Identify and Analyze Text Structure How is the information organized? Authors make decisions about how to present information. They choose from a variety of structures to organize the information for readers: Chronological/Sequence: (Time/Order) Articles reveal events in a sequence from beginning to end. Words that signal chronological structures include: first, then, next, finally, and specific dates and times. Cause/Effect: Informational texts often describe cause and effect relationships. The text describes events and identifies or implies causal factors. Problem/Solution: The text describes a problem and presents solutions. Compare/Contrast: Author uses comparisons to describe ideas. Similes, metaphors, and analogies are used. Description: Sensory details help readers visualize information. Directions: How-to-texts frame the information in a series of directions. Readers experience a variety of text structures. They select specific comprehension strategies that fit a particular text based on knowledge of how the information is organized. Readers can anticipate what information will be revealed in a selection when they understand text structure. Understanding the pattern of the text helps readers organize ideas for synthesizing and summarizing. Guiding Questions: Skim the article for titles, subtitles, headings, and key words. After scanning the text, how do you think the author organized the information? Which framework did this author use to organize the information? Chronological? Cause/Effect? Problem/Solution? Compare/Contrast? Description? Directions? Does the author use a combination of structures? How did the author organize the text to be “reader-friendly”? Which text features helped you collect information from the article?