Understanding Informational Text

Ohio’s New Learning Standards for ELA/Literacy drawing from the Common Core State Standards for ELA/Literacy stress the importance of all K-12 students having increased access to informational texts and writing in response to reading informational texts. In last month’s issue of Educational Leadership, Nancy Frey and Douglas Fisher (San Diego State University) wrote an article which suggested a number of strategies to help students master informational texts – that is, materials that teach about the physical, biological, or social world. Frey and Fisher don’t include literary nonfiction (biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs) and hybrid texts (for example, The Magic School Bus series) because these have narrative structures that make them more like fiction.

What makes informational texts difficult for so many students? Unfamiliar vocabulary, different grammatical structure, and densely packed content. “Teachers need to help students find access points that enable them to gain entry to complex informational text and then trek their way through to a successful conclusion,” say Frey and Fisher. Their suggestions:

            • Establishing purpose – Teachers must provide some kind of “hook” that increases motivation so students begin reading with a clear idea of what to expect. Teachers should also alert students to tricky parts and encourage them to use illustrations and graphics to understand the content.

            • Close reading – “Close reading requires a skilled teacher who can resist the urge to tell students the correct answer at the first sign of confusion,” say Frey and Fisher. “In fact, struggle is an essential part of the learning process; it provides an authentic reason for rereading and discussing the text.” This means scrutinizing a text, identifying central ideas and key details, investigating vocabulary and structure, and putting it all together to get the meaning. Students should annotate, answer text-dependent questions, and develop the habit of rereading.

            • Collaborative conversations – Students need to interact with each other using concepts and academic language. Book clubs, reciprocal teaching, and Socratic seminars are good formats for placing the text at the center of rigorous discussions.

            • Wide reading – “In the push to increase the complexity of the informational texts that students read, there is a risk that students will actually read less,” say Frey and Fisher. “Complex texts take time to understand, and close reading slows students down as they reread and annotate.” Teachers need to give students time every day to read high-quality, appealing texts in class, as well as encouraging them to read outside of school. Frey and Fisher believe students shouldn’t be required to write logs and reports on this kind of reading, but instead engage in ungraded follow-up activities to share their ideas.

To better assist with the implementation and understanding of Informational Texts I have compiled some instructional resources for you. 

Guiding Questions for Using Informational Text (based on the ELA/Literacy Instructional Practice Guides from Achievethecore):

• How does the unit allow students to persist in efforts to seek evidence for their responses by returning to the info text when discussing or collaborating?
• What opportunities are provided for students to build on each other's observations or insights around a piece of informational text - including charts, maps, primary docs etc.?
• What tools/strategies will students be able to use to help them gain content knowledge from informational text?
• How are questions and tasks designed to help students build academic vocabulary (content or domain specific vocabulary and syntax)?
• How are questions and tasks designed to require students to use details from the text to demonstrate understanding and support their ideas about the text?
• What factors have been considered to make sure the text used is at or above the complexity expected for the grade level?

Instructional Resources:

• Guide for Writing Text Based Questions
• InfoOhio-Informational Text Resource Kit
• Readworks.org- This website provides K-9 lexiled reading passages and supporting text dependent questions aligned to the ELA Common Core State Standards 
• Close Reading Strategies with Informational Text-Classroom Video 
• Increasing ELL Student Reading Comprehension with Non-Fiction Text-Article
• Closing in on Close Reading- ASCD Article
• Exemplars of Close Reading Lessons