Reading Standards for Informational Text
This chapter offered a plethora of
information on reading informational texts. It stated, “Many teachers and
school districts have built their reading instruction with fiction as the center,
giving informational reading short shrift.” How true is this for classrooms
across the United States? Across the world?
The standards for informational text reading are broken into four groups:
1. Key Ideas and Details
2. Craft and Structure
3. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
4. Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity
According to the reading in Chapter 3,
there are four guidelines that can help when designing the instruction for
creating competent reading of informational text. One is to “always use more than
a single text with students.” You can provide supplemental informational
readings in addition to your novel or textbook story. This allows the students
to examine the various texts and come up with similarities and differences in
the texts.
A second guideline is to “help students identify some of the most
commonly used text organizational patterns in informational materials.” For
this guideline, one word resonates in my head: MODEL. It is imperative that
teachers model for the students what their expectations are. If we do not model
for them, then they have no idea of how to find what is needed. Opportunities for looking at different organizational patterns in text are needed for students to become deeper thinkers while reading. Encouraging teachers provide these opportunities and the support needed to help students reach their potential.
Here is an example given in the text of the progression of skills for grades 3 through 5 for RI.3.5, RI.4.5, and RI.5.5 (Craft and Structure):
3rd Grade: Use text features and search tools (e.g., key words, sidebars, hyperlinks) to locate information relevant to a given topic efficiently
4th Grade: Describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text
5th Grade: Describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text
A third
guideline is “students need to take an active role in thinking about the text
ideas as they read.” For classrooms that have not incorporated a lot of
informational texts, this may take a little longer to master. Students need to
be taught how to ask and answer questions to demonstrate their understanding of
a text. Thinking deeply about texts is a must in CCSS classrooms.
A fourth
guideline is “when reading informational texts, remember that these are
authored just as pieces of fiction are, and attention to the author and the
quality of the written text can help students understand the role of authorship
and writing across genres.”
Using the CCSS throughout the school day will be easier for teachers who have developed units using themes from science and social studies. I love the example the author gives of Ms. Scalin's classroom integrated unit on butterflies. When you read how someone else has been successful in the classroom, it generates more ideas to use and gives examples of how to design your own units. Because science and social studies lends themselves to informational reading, it makes sense to build units around topics that fit into your grade level.
I have included three discussion questions in the comments section below. Please add your thoughts to the questions. If you have other questions, please feel free to add them as a separate comment.
If you missed Chapter 1, CLICK HERE. If you missed the post about Chapter 2, CLICK HERE.
