READING INFORMATIONAL TEXTS!!!

INFORMATIONAL TEXT

ATTENTION!!! Were you aware that 45% of students entire academic reading diet should be composed of informational text???  I'm going to take a guess and say that many of you were not aware of that statistic.  However, it is very true, and even more relevant now.  The common core state standards call for students in grades k-8 to be reading and working with that much informational text.  Make note that the 45% does in fact include EVERYTHING that students read during social studies, science, and math as well as all the reading they do within non fiction units in language arts class.  By telling you this, you may think that your students read way over 45% of informational text.... Don't be too quick to assume....  Look at how many pages of expository text your students read in a week.  Compare that to the number of pages from fictional text.  I guarantee you will be SURPRISED!!  So the questions is...How do we fix this?  In order to find the answer, we need to understand what is currently taking place in schools today that leads to this struggle.  We also need to make sure that we fully understand what the standards are asking of our students.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  I am writing this post because I am currently in grad school for reading.  I am getting a lot of my information from a book we are currently reading called, "Pathways to the Common Core."  It is a fabulous asset to have in any teachers library.  However I wanted to share the main points with you on my teaching blog because I think this topic is very important.

ANAYZING THE STANDARDS:

Reading for Key Ideas and Details (Anchor standard 1-3)

Read Closely and Making Logical Inferences:  Anchor Standard 1
This standard is asking students to read closely to determine what the text says explicitly.  You can most likely put this standard to work after the first paragraph or so.  According to this standard, after reading a section of something, one should be able to turn around and teach someone everything they have learned about the topic. 

Read to Determine Central Ideas and Themes: Anchor Standard 2

This standard asks readers to determine central ideas and to summarize the text, linking key ideas and details.  First you will need to find the central idea.  Once you have done that, you will need to fill in some information from the text that supports those ideas. 

 

Reading to Analyze How Individuals, Events, and Ideas Develop and Interact Over the Course of a Text:  Anchor Standard 3

This standard asks students to analyze how individuals, events and ideas develop and interact over the course of the text.  Readers will need to notice the sequence of events, analyze relationships and connections, and discern cause and effect. 

 

Reading for Craft and Structure ( Anchor Standards 4-6)

 

Reading to Interpret the Language Used in the Text:  Anchor Standard 4

This standard asks students to interpret the technical, connotative and figurative meanings of words, and how the specific language shapes meaning.  In order to do this, the reader may need to look back and ask themselves if some words seem more important than others.

 

Reading to Analyze the Structure of a Text:  Anchor Standard 5

This standard has the reader pay attention to how the text is structured.  In order to do this correctly, the reader will need to look back over the text, as ask themselves if they can divide it into parts.  Think about the meanings of those parts.

 

Reading to Assess the Author's Point of View and How it Shapes the Text:   Anchor Standard 6

This standard asks readers to assess how the authors point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of the text.  Readers will need to look back at the language choices in the text they are reading. 

 

Reading to Integrate Knowledge and Ideas and Think Across Informational Texts: (Anchor Standards 7-9)

 



Anchor 7 - asks readers to integrate and evaluate content in different media

Anchor Standard 8 - asks readers to evaluate the evidence that the text lays out, weighing the validity of the authors claims.

WHAT ARE THE CURRENT CHALLENGES?

1. Students are not reading just right informational texts
Research has shown that most of the nonfiction texts that students are being supplied with are either too hard or too poorly written to engage students.   You must remember that they should be reading with at least 96% accuracy.  These texts make it hard for them to accomplish that goal.

2. Students are not engaging with informational texts in the appropriate way.
I was taught to read informational text a certain way while growing up.  I was always told that while you read you should either be highlighting important information or taking notes while reading.  THIS DOES NOT HELP STUDENTS COMPREHEND!!! When you make nonfiction reading a stop and go process, you are almost guaranteed that they will progress very slowly and comprehend very little.

3. Students have no choice in what to read

HOW TO OVERCOME THESE CHALLENGES

1. Get more high interest non fiction books into your classroom
There are many ways that teachers can do this, even if the budget doesn't leave room for it. 

• teachers can apply for grants. 
• Build text sets - Try to build sets that get at deeper issues within topics.  Include videos, and print articles.
• Get a lot o high quality, print rich journals.  Examples include things like "junior scholastic," and "national geographic."  You can get a teachers subscription to most of these.
• Send a letter home asking parents to donate magazines and books
• Access digital recourses - There are many magazine online subscriptions as well as informational video websites like PBS or Discovery.
• Letter writing- try writing to a publisher asking if they have any extra copies of books.

2. Infuse more information reading into content area classes
Try and vary your sequence of units with your other grade level teachers so that you can rotate the materials. 

3. Match your readers to nonfiction texts

• Ask students to read a nonfiction text out loud to you.  Take notes about their fluency, accuracy, and comprehension. 
• Expect that your students will be far less experienced with expository text.  If you are having a hard time decided what level to put them at, move them to expository books that are one level easier than the fiction books they are reading

4. Move students up levels of text difficulty
Have a plan for when each of your readers needs to be reassessed.  The process for this should be no big deal, so that you can do it on a regular basis and quickly.  You will just need to ask the students to try and read a text that is just a level higher then where they are currently at.