Chapter 15: Informational Reading

1. Chapter 15: Informational Reading Renée Walker

2. What Informational Reading • Informational text is the most common type of text students will encounter in content area classes. • Informational text is the most common format of text books, making the teaching of informational text structures and reading strategies important for all content area teachers. “The priority of instructing for reading comprehension must be balanced with the priority of teaching the content area itself.” - RRSG 2002

3. What Text Structure • There are five main types of informational text structure. • Teaching students common types of text structure will allow them to gain more meaning from their content area reading. • Each type of text structure can easily be adapted to a graphic organizer. • References: • Types of text structure: pg. 683 • Graphic organizers: pgs. 684-685 • Comprehension Strategies: 688-694

4. What Types of Text Structure • Description • Compare-Contrast • Cause-Effect • Problem/Solution • Time Order (Sequence)

5. What Comprehension • It is important for students have the skills to monitor their comprehension while reading informational text. • There are many comprehension monitoring strategies students can be taught and utilize: • Connecting World Knowledge • Predicting • Asking/Answering Questions • Constructing Mental Images • Summarizing

6. Why Informational Reading “As students progress through school…Informational text increasingly becomes the source of students’ new knowledge and information.” - Teaching Reading Sourcebook, pg. 698

7. When Informational Reading • Informational text can be taught starting in the primary grades. It is important to balance comprehension strategies with accessing the content of the passage. • Assessment of comprehension should be multifaceted, no one test can measure a student’s comprehension. • If students are missing particular strategies they can be individually taught as discovered.

8. How Informational Reading • There are many research based instructional strategies to effectively teach informational text and comprehension strategies to students of all ages. • Five in particular are outlined in the course text: • QAR (Question Answer Relationships) • Strategies for Summarizing • CSR (Collaborative Strategic Reading) • QtA (Questioning the Author) • CORI (Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction

9. How QAR • QAR: Question Answer Relationships • There are four question answer relationships students can be taught to recognize and use to increase their comprehension: • In My Head: • On My Own – the answer is based on student knowledge • Author and Me – the answer is a combination of student knowledge and knowledge gained from the text. • In the Text: • Right There – the answer located in one portion of the text • Think and Search – the answer must be piece together throughout the text

10. How Summarizing • Summarizing requires many thinking processes, including finding main ideas, condensing information, and writing. • There are two strategies for teaching summarizing: • Rule-Based Summary Strategy • A four step process resulting in a topic sentence. • Paragraph Shrinking • A three step process resulting in a 10 word summary statement

11. How CSR • Collaborative Strategic Reading integrates collaborative learning and comprehension. • Students engage in comprehension building before, during, and after reading. Spotlight CSR Strategy: “CLICK AND CLUNK” Things that click: What students understand in their reading Things that clunk: Things students do not understand in their reading but are important for comprehension. Students can use past strategies to determine meanings of words that “clunk.”

12. How QtA • Questioning the Author is discussion based. The teacher leads discussion of texts by asking questions of students. • Goals for a QtA lesson: • Identify areas in the text that may pose obstacles to comprehension. • Break text at logical points, pause to have discussions. • Ask teacher guided questions to enhance comprehension. • Tools for developing a QtA lesson plan and managing a discussion are on pgs. 734-735.

13. How CORI • Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction is ideal for content area teachers that wish to imbed reading instruction into their curriculum, especially social science and science teachers. • While CORI strategies may not appear much different than common strategies already discussed, the integrated model to increase student motivation can be ideal for students in all content areas (pg. 741).

14. Conclusion Informational Reading • Reading informational text is appropriate for all students from the primary grades through high school. Students should have explicit instruction in text structure and comprehension strategies. There are a variety of teaching models available for teachers to integrate this type of instruction in all content areas.