What I think is so important about form (or structure) is that different forms give youngsters ideas not about what to think but about how to think. Yes, listing is an important way to divide up information and chronology is as well (somewhat like story narrative, but that's for another discussion), but it is those great nonfiction writers who use other tools -- when appropriate -- so well. Look at Jean Craighead George's new book The Wolves Are Back for cause/effect. Or Paul Fleischman's Dateline Troy (both the first edition and revision) for compare/contrast or Jim Murphy's Alamo book (I'm sorry I've forgotten the name) for known/unknown or Seymour Simon's Animal Fact, Animal Fiction for the same kind of thinking. Or Susan Goodman's On This Spot for reverse chronology or Mitch Frank's books (Understanding the Holy Land or Understanding the MIddle East) for question/answer. Each book is strong, presents great information, could even be "used for reports," but each is about perspective and thinking. And I think that it is thinking we're looking for "in the beginning" and at the end as well.

Betty: Thanks for that great list. Anyone want to add more examples or categories so we can put together a running bibliography on different ways of structuring NF -- which could be useful to all sorts of kids and teachers, for it would both show different literary forms and, as Betty says, different modes of thought and argument.

Narratives by necessity do move through time, but groups of short narratives could also be organized non-chronologically. Even a student's own narrative might be organized spatially, say by moving from room to room in their own house or school. Or thematically, ignoring chronology all together in order to drive a focus on a particular subject. It's tough to get students, even good ones, to do this, especially in non-fiction. Interestingly, newspapers, which few students read, are great examples of non-chronological form. The inverted pyramid form of reporting is kind of dull, but at least its highly purposeful. In my classes students with experience in journalism did have an easier time applying form. --Brian mrchompchomp.blogspot.com

I like that idea of spatial organization -- reminds me of the memory palace of Mateo Ricci (sp?) the Jesuit who came to China early on. I would think it would be fun for kids to experiment with.

I think Russell Freedman's latest Who Was First? is another excellent example of en effective text structure that doesn't follow a direct chronology. He starts with what most Americans know - the story of Columbus "discovering" America. From there, he moves us towards what we might not know, first the Chinese, then the Vikings. Ultimately, the book ends at the very origins of humanity, and dwells in all that we don't know about who came to North America first. We move from known to less known, from what has been proven wrong to what possibilities exist for what we may know in the future about our past.

Mary Ann: Good point, I'd put that in the category of thematic organization -- most intense first, most familiar first -- start the reader where he or she is engaged or comfortable, then start exploring.