SUMMARIZING WITH TEXT STRUCTURE
Instructions​
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Select a nonfiction passage that clearly uses one or more organizational patterns such as cause/effect, problem/solution, description, sequence, or compare/contrast.
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Explicitly teach students how to recognize different text structures. (If students are not familiar with the types of text structures, build this foundation of understanding first by providing lessons about text structures.)
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As students read, have them identify the structure the author used to organize the information.
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Provide structure-specific graphic organizers (e.g., a problem/solution chart or cause/effect map) to help students capture key ideas.
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Guide students to use their completed graphic organizers to write a clear summary that follows the text’s organizational pattern.
THE RESEARCH
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Summarizing is a high-impact strategy identified in multiple research reviews as an effective way to boost comprehension (Hattie, 2018; IES, 2022). According to Hattie, summarization has an effect size of 0.64, making it one of the most powerful strategies available to teachers. When students summarize based on a text’s structure, they are not only recalling content but also organizing it in meaningful ways—an approach that increases retention and understanding.
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The IES Guide recommends that teachers help students recognize and use text structure to enhance comprehension and retention (IES, 2022). Instruction that explicitly teaches how informational texts are organized supports students in making sense of complex ideas.
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Shanahan and colleagues have emphasized that struggling readers in particular benefit from being taught how texts are put together and how to use that knowledge to make meaning and produce writing (Shanahan et al., 2010). By teaching students to recognize structure and summarize accordingly, educators equip them with strategies for both reading comprehension and effective written expression.