Monday
Monday: Structure, Sequence and Comparison
Rocket drops a stack of old Signal issues on the Signal Desk. The corkboard rattles.
"Every issue we ever made," he says. "I want to see how our nonfiction is built."
Raven unrolls a blank diagram of the neighborhood and pins its corners flat. "Built how?"
"Like a house. Some pieces are stairs, one step after another. Some are two rooms side by side."
Raven picks up the top issue and reads a guide about folding. "What do you notice about the first words?"
"First. Next. Then. Finally," Rocket says. "Stairs."
Nova hovers above the diagram, her light tracing the streets. "Writers choose a shape before they choose words," she says. "Find the shape, and the piece opens up."
Learn it: text structure
Structure is the way a nonfiction text is organized. A writer picks a structure to fit the purpose of the piece.
A sequence structure tells steps or events in time order. Signal words include first, next, then, after that and finally.
A compare and contrast structure shows how two things are alike and different. Signal words include both, alike, but, unlike and while.
Raven thinks aloud: "The text says first, then next, then finally. So I can tell this is a sequence, and the order matters."
- Read the first few sentences and look for signal words.
- Ask: Is this telling me when, or is it telling me how two things differ?
- Name the structure, then check whether the rest of the text keeps that shape.
- Read the question.
- Tap your answer.
Read it
This guide ran in this week's Signal. As you read, mark each signal word in your head.
Every issue of The Signal starts on Monday at the Signal Desk, the porch corner with the long wooden table.
First, the crew pins story ideas to the corkboard with string and cards.
Each card names one story and the person who will write it.
Next, the writers walk the neighborhood with notebooks and ask questions.
Raven usually takes the community garden, and Rocket takes the skate ramp.
By Wednesday, the first drafts are spread across the table under the reading lamp.
Then the crew reads every draft aloud.
A listener marks any sentence that is unclear with a small pencil check in the margin.
After that, the writers fix their drafts and copy them out neatly on fresh paper.
On Friday, the pages are laid out in order on the table and numbered by hand.
Finally, on Press Day, the crew folds each copy and stacks the issues in a basket on the porch steps.
Neighbors pick up a copy on their way past, and the basket is usually empty by dinner.
The whole process takes six days, and then it begins again on Monday with a fresh set of cards.
- Read the question.
- Tap your answer.
- Which step comes first in the guide?
- Tap the cards in time order.
| About the guide | True or false? |
|---|---|
| The guide is organized in time order. | ? |
| Drafts are read aloud before they are fixed. | ? |
| The issues are handed out on Wednesday. | ? |
| The structure compares two kinds of newspapers. | ? |
Say the six days of the process in order without looking.
You found the shape of a sequence. Tomorrow two more shapes: cause and effect, and problem and solution.