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 Framework
2.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.
G.
H.
J.
Description (concept-definition)
Procedure (goal-action-outcome)
Cause/effect
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.
The author uses several different text
structures to organize this passage.
Which of the following text
structures does the author not use?
A. description (concept-definition)
B. sequential order (goal-action-outcome)
C. problem/solution
D. order of importance
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.
The poet uses comparison and
contrast to present the poem.
What comparison is the poet
making?
A. Making a friend and following a recipe
B. The immediate past and the distant future
C. Talking about families and talking about food
D. Shopping for groceries and shopping for
friends
Compare-Contrast
Mitosis 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.
Cause-Effect
Scientists 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…
Goal-Action-Outcome/
Concept-Definition
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.
Problem-Solution
Statistics 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.
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 multiparagraph 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
CompareContrast
CauseEffect
GoalActionOutcome
ProblemSolution
(Procedural)
Passage
#6
Passage
#5
Passage
#4
Passage
#2
Proposition
-Support
ConceptDefinition
(Persuasive/
Position)
(Descriptive)
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.
How do Thinking Maps
relate to Text
Structures?
Using Thinking Maps helps
organize thinking and writing.
Make a Bridge Map by matching
each text structure to the correct
Thinking Map.
Relating Factor: is used for
Check your work
is used for
Circle Map
concept-definition
Double Bubble Map
compare-contrast
Flow Map
Tree Map
Multi-Flow
goal-action
outcome
propositionsupport
cause-effect
Tree Map
problem-solution
How do we teach
students to produce
CLEAR and COHESIVE
writing?
Order of Operations for Essay Writing
Begin 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.
Write your hook (tells why
we care, states thesis).
Incorporate transitions to
combine and explain your
ideas.
Write your conclusion (rewrite
the thesis, revisit main points
from body paragraphs and
hook).
Teachers of all subject areas are
responsible for:
•thesis statements
•organization
•transitional language
•content
But I’m not an English
teacher!
Relax! Content-area teachers are
not responsible for GUM (grammar,
usage, mechanics, and spelling).
But remember………
The ability to write
clearly and communicate
effectively is critical to
students’ classroom and
workplace success!
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.