Non-fiction text structures organize information into comprehensible patterns. Knowing how to recognize and use these structures to navigate non-fiction text greatly improves students' understanding of what they read.

Gail Saunders-Smith simplifies the process by providing teachers of grades 4-8 with:

-ways to teach the five non-fiction text structures: compare/contrast, cause/effect, sequence/procedure, question/answer, and exemplification

-engaging whole-class and small-group activities using written, verbal, image, three-dimensional, and technology responses

-study skills for locating, recording, and using information

-tools for assessing student understanding, and explanations of the text features that organize information within the text structures.

Examples, photographs, student samples, and graphic organizers support your teaching, and a bibliography of professional books and resources for locating leveled non-fiction texts make