MARIEMONT ELEMENTARY LIBRARY

Seesaw Text - The seesaw structure is one that sets up a predictable balance of information that moves back and forth, back and forth, between chunks that work together in some way.  The back and forth pieces have some kind of relationship, and what's key is, when you get one side of the relationship, you come to expect that the other side will follow directly.  The pairs might be comparisons, questions and answers, statements and generalizations, commands and responses - any kind of back and forth relationship.  Often, even the sentence structures of the corresponding pieces are similar, signaling the back and forth movement.  The structure can be used for a whole text, short or long, or for a paragraph or section within a longer text.  (Wondrous Words, by Katie Wood Ray).

Back to Books for Writing Workshop

Do Cowboys Ride Bikes? by Kathy Tucker

Grandpa Bill's Song by Jane Yolen

In the Forest by Marie Halle Ets

It's Going to Be Perfect by Nancy L. Carson

Lost by Paul Brett Johnson and Celeste Lewis

No One Told the Aardvark by Deborah Eaton and Susan Halter

Pancakes, Pancakes! by Eric Carle

Say Something by Mary Stolz

Seasons and Someone by Virginia Kroll

Tough Boris by Mem Fox

What's Alice Up To? by Harley Jessup

When I Was Little Like You by Jill Payton and Stephen Lambert

World is Full of Babies by Mick Manning and Brita Granstorm