ABSTRACT
This chapter considers how knowledge of the structure or format of different texts may be used to guide comprehension. Appreciation of informational text structure has been assessed with judgement of possible continuations to short passages with different structures. Teaching children about text structure can help them to sequence information when reading and listening and it can be taught in the early year's classroom. Knowledge of different text structures is useful for guiding comprehension, particularly of new material. It helps the reader to establish critical relations between information, whether causal relations in narrative or informational text. Most children are familiar with fictional narratives before they start school through picture books, shared book reading, cartoons and movies, and even nursery rhymes. They are also familiar with narrative structure through relating autobiographical accounts of events such as birthday parties, trips to the doctor, and holidays.
