Informational Text
Lessons
A - C
Lesson A: What is informational text?
Lesson B: Read informational text.
Lesson C: Write informational text.
What is informational text?
Teacher Preparation
Teacher researches and studies informational text.
http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/classmags/files/Nell_duke_May04.pdf
Collect a variety of informational texts that will be used by students throughout the unit, including nonfictional books, articles, biographies and autobiographies, newspapers, magazines, how-to books, reviews, charts, internet articles, menus, signs, and guides. Set up stations to put different types of informational texts for student exploration. The teacher will need to gather a sampling of different types of informational text in separate containers for group exploration. The teacher will also need to create a list of informational text features such as the ones listed in key vocabulary/concepts to help guide the discussion and assess student learning.
Materials Needed
Informational text (internet articles, magazines, newspapers, nonfictional books, articles, biographies and autobiographies, how-to books, reviews, charts, menus, signs, and guides).
Suggested Resources
http://www.kidsknowit.com/
http://www.bestedsites.com/
http://www.theteachersguide.com/interactivesites.html
http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/
http://www.knowitall.org/
A variety of available informational text gathered from restaurants, the library, other teachers, and home.
Teaching Lesson Introduction to the lesson
The teacher gathers students together to find out what they know about informational text. She records their insights on a chart and uses it to lead a discussion and generate a definition of informational text. She then sends them in groups of three or four to explore different forms of informational text at separate stations. The stations will be stocked with tubs of various types of informational text. Students will record characteristics they notice in writing. The class will come back together to report their findings and add to the class chart
Assessing the Lesson Formative Assessment and Summative Assessment
Formative assessment is achieved through checklists the teacher creates with a list of student names and columns labeled participation, accurate listing of informational text features. Classroom observations during whole group and learning station work will aid in creating small groups for additional instruction
Extending the Learning
For differentiation and enrichment, a variety of reading levels and topics of interest will be in learning stations and text selected for exploration. For intervention, the teacher will provide increased support for students struggling with informational text.
Read informational text
Teacher Preparation
The teacher will set up various learning stations to address all indicators listed below. Each station will have informational text that supports the focus. Stations need to include the following foci along with informational text emphasis as well as incorporating other indicators:
In one station, students will read informational text and on a graphic organizer, they will identify cause and effect relationships (http://www.educationoasis.com/curriculum/GO_pdf/
causeeffect_tchart.pdf)
In the next station, students will summarize evidence that supports a central idea by reading informational text and completing a summary graphic organizer. (http://www2.scholastic.com/
content/collateral_resources/pdf/r/reading_
bestpractices_vocabulary_sr_allgo.pdf
In a third station, students will read informational text and then analyze the text locating and identifying facts and opinions on a graphic organizer. http://www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer/pdf/factopin.pdf
In a fourth station, the teacher will provide a variety of materials for the creation of informational pieces (for example, postcards, flyers, letters, menus, posters, leaflets, brochures, books, articles) that use language appropriate for the specific audience.
In a fifth station, students will use informational text from the internet to research a topic of interest. Students will record new learning in writing. Students need to properly credit and document the work of others by listing the web address in their writing.
Students will rotate to each station after a teacher-selected period of time and this can occur of multiple days.
Teaching the Lesson
The teacher gathers students together to find out what they know about informational text. She records their insights on a chart and uses it to lead a discussion and generate a definition of informational text. She then sends them in groups of three or four to explore different forms of informational text at separate stations. The stations will be stocked with tubs of various types of informational text. Students will record characteristics they notice in writing. The class will come back together to report their findings and add to the class chart.
Materials Needed
Graphic organizers, informational text, informational text creation materials such as markers, construction paper, blank books, blank postcards, blank brochures, and leaflets.
Suggested Resources
http://www.educationoasis.com/curriculum/GO_pdf/
causeeffect_tchart.pdf
http://www2.scholastic.com/content/collateral_resources/pdf/r/reading_
bestpractices_vocabulary_sr_allgo.pdf
http://www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer/pdf/factopin.pdf
Teaching Lesson Introduction to the lesson
The teacher will gather students together to review previously learned characteristics of informational text. She will then introduce learning stations to students and explain tasks involved in each. Students in groups of 3 to 4 visit each learning station and rotate while the teacher facilitates conversations and learning in groups. If there are extra students left out of the groups or if groups need to be smaller, other students should be reading informational text and recording new learning independently.
Assessing the Lesson Formative Assessment and Summative Assessment
Formative assessments can be done through informal observations, checklists noting elements of informational texts as well as checklists noting whether students participate and complete a task accurately.
Summative assessments are graphic organizers and products created in learning stations.
Write informational text.
Teacher Preparation
The teacher needs to be prepared to model the steps of conducting basic research on a topic of interest through various mini-lessons, examples, demonstrations, etc. She will teach students how to select a topic, narrow it down, think about what they already know about it and choose resources for finding more information
(books, magazines, charts, graphs, diagrams, dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases, thesauri, newspapers, almanacs and non-print sources, such as movies, speakers, interviews and field trips).
She will model this process thinking aloud about how she selected her topic, what she already knows about it, what she wants to find out, and how she will go about learning more (where she will go for information). She should prepare a research process students can follow to collect information, pre-write from that information, take notes, and finally create a piece of informational text in the form of a book complete with specific features contained in informational text.
These features can include a table of contents, captions, photographs, diagrams, glossary, index, bold-faced words, words in italics, sidebars, etc. Details of this process are spelled out in the teaching of the lesson section.
