Since 2019 marks the
10th Anniversary of this blog, on Fridays this year, I’m
resurrecting and updating old posts that sparked a lot of conversation or that
I think still have a lot to offer people teaching or writing nonfiction.
Today’s essay is an update of a post that originally appeared on June 1, 2016.
As I
mentioned on Wednesday, most state ELA state standards currently emphasize five
major nonfiction text structures—description, sequence, compare & contrast,
problem-solutions, and cause and effect. But the truth is that’s just the tip
of the iceberg when it comes to text structure.
structure that reinforces the book’s content, but there are also a couple of
other text structures that are common in children’s nonfiction. One of them is
question and answer.
powerful way to organize information, it can also add a fun, interactive
game-like quality to a book. And that’s not all. Because the Q&A format is
easy for even young children to identify,
it’s a great window into text structures. It can help students get their feet
wet before immersing themselves in text structures that are more difficult
to grasp and differentiate.
examples:
Bone by Bone: Comparing Animal
Skeletons by Sara Levine (also compare &
contrast)
Can an Aardvark Bark?
by
Melissa Stewart
Do Sharks Glow in the
Dark?
. . . and Other Shark-tastic Questions by Mary Kay Carson
Fossil by Fossil: Comparing
Dinosaur Bones by Sara Levine (also compare &
contrast)
Hatch! by Roxie Munro
Hello, Bumblebee Bat by Darrin Lunde
How Many Ways Can You
Catch a Fly?
by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
Tooth by Tooth: Comparing Fangs,
Tusks, and Chompers by Sara Levine (also compare & contrast)
What Do You Do with a
Tail Like This?
by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
What to Expect When
You’re Expecting Larvae: A Guide for Insect Parents (and Curious Kids) by Bridget Heos
Most Popular Posts
Resignation
Re-thinking “E” Is for Everyone
We Need Diverse Nonfiction
The 5 Kinds of Nonfiction
Behind the Books: Does Story Appeal to Everyone?
10 STEM Picture Books
Nonfiction Authors Dig Deep by Melissa Stewart
Nonfiction Authors Dig Deep by Deborah Heiligman
Is It Fiction or Nonfiction? A Twitterchat
5 Kinds of Nonfiction, Book Lists
Topics
2 Responses
Love Sara's books and the Larvae book is pretty hilarious too. They're all very lively texts
Thanks Melissa, I like this text structure. I'm going to catch up with the ones I haven't read yet!