English Language Arts and Reading.6.9.B

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The student is expected to

analyze how the use of text structure contributes to the author's purpose;

author's purpose strand teks talk image

Knowledge and Skills Statement

Author's purpose and craft: listening, speaking, reading, writing, and thinking using multiple texts. The student uses critical inquiry to analyze the authors' choices and how they influence and communicate meaning within a variety of texts. The student analyzes and applies author's craft purposefully in order to develop his or her own products and performances.
Students are expected to analyze how the author’s purpose has a specific effect on readers. An author writes for diverse reasons. If the purpose is to entertain, the author will probably choose to write a narrative story. However, to convince a reader to believe an idea, the author will likely use an argumentative writing style.
When students analyze text structure, they are expected to determine how an author organizes ideas in a text to accomplish a specific purpose. For example, in an article that deals with a new piece of technology, the author may use a structure that provides a definition of the tool but also organizes the information by explaining the advantages or possible disadvantages to using the new technology. By doing this, the author may want the readers to understand how certain aspects of the invention can be considered positive or negative for its users.

Research

Meyer, B. J., & Ray, M. N. (2011). Structure strategy interventions: increasing reading comprehension of expository text. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 4(1), 127–152. Accessed online at https://eric.ed.gov/?q=expository+text&pr=on&ft=on&id=EJ1070453

Summary: In this literature review, researchers examine empirical studies designed to teach the structure strategy to increase reading comprehension of expository texts. Strategy interventions employ modeling, practice, and feedback to teach students how to use text structure strategically and eventually automatically. The analysis suggests that direct instruction, modeling, scaffolding, elaborated feedback, and adaptation of instruction to student performance are keys in teaching students to strategically use knowledge about text structure.