[Understand] text structures

[CNJPALMER at aol.com]

I know Ellin believes it is important for students to understand how texts  
are organized. A colleague and I are planning to use the analogy of a set of  
stairs to help second graders understand the chronological text structure of  
some simple biographies our students will be reading. We thought stairs show  
that the order of ideas matters when making sense of this kind of text... and  
how the ideas build...you see how the events in someone's life influence later 
 events and while you can "jump the steps" to look at just a certain time 
period  in someone's life, you need to read from beginning to end to get the full 
 picture of the significance of someone's life. Does that make sense?
 
What do you all do to teach text structures with your students?
Jennifer
**************Inauguration '09:  Get complete coverage from the nation's 
capital. (http://news.aol.com/main/politics/inauguration?ncid=emlcntusnews00000003)