32 Text Structure
Learning Objectives
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Understand how the structure of a text can give information about its contents in Science and Social Studies texts.
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Appropriately paraphrase and summarize texts.
Chapter & Discussion
This chapter includes a presentation that can be navigated in a classroom setting or independently. You can access the presentation via the link below.
Reading for Science and Social Studies: Text Structure
Work through the different sections of the chapter and discuss ideas and topics as they arise. If you’re working independently, take notes instead. Notes and active discussion will be helpful in navigating this week’s assignments.
Overview
On the GED (and in college and the workplace), you will need to quickly read a number of reading for information texts. This is anything that’s nonfiction.
We’re going to practice a number of skills to improve reading comprehension and fluency for these kinds of texts.
Today, we’re going to look at the structure of these texts to see if we can take advantage of elements like headings, transitions, visuals, and summaries to figure out how ideas are interrelated and make more sense of this kind of writing.
In General
Headings and Subheadings. They often provide an outline of the main points and help you understand the organization of the content.
First and Last. Read the introduction to grasp the main idea and purpose. The conclusion can summarize key points. This also works when reading the first and last sentence in a paragraph.
Paragraph Structure. Look at how paragraphs are organized. Topic sentences often indicate the main idea of the paragraph. Supporting details follow to strengthen the main point.
Lists and Bullet Points. Information presented in lists or bullet points is usually important. These formats make it easier to identify key points and details.
Bold or Italics Text. Words or phrases in bold or italics are often emphasized and may be key terms or concepts. Take note of them as they are likely important.
Transition Words. Words like “however,” “in addition,” or “therefore” indicate the relationship between ideas. Understanding these transitions helps in following the flow of the text.
Practice
Let’s compare this article with this scientific journal abstract. What differences did you notice? Which better helped you understand the facts of the story?
News Articles
News articles follow an inverted pyramid structure, placing the most essential information first and additional details later. This allows readers to gain the key takeaways even if they don’t finish the full article.
Headline – Catches the reader’s attention and conveys the main point
Byline – Lists the author and publication date/location
Lede– The lead is the opening paragraph of the article. It aims to provide a quick overview of the most essential information, answering the questions: who, what, when, where, why, and how.
The nut graph (nutshell paragraph) follows the lede and provides further context or backgro