Analytical Thinking and Writing In All

Subject Areas

Expository Text Structures

Why should students be doing analytical thinking and writing in all subject

areas?Writing is thinking.

Can you write without thinking? Let’s find out!

Why should our students write across the

curriculum?•Due to the rigor of state testing, our students are required to think at higher levels.•Writing is thinking! Students cannot write without thinking.•If students are not writing clearly, they are not thinking clearly.•Writing is thinking made visible.•Students need to write (and think!) in all subject areas to explain what they know and how they know it.

Research shows that students in the United

States are weak when it comes to reading and

writing nonfiction.This is because it is not taught adequately, not

because students cannot do it!

“Understanding the expository text structures gives readers a better shot at determining important information when reading nonfiction…The text in standardized tests and traditional textbooks frequently falls into one or another of these text structures. If students know what to look for in terms of text structure, they grasp the meaning more easily.” from Nonfiction Matters, by Stephanie Harvey

“When students understand how a text is organized, they are more likely to identify the relationship of ideas, comprehend, and retain the information read. Also, students who develop an understanding of text structure are more likely to transfer this knowledge to their writing.”

Expository Text Structures

(how authors organize nonfiction texts)

• Compare-Contrast• Cause-Effect• Goal-Action-Outcome (procedure,

sequential order) • Problem-Solution • Proposition-Support (persuasive,

position) • Concept-Definition (description)Students need to be taught expository

text structures so that they can successfully read and write non-fiction.

2006 Mississippi Language Arts

Framework2.a. The student will apply knowledge of text features, parts of a book, text structures, and genres to understand, gain information from, respond to, analyze, compare, synthesize, or evaluate texts. (DOK 2)

3) Text structures - sequential order, description, simple cause and effect, procedure, compare/contrast, order of importance, problem/solution, etc.

2006 Mississippi Language Arts Framework

3.d. The student will compose informational text utilizing topic sentences, effective organization, transitions, vivid word choices, and specific supporting details, including but not limited to the following: texts containing chronological order; procedural; cause and effect; comparison and contrast; order of importance; problem and solution. (DOK 3)

How will implementing Expository Text

Structures impact student achievement?

Examples of MCT2 Text Structure Test Items

Which text structure controls lines 46-54 of

the passage? F. Description (concept-definition) G. Procedure (goal-action-outcome) H. Cause/effect J. Sequential order (goal-action-

outcome)

Based on the passage, which of the following

statements is not correct?

A. The paragraph in lines 5-12 is developed at least

in part using cause/effect. B. The paragraph in lines 13-22 is developed at

least in part using problem/solution. C. The paragraph in lines 23-31 is developed at

least in part using sequential order. D. The paragraph in lines 32-38 is developed at

least in part using comparison/contrast. 

MCT2

The author uses several different text structures to organize this passage. Which of the following textstructures does the author not use?

A. description (concept-definition)B. sequential order (goal-action-outcome)C. problem/solutionD. order of importance

MCT2

Based on the passage, which of thefollowing statements is not correct?

A. The paragraph in lines 5–12 isdeveloped at least in part usingcause/effect.

B. The paragraph in lines 13–22 is MCT2developed at least in part usingproblem/solution.C. The paragraph in lines 23–31 isdeveloped at least in part usingsequential order.D. The paragraph in lines 32–38 isdeveloped at least in part using comparison/contrast.

The poet uses comparison andcontrast to present the poem. What comparison is the poetmaking?

A. Making a friend and following a recipeB. The immediate past and the distant futureC. Talking about families and talking about foodD. Shopping for groceries and shopping for friends

MCT2

Compare-ContrastMitosis is a stage in the cell cycle, the

sequence of events cells undergo as they grow and divide. During mitosis, the nucleus of a cell divides to create two new nuclei, each containing an identical copy of DNA. Almost all of the DNA duplication in your body is carried out through mitosis. Meiosis, in contrast, is the process by which sex cells are created. While the other cells in your body contain 46 chromosomes: 23 from your father and 23 from your mother, your egg cells contain only half that number -- a total of 23 chromosomes.

ACT

Cause-EffectScientists are just now realizing how

experiences after birth, rather than something innate, determine the actual wiring of the human brain. Early-childhood experiences exert a dramatic and precise impact, physically determining how the intricate neural circuits of the brain are wired. Experience seems to exert its effects by strengthening synapses. Just as a memory will fade if it is not accessed from time to time, so synapses that are not used will also wither away in a process called pruning. The way to reinforce these wispy connections has come to be known as stimulation…

ACT

Scholars and artists use this Vedic Square to draw a design. A row of numbers and an angle of rotation are selected. Each number in the row gives the length of the line to be drawn.For example, using an angle of rotation of 90 degrees and the number sequence in row 3 gives:

Continuing this sequence of numbers and rotations leads eventually to this design.

Different designs result when a different angle of rotation or a different row from the Vedic Square is chosen.

