Example 1: In my neighborhood, there is a house everyone thinks is haunted. Dark overgrown bushes surround the yard. The porch creaks whenever you step on it. At night, only a few lights shine. Sometimes, they seem to flicker on and off mysteriously. Imagine a place where it rains every day. Tall trees loom above you. Branches form a green ceiling high in the sky. Plants, vines, and brightly-colored flowers fill every inch of space. Example 1: The city of Taylor has fifteen public swimming pools. In the past, plenty of lifeguards have been available for staffing the pools throughout the summer. Most of the lifeguards were teenagers out of school for the summer. This year, however, not enough lifeguards have signed up to work. The city has started asking healthy retired people to be lifeguards. They will be trained by the city for free if they will agree to work 10 hours per week at a city pool. They will be paid $8 an hour for their work. The problem: Taylor doesn't have enough lifeguards to staff its city swimming pools. Show The solution: Encourage retired people to become certified lifeguards and work at the pools. EXAMPLE 2: Click here to view an example of Problem-Solution text structureProblem-Solution OrganizerQuestion and Answer: NOTE: This text structure, although used in test questions and in science and social studies texts is not one featured in out standards. However, I want the students to understand this is also an organizational structure that an author uses to organize his/her writing. The writer presents a question and then tries to answer it. Example: Many schools are thinking about this question: Should students be made to wear uniforms? I believe they should not. First, clothing is a very important way that kids express themselves. . .
(The third in a series of 6 blogs unpacking nonfiction text structures) When we read a nonfiction piece of writing to learn about the world around us, sometimes it is framed in a compare and contrast text structure. When we read a nonfiction piece of writing to learn about the world around us, sometimes it is framed in a compare and contrast text structure. Whether the topic is ancient civilizations or future scientific breakthroughs, we are able to make meaning when we recognize that the text structure presents a compare and contrast relationship. When we, as readers, are guided and coached to readily identify a compare and contrast text structure, we are able to effectively read with purpose and comprehend. Likewise, when we write a nonfiction piece and effectively use a compare and contrast text structure to convey meaning we are able to achieve our purpose. Essential QuestionsHow does a compare and contrast text structure help to read for meaning? How does a compare and contrast text structure help to write with purpose? Information text has one or more types of text structure based upon the author’s purpose: Six Types of Nonfiction Text Structure
When readers know, understand, and apply these six types of text structure they are able to read with purpose and make meaning. When writers use one or more of the six types of text structure to inform and educate an audience about a subject, we effectively write with purpose. Compare and Contrast Text StructureA compare and contrast text structure shows how two or more things are alike and/or how they are different. Features of Compare-Contrast• Details of similarities and differences between two or more persons, places, or objects Questions to Ponder
Signal Words and Phrases
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Compare and Contrast is a text structure or pattern of organization where the similarities and differences of two or more things are explored. It is important to remember that with the compare and contrast text structure the text should be discussing similarities and differences. If the text only discusses similarities, it is only comparing. Likewise, if it only discusses ways that the things are different, it is only contrasting. The text must do both to be considered compare and contrast. Example: Apples and oranges are both fruits, which means that they have seeds inside of them. Each has a skin, but orange skins are thick and easy to peel. Apple skins are thinner and do not peel easily. Oranges also contain more acid than apples, but both fruits are delicious.  Compare and Contrast Graphic Organizer Identifying when the writer is comparing and contrasting is usually not difficult because the speaker will bounce back and forth between two subjects and this pattern is generally pretty easy to recognize. However, here are some signal words that may indicate that the text is written using the compare and contrast organizational pattern: like, unlike, both, neither, similar, and different. Here is a simple worksheet on compare and contrast if your students need more practice. Here is a more complex set of worksheets on text structure if your students are ready to advance. Learn More About Text Structure
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What text structure or pattern of organization where the similarities and differences of two or more people places things or ideas is explored?
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