Learning to Read and Reading to Learn with Informational Text

Dr. Rebecca C. FaulknerUniversity of South Carolina Upstate

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Reading and Writing: Tools for Learning

• Biology is not plants and animals.

• History is not events.• Astronomy is not

planets and stars.

Instead…

They are all languages which describe things.

Postman, 1979

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Why Informational Text Reading?

• The study of content requires the study of vocabulary

• Literacy requirements increase from one grade level to the next

• Teaching literacy during just one part of the day is not enough to meet the changing societal needs

• Different subject matters require different literacy skills

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Literacy Demands Have Changed

• In World War II, the manual for repairing fighter planes was seven (7) pages long.

• In 2008, the manual for repairing fighter planes is seven thousand (7000) pages long.

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Additional Studies

• The majority of reading and writing that adults do is nonfiction.– Barnes and Noble determined that the overwhelming

majority of text being read by males, ages 0-100 is nonfiction

• 96% of sites on the web contain nonfiction, informational text (Kamil & Lane, 1998)

• 44 million American adults cannot extract a single piece of information from nonfiction text if any inference or background knowledge is required (Levy, 1993)

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More Facts

• Because of this lack of background knowledge, low income and minority children are even more likely to struggle with informational text (Applebee, Langer, Mullis, Latham and Gentile, 1994)

• NAEP scores indicate a slump in fourth grade reading scores and that is, in part, explained by problems with informational text (Chall, Jacobs and Baldwin, 1990)

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Supportive Classroom Environments

• Print-rich• Numerous displays of student work• Multiple reading and writing materials readily

available• Authentic materials• Active participation• Flexible groupings• Appropriate challenges• Mutual respect

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Types of Informational or Expository Text

• Cause-effect• Comparison-contrast• Enumeration• Sequence• Problem-solution

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Cause and Effect

• The supporting details give the causes of a main idea or the supporting details are the results produced by the main idea.

• Because of…• As a result of…• In order to…• May be due to…• Effects of…• Therefore…• Consequently…• For this reason…• If…then• Thus…Maddox, 2005

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Comparison/Contrast

• The supporting details of two or more main ideas indicate how those concepts are similar or different.

• Different from…• Same as…• Similar to…• As opposed to…• Instead of…• Although…• However…• Compared with…• As well as…• Either…or…Maddox, 2005

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Enumeration

• A major idea is supported by a list of details or examples.

• For instance…• For Example…• Such as…• To illustrate…• Most important…• In addition…• Another…• Furthermore…• First…• Second…Maddox, 2005

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Sequence

• A main idea is supported by details that must be in a particular sequence.

• First…• Next…• Then…• Initially…• Before…• After…• When…• Finally…• Preceding…• Following…Maddox, 2005

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Problem-Solution

• A problem is presented that requires an action to bring about a solution.

• Who…• What…• Action…• Solve…• Result..

Maddox, 2005

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Organizational Features

• Headings• Font• Sidebars• Borders• Backgrounds

• Captions

• Labels A Tornado

• Diagrams, charts, graphs, tables

• Did you know facts• Photographs and

illustrations

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Comprehension Strategies for Informational Text

• Making Connections

• Predicting

• Grouping and Categorizing

• Drawing Conclusions

• Imaging

• Self-monitoring

• Evaluating

• Applying

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Building Comprehension Strategies

• Assess Background Knowledge– Cloze Procedure*– KWL– Vocabulary Clusters

• Graphic Organizers• Semantic Mapping*• Possible Sentences*• ReQuest*• Read To*• Semantic Webbing• SQ3R*• QAR*• Grand Conversations*

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Cloze Procedure

Some animals are a big help to other animals. One animal that helps others is the wrasse. The ____ is a fish about four inches long. He is ____ brightly colored. He lives in the South Pacific Ocean. ____is like a doctor to other fish.His office ___ in the rocks called reefs. Many fish come to _____ doctor for help. These fish have animals that live ____their bodies. They would like to have them taken ____. The wrasse eats these tiny animals. He also uses ___ teeth to clean wounds. He helps the fish to get better.

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Possible Sentences

Steps1. List 10-15 terms defined

in the context.2. Students select two

words and either dictate or write them in a sentence.

3. Teacher writes several of the sentences on the board.

4. Students search the text for accuracy and rewrite sentences when necessary

Climate, constant, vibrating, contentment, domestic, nestlings, haunts, burrows, territory, chortle

1. The climate is cold.2. The noise is constant.3. Domestic animals are

wild.4. A chortle is a laugh.5. A witch haunts the

house.

From Motherlove by Virginia Kroll

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ReQuest

1. Both the teacher and student read the first sentence of the text silently

2. The teacher closes her book and allows the children to question her/him about the text. The teacher asks the students to clarify unclear questions.

3. Next the students close their books and the teacher asks them questions

4. Follow this procedure until you feel that the students have enough information to make a prediction about the text. If the prediction can be justified the students continue on reading silently. If not, continue with the question exchange.