Goal-Action-Outcome/ Concept-Definition ACT

Problem-SolutionStatistics about teenage driving are

illuminating: automobile accidents are the leading cause of death for teenagers in the United States. According to a U.S. News Online report, though teens account for only 2% of drivers, they are involved in more than 10% of traffic accidents. The problem isn’t one of conventional education so much as it is of teenagers learning the proper degree of caution and attention that driving demands…Caution and attention are not skills that can be taught in a schoolbook; they come with wisdom and are the result of experience.

ACT

Analytical thinking and writing is being implemented in all grades and subject areas throughout the

RCSD.

RCSD’s Implementation of Expository Text Structures by Grade

Kindergarten-Grade 2 (show proficiency before exiting 2nd grade) :•Conveying complete thought•Paragraph structure (topic sentence, transition words, complete sentences. and conclusions)•Lucy Calkins Book 6•“All About Book” (concept definition)•“How to” (goal-action-outcome)•Begin summarizing Thinking Maps orally•Model writing hook and conclusion

Expository Text Structure Implementation...

Grades 3-5 (show proficiency before exiting 5th grade):

• Connect to content areas• Begin to develop style and voice• Introduce independent research• Summarize Thinking Maps and begin to

create thesis statements• Lucy Calkins Book 3 • By 4th grade students should be writing

multi-paragraph essays including thesis and 3 supporting details with sophisticated transitions and a conclusion

Expository Text Structure Implementation…

Grades 6-8 (show proficiency before exiting 8th grade ):

• Focused on content areas• Summarize Thinking Maps to create

thesis statements• Continue developing style and voice• Independent research• Using transition words/phrases

Expository Text Structure Implementation…Grades 9-10 (show proficiency before exiting 10th

grade):• Independent analysis• Independent choice of appropriate text

structure• Concise thinking, sophisticated transitional

language• Precise sequence vocabulary• Cumulative subject-area vocabulary• Analytical research• Continue to develop style and voice• Independent connections between and among

information

Expository Text Structure Implementation…..Grades 11-12 (show proficiency before exiting 12th

grade:)• Truly independent writers• Decisions about topic• Thesis and evidence• Style and voice apparent• Insightful connections between and

among information• Senior project • Concise thinking

Jigsaw

Break

Let’s Review……..Goal-action-outcome: Goose bumps make me shiver. First I get cold. Then I shake all over……..Concept-Definition:Goose bumps make me shiver. I get little bumps on my skin. They look like …….Compare-Contrast:Some people get goose bumps from fear. Others get goose bumps when they are touched emotionally.

Cause-effect: Goose bumps make me shiver.

When the temperature drops below 45 degrees, my skin crinkles into goose bumps.

Problem-Solution: Goose bumps make me shiver.

But they disappear as soon as I cover up with a jacket or sweater.

Formative Assessment

Which text structure is it?

Check Your Work!Text

Structures

Compare-Contrast

Cause-Effect

Goal-Action-

Outcome (Procedural

)

Problem-Solution

Proposition-

Support(Persuasive/ Position)

Concept-

Definition

(Descriptive)

Passage

#6

Passage

#5

Passage

#4

Passage

#2

Passage

#3

Passage

#1

Textbook Scavenger Hunt!…The text in traditional textbooks

frequently falls into one or another of these text structures…

Use Thinking Maps to organize thinking and

writing.

Tree Map

How do Thinking Maps relate to Text

Structures?

Using Thinking Maps helps organize thinking

and writing.Make a Bridge Map by matchingeach text structure to the correct

Thinking Map.

Relating Factor: is used for

Circle Mapconcept-definition

Double Bubble Map compare-contrast

Flow Mapgoal-actionoutcome

Multi-Flow

cause-effect

Tree Mapproposition-

support

Tree Map

problem-solution

is used for

Check your work

How do we teach students to produce

CLEAR and COHESIVE writing?

Order of Operations for Essay WritingBegin with your topic.

Brainstorm on a Thinking Map, jot list, etc.

Analyze and summarize information on the Thinking Map, etc. to determine your thesis statement.

Use information on Thinking Map, etc. to determine supporting ideas and write topic sentence for each idea.

Find supporting evidence to explain supporting ideas in detail in the body paragraphs.

Incorporate transitions to combine and explain your ideas.

Write your hook (tells why we care, states thesis).

Write your conclusion (rewrite the thesis, revisit main points from body paragraphs and hook).

But I’m not an English teacher!

Relax! Content-area teachers are not responsible for GUM (grammar, usage, mechanics, and spelling).

Teachers of all subject areas areresponsible for:• thesis statements•organization• transitional language•content

The ability to write clearly and

communicate effectively is critical

to students’ classroom and

workplace success!

But remember………

Back to School In the Classroom

During the first days of school, introduce your

students to the six text structures.• Post the six text structures with their

transition words in your classroom.• Show examples of MCT2 and ACT test

items.• Do the Text Structure Jigsaw Activity.• Have students classify passages on a Tree

Map.• Have students do a Text Structure

Scavenger Hunt using their textbooks or other text.