How does teaching text structures aid in comprehension?

Teaching text structures significantly enhances comprehension by organizing information and facilitating navigation through a text. When students understand the different components of text structures—such as sequences, cause-and-effect, problem-solution, and compare-contrast—they can more effectively locate and process key information. This understanding allows students to predict what type of information to expect in each section of a text, which aids in making connections, summarizing content, and answering questions.

By recognizing how a text is organized, students can better follow the author's ideas, retain important details, and relate new information to prior knowledge. This strategic approach not only supports comprehension but also encourages the development of critical thinking skills as students learn to analyze the way information is presented.