Nonfiction Reading

NONFICTION READING You had “batter” pay attention!

Text Structure Text structure is the way a story or text is organized. 1. Sequence of Events Cause and effect 2. Compare and contrast 3. Problem and solution 4. Description

• Sequence: tells the order in which steps in a process or events occur.

• Cause and effect: a text structure with a stated or implied

association between an outcome and the conditions which brought it about

• Compare and contrast: analyzing similarities and

differences between or among characters, situations, concepts, or ideas.

• Problem/Solution: the author identifies a problem and then offers a solution(s).

• Description: resembles an outline. Each section opens with its main idea before elaborating. Elaboration may be divided into subsections. Often, description appeals to the five senses.

Paraphrasing the act or result of restating the meaning of something spoken or written in another form The meaning stays the same as in the original text. Information is neither gained nor lost.

Summarizing a brief statement that contains the essential ideas of a longer passage or selection. Only the most important details are included Meaning should remain the same as in the original text

Paraphrasing and Summarizing So how do these two skills connect together? Well, in order to summarize, you need to paraphrase (or restate in your own words) the original text. However, when you summarize, you only pick out the most important details to include.

Main Idea and Supporting Details omain idea: the most important point in a paragraph osupporting details: provide evidence for the main idea

Connecting it All When you identify the text structure of a passage, you get an idea of what the author is trying to accomplish. This helps determine the main idea. Having the main idea established allows you to understand the important details backing up this idea. You can the summarize and paraphrase in your own words, gleaning only the most important details and developing a better understanding for the text as a whole.