The Text Structure Strategy (TSS) stems from research showing that the content of most texts is organized using a hierarchical structure. The information presented higher in the content structure of a text is connected to better recall than information presented lower in the content structure (Meyer, 1975). Meyer and colleagues found that the hierarchical structure of texts fit into one or a combination of two or more of five specific text structures:
Comparison
Cause and effect
Problem and solution
Sequence
Description
These text structures are used to organize every text regardless of genre (e.g., expository, narrative) or content (e.g., science, social studies, current events, sports).
In expository texts such as history, events can be studied using a cause and effect structure nested within a sequence of events.
When reading a narrative text students are often asked about the moral of the story or the actions of the main characters. These ideas can be studied using a problem and solution and/or a cause and effect lens. Most novels, textbook passages, and short reading pieces may contain descriptions of events and sequences nested within the causes and effects of the event.
The Text Structure Strategy was designed, developed, and refined through many years of research. After the initial identification of the five text structures, Meyer and colleagues conducted additional research about what and how good readers remembered information (Meyer, Brandt, & Bluth, 1980). They found that good readers were able to take advantage of signals within the text to select important ideas and generate a gist. This gist helped them recollect more important information after reading.
Once this pattern was established, new interventions were developed to study whether children in elementary grades would benefit from being taught the strategy to identify signaling words, write a main idea scaffolded by the text structure, and remember more information (Meyer & Poon, 2001; Meyer et al., 2002; Meyer et al.., 2010; Williams et al., 2005).
A series of large scale studies have been conducted by Wijekumar and colleagues to study the efficacy of the TSS instruction delivered via a web-based tutor to students in grades 4, 5, 7, and 8 (Wijekumar, Meyer, & Lei, 2012; Wijekumar et al., 2014; Wijekumar, Meyer & Lei, 2017). The studies also included newer adaptations for Spanish speaking English learners (Wijekumar, Meyer, Lei, Hernandez, & August, 2018).
All these studies have shown that it is possible to teach children in grades 4 through 8 about using text structures to improve their comprehension of expository and narrative texts. A complete chronology of the refinements to the TSS through research evidence is presented in Wijekumar et al., (2014).
In this article, you'll find important elements of the evidence-based text structure strategy that are relevant for classroom teachers. We organize the information around questions that frequently arise during teacher professional development sessions conducted by our team. Text structures are integrated in all state standards (e.g., Common Core State Standards — CCSS, Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills-TEKS) for language arts. They are frequently listed directly in standards about teaching comprehension of expository texts.
They are indirectly tied into standards on narrative texts where children are required to think deeply about a text and engage in higher-order thinking — for example, why did the character behave that way? (implying a cause and effect relationship). Students are asked to compare the problems and solutions between texts.
Based on the inclusion of the text structures in state standards, almost all textbooks include instruction about text structures. A complete list of English Language Arts (ELA) approaches designed to promote comprehension in four textbook series shows that cause and effect is taught as a separate skill to be learned (Beerwinkle, Wijekumar, Walpole, & Aguis, 2018). Compare/contrast is also taught using T-Charts or Venn Diagrams. Sequence and description are frequently used to organize passages and children are asked to engage in activities such as numbering the water cycle. Problem and solution was rarely used within the textbooks reviewed.
In every instance, instruction about text structure was done as an independent skill to be learned separate and distinct from writing main ideas, summarizing, generating inferences, and comprehension monitoring. Our observations of teachers using these textbooks to guide instructional practices in classrooms show that teachers use the following sequence of activities to teach reading within the ELA classroom (Beerwinkle, Wijekumar, Walpole, & Aguis,