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Read to…

• Find out questions– Clearly stated in the book

• Figure out questions– Those “read between the line types of

information”

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Semantic Mapping

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SQ3R

• Survey

• Question

• Read

• Retell

• Review

• Look at titles, headings, visual aids, summaries

• Formulate questions based on preview

• Use the questions as a guide while you read

• Retell the information either in partners, small groups or large groups

• Go over and answer the original questions

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QAR

Question-Answer-Relationships1. Right There Questions

In the book and easy to find2. Think and Search Questions

In the book but need to search for it3. Author and Me Questions

Not in the bookText to Self

4. On My Own QuestionsNot in the bookThink of these on my own

Tuffy Raphael

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Grand Conversations

• How to Think – QAR

• Checking for Understanding– Monitor/Feedback/Assess

• The “Oprah” Chat– Adult Talk

Sharon Arthur Moore

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Text Walk• Text Support• 5-Finger Strategies• 1. Read the title.• Do I know anything about it?• 2.Read the subtitles.• What do I think the connection is

between• this and the title?• 3.Look at words that are bolded and• italicized.• What are the connections?• 4.Take a picture walk through the

text.• What connections can I make?• 5.Read the first and last paragraphs.• Does this help me with the big

picture?

cherylsigmon.com

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Types of Reading Activities

• Guided Reading– Book Clubs– Literature Focus

Groups– Literature Circles

• Shared Reading– Readers Theater

• Read Alouds

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Shared Reading Activity

A Roaring ReturnGrizzly bears have made a big, hairy comeback. A

government study found that about 765 grizzlies live in Montana. This is more than double the number scientists expected to find. The Montana grizzlies have been threatened since 1975.

The study lasted five years. Researchers gathered 34,000 samples of the bears' hair. They found it on trees the bears rubbed against. The samples told researchers a lot about the bears' numbers and health. Now it seems the bears are out of the woods.

A Time for Kids. com

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Reader’s Theater• http://www.aaronshep.com/stories

• Story copyright © 2001 Aaron Shepard. Script copyright © 2003 Aaron Shepard. Scripts in this series are free and may be copied, shared, and performed for any noncommercial purpose, except they may not be posted online without permission.

• PREVIEW: On a Christmas Eve of World War I, British and German soldiers lay down their weapons to celebrate the holiday together.

• GENRE: Historical fiction CULTURE: European (World War I) THEME: War and peace READERS: 4 READER AGES: 11 and up LENGTH: 12 minutes ROLES: Soldiers 1–4

• NOTES: The Christmas Truce of 1914 is one of the most remarkable incidents of World War I and perhaps of all military history. Starting in some places on Christmas Eve and in others on Christmas Day, the truce covered as much as two-thirds of the British-German front, with thousands of soldiers taking part. Perhaps most remarkably, it grew out of no single initiative but sprang up in each place spontaneously and independently. Nearly everything described here is drawn from first-hand accounts in letters and diaries of the time. Britishisms include using Nowell instead of Noël, and football instead of soccer. For best effect, place SOLDIERS in numerical order, as seen from the audience

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Spell It/Learn It/Write It

magnificent, Hawaiian, incessant, magma, seamount

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Spell It/Learn It/Write It

If you asked a hundred people where to find the most magnificent and tranquil tropical paradise on earth, it is a good bet that many would name the Hawaiian Islands. Few of them, however, would realize the extent to which the islands are a product of the pure, raw violence of nature. Incessant volcanic activity over a period of hundreds of thousands of years actually created the islands where no land had been before. A hot spot of magma (fluid rock material) thrust lava through the ocean floor to create a seamount, an undersea volcano. As the lava was cooled by the ocean water, it formed a massive mountain whose tip finally emerged from the sea. Mauna Loa, the most famous of the four active volcanoes in the Hawaiian chain, is really the world’s highest mountain. If measured from the ocean floor to its summit, it towers 56,000 feet, dwarfing its more renowned brother, Mount Everest.

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For the Youngest Learners

• About Me Books• Environmental Print• Simple Informational

Books• ABC Books• Predictable Charts

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Pulling it All Together

• Storyboards• Souvenirs• Paper Bag Reports• Quilts• Word Maps• Readers Theater• Collages

Sharon Arthur Moore

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Resources• Aillaud, C. L. (2005). Recess at 20 below. Anchorage, AL: Alaska

Northwest Books.• Applegate, M. D., et. al. (2008). The critical reading inventory:

Assessing students’ reading and thinking. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

• cherylsigmon.com• Click books.• Dawn Publications. Nevada City, CA.• hubbardscupboard.org • Kalman, B. (2000). What is a community? From A to Z. New York:

Crabtree Publishing Co.• Maddox, Rita. rmaddox@edzone.net• Moore, D. W., et. al. (1998). Developing readers & writers in the

content areas K-12. New York: Longman.• Moore, S. A. (2004). Conversations in four-blocks classrooms.

Greensboro, NC: Carson-Dellosa.

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Resources Continued• Pike, K., Mumper, J. (2004). Making nonfiction and other

informational texts come alive. Boston: Pearson.• Junkel, S., et. al. Learning U. S. geography with the great

mail race. Social Studies and the Young Learner, v. 20, n. 2, November/December, 2007, pp. 19-23.

• Read write think. reading.org.• robertsabuda.com • Tompkins, G. E. (2004). Literacy for the 21st century: Teaching

reading and writing in grades 4 through 8. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson

• Yellin, D., et. al. (2008). Integrating the language arts. Scottsdale,AZ: Holcomb Hathaway Publishers.