Celebrate Nonfiction

Exploring the Joy of Nonfiction Reading and Writing

Behind the Books: More on Text Structure

I’ve been thinking a
lot about nonfiction text structures lately. I spoke about it at the New
England Reading Association conference in Portland, Maine, in September, and
I’ll be part of a panel discussing this topic at NCTE in Boston in November.

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, CCSS directly mentions four different nonfiction text structures, but
there are others that are worth thinking about. One of my favorites is a circle
story, which is a great structure for students to use in their own writing.

In a circle story,
the reader begins and ends at the same place, which is very satisfying.

Here are some
examples:

Red-Eyed Tree Frog by Joy Cowley (phots by Nic
Bishop)

Frog in a Bog by John Himmelman

Redwoods by Jason Chin

Coral Reef by Jason Chin

Vulture View by April Pulley Sayre(illus.
by Steve Jenkins)

Trout Are Made of Trees by April Pulley
Sayre (illus. by Kate Endle)

Under the Snow by Melissa Stewart (illus.
Constnace Bergum)

When Rain Falls by Melissa Stewart (illus.
Constnace Bergum)

An Egg Is Quiet by Dianna Aston Hutts (illus.
Sylvia Long)

A Seed Is Sleepy by Dianna Aston Hutts (illus.
Sylvia Long)

A Butterfly Is Patient by Dianna Aston Hutts (illus.
Sylvia Long)

A Rock Is Lively by Dianna Aston Hutts (illus. Sylvia Long)

No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart (illus. Nicole Wong)

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