The teacher will need to make research sources available to students to conduct research. He/she will need to gather some type of blank books for final writing pieces
Teaching the Lesson
The teacher will take students through the process of researching topics of interest and writing informational text as well as presenting learned information.
Materials Needed
Blank books, books, magazines, charts, graphs, diagrams, dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlases, thesauri, newspapers, almanacs, internet
Suggested Resources
http://www.kidsknowit.com/
http://www.bestedsites.com/
http://www.theteachersguide.com/interactivesites.html
http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/
http://www.knowitall.org/
A variety of available informational text gathered from restaurants, the library, other teachers, and home.
Teaching Lesson Introduction to the lesson
The teacher will begin Lesson C by modeling for students how she came up with a topic of interest and narrowed the topic by thinking about what she already knew about, what else she wanted to know about it, and thinking of possible sources that would help her learn more. She should chart this map of her thinking with categories that include “topic”, “what I know”, “what I wonder”, and “how I’m going to learn”.
Then students will be invited to create their own maps of thinking in this format in writing. Conferences will ensue as students work on their maps so the teacher can ensure they understand the process and help them get started on their research. Students will work through the process of determining where to gather information, how to collect and record that information, how to put that information in their own words, how to include informational text features, and how to put all information together to create a new piece of informational writing. Each day the teacher will do a mini-lesson reviewing what students know about informational text features and discussing what they are learning through their research. She will model the entire process each day demonstrating things such as: How to take notes paraphrasing information from a resource, How to use those notes to create informational text,
How to use the appropriate text features such as table of contents, captions, photographs, diagrams, glossary, index, bold-faced words, words in italics, sidebars, headings, and sub-headings to serve the author’s purpose, How to write and present information for an intended audience, How to cite sources of information, How to use the internet as a source of information. Each day the teacher will give students time for independent research, writing, conferencing, editing, revising, publishing, etc. This unit of study will take multiple days and need flexibility in planning as students will be in different stages of the writing process throughout. The teacher will need to monitor learning daily through conferencing, small group instruction and one-on-one research help. The study will end when all students have completed their piece of informational text which will be in the form of a book.
This book should have informational text features as listed above that have been explicitly taught by the teacher. The teacher and students can plan together which text features they want to include in their finished product. The rubric can be designed based on this (See Appendix A for an example.
Assessing the Lesson Formative Assessment and Summative Assessment
Formative assessment: The checklist format can be used to monitor student progress with taking notes, paraphrasing information from a resource, Using notes to create informational text, using appropriate text features such as table of contents, captions, photographs, diagrams, glossary, index, bold-faced words, words in italics, sidebars, headings, and sub-headings to serve the author’s purpose, writing and presenting information for an intended audience, citing sources of information, using the internet as a source of information.
Summative assessment: A rubric like the one in Appendix A can be used to evaluate the final written product.
Appendix A
Research Report : Informational TextTeacher Name:
Student Name: ______
CATEGORY / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1
Organization / Information is very organized with well-constructed paragraphs and subheadings. / Information is organized with well-constructed paragraphs. / Information is organized, but paragraphs are not well-constructed. / The information appears to be disorganized. 8)
Quality of Information / Information clearly relates to the main topic. It includes several supporting details and/or examples. / Information clearly relates to the main topic. It provides 1-2 supporting details and/or examples. / Information clearly relates to the main topic. No details and/or examples are given. / Information has little or nothing to do with the main topic.
Diagrams & Illustrations / Diagrams and illustrations are neat, accurate and add to the reader’s understanding of the topic. / Diagrams and illustrations are accurate and add to the reader’s understanding of the topic. / Diagrams and illustrations are neat and accurate and sometimes add to the reader’s understanding of the topic. / Diagrams and illustrations are not accurate OR do not add to the reader’s understanding of the topic.
New Rubric Row / Has 7 to 10 informational text features. / Has 4 to 6 informational text features. / Has 2 to 4 informational text features. / Has 1 or fewer informational text features.
Sources / All sources (information and graphics) are accurately documented in the desired format. / All sources (information and graphics) are accurately documented, but a few are not in the desired format. / All sources (information and graphics) are accurately documented, but many are not in the desired format. / Some sources are not accurately documented.
Appendix A Continued: Examples Rubrics Designed for Students to Complete Nonfictional Tasks
Informational Text Rubric
CATEGORY / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1 / ScoreCharacteristics / Lists four characteristics of informational text. / Lists three characteristics of informational text. / Lists two characteristics of informational text. / Lists one or
no characteristics of informational text.
Explanation of Characteristics / Explains in detail what all four features of an informational text mean. / Explains what three characteristics of an informational text mean. / Explains what two characteristics of an informational text mean. / Explains what one feature of an informational text means or not at all.
Support for Characteristics / Gives an example to support each of the four characteristics of informational text. / Gives an example to support three of the characteristics of informational text. / Gives an example to support two of the characteristics of informational text. / Gives an example to support one of the features of informational text, or doesn’t give any support at all.
Connects personally with text / Connects personally with the text, with responses that extend on the text. / There is some attempt to connect personally with the text. / There is limited attempt to connect personally with the text. / There is no attempt to connect personally with the text.
Conventions / There are few or no errors of spelling, capitalization, and punctuation. Readability is not affected. / There are no more than 3 errors of spelling, capitalization and punctuation. Readability is rarely affected. / There are no more than 4 errors of spelling, capitalization and punctuation. Readability is often affected. / There are more than 6 errors of spelling, capitalization and punctuation. Readability is greatly affected.
Adapted from Rubistar