir and whip until frozen.
4. Wait one hour.
5. Keep frozen until ready to eat. A process of finding similarities and differences between two things.

To compare, you tell how two things are alike.

To contrast, you must state how two things are different. Signal Words for Cause and Effect because then
since if…then
when, whenever thus
after as a result
consequently therefore
hence from…to, until however still
but yet
in contrast nevertheless
instead even though
on the contrary although, though
on the other hand despite
conversely different from, than
each whereas
neither…nor while
either…or more, less than
then…now one…the other
some…other Signal Words for
Compare & Contrast first, second soon, as soon as
next when, whenever
then subsequently
finally presently
ultimately here, there
most important from….to, until
before, after Signal Words for Sequence or Process Signal Words for Problem & Solution The question
The problem
One solution
One answer Shows the development of a problem or problems and offers one or more solutions.

May tell what action(s) were taken to solve a problem.

May tell what happened as a result of the action. Therefore
In order to.
Because.. Signal Words for Descriptive for example for instance
in addition in particular
such as in fact
most important Ready for some more? Try these examples. Which text structure did the author use? (time for a commercial break)
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