Understanding the purpose of various text structures

Novice: Defining CONCEPT(S) Narrative versus nonnarrative text structures Practitioner: Defining CONCEPT(S) Narrative versus non-narrative AND Fiction versus non-fiction text structures Inferring the authors purpose Independent/Expert: Defining CONCEPT(S) Sub-genres of fiction/nonfiction and narrative/nonnarrative text structures Understanding a multiplicity of purposes

Establishing personal purposes for reading

Essential DETAILS 1. Narrative versus nonnarrative text structures: * Students can distinguish between oral story-telling and factual information. * They demonstrate their emerging understanding of narrative vs. non-narrative structures by identifying whether or not an account such as a picture book or a television show tells a story. * They can recognize that informational structures such as billboards and verbal commands are not stories, although they may not be able to identify these text structures by name. (A child who does not know the world billboard may still understand that it conveys non-narrative information). 2. Establishing personal purposes for reading: * Students understand that non-fiction texts such as

Essential DETAILS 1. Narrative versus nonnarrative AND Fiction versus non-fiction text structures: * Students accurately use the terms narrative and nonnarrative as well as fiction and nonfiction. They can identify basic sub-genres of fiction and nonfiction. * Students demonstrate their developing sense of genre as it relates to narrative and nonnarrative text structures by identifying whether texts are fiction or nonfiction. * For example, they understand that a character in a narrative chapter book is not real (fictional), but that narrative stories about a relatives life are real (factual). * Students are able to differentiate between the author and the narrator. They understand that the author is always real but the narrator may be fictional.

Essential DETAILS 1. Sub-genres of fiction/nonfiction and narrative/nonnarrative text structures: * Students are able to identify a wide range of sub-genres of text in both traditional and electronic forms. * Students understand that new genres of communications are constantly being created.

2. Understanding a multiplicity of purposes: * Students understand what the authors purpose typically is for these sub-genres, but that the authors purpose may vary, such as in the case of a satirical newspaper that is actually meant to entertain rather than inform. * Students understand that authors create and choose ever-developing genres based upon their purposes for writing.

cookbooks and brochures are usually non-fiction and have real-life applications.

2. Inferring the authors purpose:

* Students understand that, * Students are able to act not only do they use literature upon this knowledge for their for different purposes, such as own purposes. For example, a to be entertained or to be student would be able to selfinformed, but that authors select a narrative chapter also write with a purpose in book to read for leisure, but mind. then follow directions on a board game to learn how to * Students are able to use play the game. their own experience with a text to infer the authors purpose. For example, This was fun to read, so the author must have written it to entertain me.

* Students begin to examine whether or not their use for the text aligned with the authors purpose, through such means as speaking to others about how they used the text and examining the authors word choice. * Students understand that, although the author may intend a primary purpose for a text, literature can be used for multiple purposes. * Students evaluate the most appropriate text structure for various purposes.

So what? Why is it important to understand this learning progression? It is important to understand how basic concepts such as whether or not a text tells a story, and how a text can be used for personal purposes, ultimately empower students to think critically about the correlation between authors purpose and text structure. This learning progression also helps teachers determine where students are on the continuum of learning and modify instruction accordingly.