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Text Structure Awareness

This is a detailed lesson plan for teachers at SLU university who teach international students in the INTO SLU program. It is designed to develop students' awareness of text structure awareness skills.

Uploaded by

Randy Rebman
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© © All Rights Reserved
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118 views

Text Structure Awareness

This is a detailed lesson plan for teachers at SLU university who teach international students in the INTO SLU program. It is designed to develop students' awareness of text structure awareness skills.

Uploaded by

Randy Rebman
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Building Text Structure Awareness in Reading Instructional Guide

Building text structure awareness and knowledge of discourse organization can greatly assist
students becoming better readers. This awareness can provide learners with a strategic
approach to determining main ideas in a text (Grabe & Stoller, 2019). This instructional guide
provides an instructional approach to building such an awareness that can be implemented
and revisited in not only Academic Reading skill courses, but also in Pathway Recitation
courses at Saint Louis University.

Key Principles of Building Text Structure Awareness

● Text structure should be consistent and continual


● Teachers should use texts that students are already reading for other purposes so that
students see the pervasiveness of discourse structure in all texts
● Students should be given plentiful opportunities to be active participants in how texts
are structured and how discourse structure is signalled

Text Structure Awareness Building Tasks

● Task 1: Training to Identify Signal Words and Connected Text Structure


○ Distribute Handout of Signal Words and Associated Text Structures
○ Provide Sample Passages (1-2 paragraph excerpts are sufficient)
■ See C ​ ollege Reading and Study Skills​ by K. T. McWhorter (pgs
168-169) for samples
○ Ask students to scan passages for the signal words; then identify the dominant
text structures (most texts will have more than one)
● Task 2: Graphic Organizer
○ Can be assigned as a follow up activity for task 1
○ Assign a small set of texts, perhaps that students have already read
○ Create graphic organizers for the text structure that dominates the text
○ Ask students to identify signal words and then use them to help identify main
details that go in the graphic organizer
● Task 3: Text Structure Gallery Walk
○ Print out a number of texts or text excerpts that use different text structure and
post around the classroom. It is good to have texts that have more than one
structure, such as comparison/contrast and classification. Assign each text a
number.
○ Print out a worksheet for each student with blanks for identifying text structure
& signal words
○ Ask students to use their handouts (given in Task 1) on signal words/text
structures to help them identify the text structure.
○ Put students into groups of 3-4 and have them walk around the room and
complete their worksheet
○ Require each group to present a graphic organizer for a specific text on the
board or mini-whiteboards

R. Rebman S19
Building Text Structure Awareness in Reading Instructional Guide

○ For groups that get done early, ask them to create their own quiz questions to
match the text structure that they made the graphic organizer for.

● Task 4: Continual Practice During Different Stages of the Reading Process


○ Pre-Reading Stage
■ Build awareness of text structure during pre-reading stage by asking
students to look at headings/subheadings and topics to anticipate text
structure
■ Ask student to scan for words that signal text structure
○ While Reading Stage
■ Complete an outline of the text
■ Fill in a graphic, such as a chart, Venn diagram, timeline or table. During
post-reading discussion and sharing of completed graphics students
can explain how graphic was signaled in text
■ Underline clues that indicate major patterns of organization
■ Highlight transition phrases and signal words that indicate new sections
■ Assign a brief label to each paragraph (or sets of paragraphs) in the
margin. In post-reading discussion students can compare margin notes
and explore the function of each paragraph or sets of paragraphs
○ Post-Reading Stage
■ Discussions on use of signal words and text structures (see Pre and
While activities)
■ Small group comparisons of graphics

How to Apply Discourse Awareness Training to Pathway Recitation Courses

1. Identify some of the major organizational patterns that appear in assigned reading
texts in the content course. These texts can be from textbook or assigned article
readings.
2. Provide a brief discourse awareness training session (see Task 1-2) to
introduce/remind students of this reading strategy, specifically focusing on the most
prevalent text patterns in course readings.
3. During recitation class sessions, require students to identify signal words, label
function of paragraphs and dominant organizational pattern(s) during pre, while and/or
post reading stages.
4. Provide students with a sample of midterm/final exam type questions. Ask students to
create their own test questions based upon the major text structure in the reading. For
example, a in a political science course, a definition text structure might have the
following questions: Define how sovereignty is applied to state governments.

R. Rebman S19
Building Text Structure Awareness in Reading Instructional Guide

References

Grabe, W. and Stoller, F.L. (2019). T


​ eaching and Researching Reading (3rd edn)​. Harrow:
Longman Pearson

R. Rebman S19

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