Teaching Text Structure to Support Reading Comprehension
Understanding text structure is key to reading comprehension and also helps strengthen writing skills. In this section you’ll learn about the 5 most common text structures and how to help students learn to identify and use text structures in their reading and writing.
Institute of Education Sciences: Interactive Readalouds: Learning from books together
This REL West video demonstrates how to facilitate an interactive readaloud of a story with young students in a face-to-face or distance learning environment. The routine is aligned with evidence-based recommendations from the What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guide Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade and may be especially beneficial for students whose home language is not English.
Webinar: Text Structure to Support Comprehension & Writing
In this webinar from Nov. 10, 2020 Joan Sedita (founder of Keys to Literacy) shares instructional practices for teaching text structure at the sentence, paragraph, and longer text levels.
Syntactic Awareness: Teaching Sentence Structure
This resource shows how explicit instruction in sentence structure supports comprehension and writing. It provides ready-to-use activities that help students develop syntactic awareness by manipulating, expanding, and combining sentences.
Explore this on-demand lesson on effective vocabulary instruction and its importance
Mr. Zamora, a fourth-grade teacher, noticed that despite rich classroom discussions, many students struggled to understand and use key vocabulary needed to comprehend text. After reviewing assessment data, he recognized vocabulary as a critical student need and began seeking more effective instructional strategies beyond memorization to support consistent vocabulary development.
Explicit Instruction: Vocabulary Instruction
This video highlights explicit instructional practices in an elementary setting, illustrating key components such as clear modeling, guided practice, and active student responding to support effective learning.
Teaching and Learning Vocabulary: Complexities of Vocabulary Instruction
This academic article explains why vocabulary instruction must be intentional, long-term, and multifaceted. It highlights how students build word knowledge through direct teaching, rich language experiences, and repeated exposure across contexts.
PaTTAN: Verbal Reasoning
This video presentation by Dr. Kate Cain is part of a series celebrating the 20th anniversary of the publication of Hollis Scarborough’s Reading Rope. Dr. Cain focuses on the verbal reasoning strand of the reading rope in this presentation.
The Effects of Instruction in Text Structures
This research summary highlights how teaching students to recognize and use text structures enhances their understanding of complex texts.
Literacy How: Syntax Instruction
This video highlights evidence-aligned strategies for literacy development, providing practical explanations to help educators deepen their understanding of instruction.