Structure of information texts
Describe the overall structure of an informational text (chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) and explain how the author's chosen structure helps convey information and ideas
What a learner can do afterwards
- Identify which organisational structure an informational text uses (chronological order, compare/contrast, cause/effect, or problem/solution) and cite textual features that signal it
- Explain how signal words (first, then, finally for chronology; however, similarly for comparison; because, as a result for cause/effect; the solution was for problem/solution) reveal text structure
- Compare two informational texts on the same topic that use different structures and explain how each structure affects the way information is presented to the reader
1 · Read
Writers organize information texts in different ways depending on what they want to explain. Four common structures are chronological order (events in time order), compare and contrast (how two things are alike and different), cause and effect (why something happened and what it led to), and problem and solution (a problem followed by how it was fixed).
A text about cats and dogs might say: 'Cats often sleep during the day. However, dogs are usually awake and active. Both animals, similarly, need fresh water every day.' The words however and similarly signal a compare-and-contrast structure.
A cause-and-effect text might say: 'Heavy rain fell all week because of a storm. As a result, the river flooded.' A problem-and-solution text might say: 'The playground flooded every spring. The solution was to build a drain to carry the water away.'
There is a fifth structure called description. A description text tells you what something is like: its size, its parts, its colours, what it does. It does not put events in time order, compare two things, or explain a cause. So if a text has no time words, no comparing words and no cause words, but is packed with details about one thing, it is probably description.
The subject does not decide the structure. Two writers can write about the same thing in different ways. One might tell the story of the first railway in time order. Another might explain why trains changed the way people travelled. So ask what the writer wants to show, not what the text is about. Once you spot the structure you can also guess what is coming: in a problem-and-solution text, the fix comes after the problem.
When you start a new information text, hunt for signal words first. They reveal the structure fast, and knowing the structure helps you predict what comes next and remember what you read.
Signal words like first, however, because, and the solution was reveal how a text is organized: by time, comparison, cause and effect, or problem and solution. When there are no signal words at all and the text is full of details about one thing, it is probably description.
2 · Watch
Take it off screen
Where it sits
Where this leads
24 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.