informational text strategies for student success
TRANSCRIPT
Informational Text
Strategies for Student Success
CHOOSING NARRATIVE NONFICTION BOOKS
Think about what you know about the subject you will
read about and set a purpose for reading the chapter or text.
Use text features to preview and navigate the text. Use primary-source documents to help you learn about
firsthand accounts of an event. Organize information by creating your own text features if
the text does not contain ones you can use to help you comprehend the text.
Workshop Purpose: Strategies to Help You Comprehend Informational Text
Become detectives when reading an informational text by
previewing text features and “reading” primary-source documents.
Remember to ask lots of questions as you read your text. Write down your questions so you can investigate how to find the answers.
Get excited about reading informational texts.
Workshop Purpose
“Although students may continue to find fiction appealing, nonfiction doesn't have to be boring. On the contrary, allowing students to explore and pursue their interests within a broad array of informational texts can help them to see that the real world can often be just as surprising and intriguing as make-believe.”
– “Research Says Nonfiction Reading Promotes Student Success,” Educational Leadership, January 2013, Volume 70
Informational Text/Narrative Nonfiction
“Primary sources engage students in active learning. By drawing their own conclusions from primary sources, students construct meaning and direct their own learning. Students of any age find primary sources appealing because they are tangible and real.”
– “Engaging Students with Primary Sources,”Smithsonian National Museum of American History
Informational Text/Narrative Nonfiction
“Research shows that the KWL strategy not only helps students retain what they have read, but also helps them make connections among various information categories (Hall and Strangman, 2009). Research has also indicated that an important part of learning is being able to make connections between prior knowledge and new knowledge—thus constructing meaning—and that KWL does a good job helping students accomplish this (Bridwell et. al., 1997). “
– “Not Afraid to Learn,” Kelsey Gallant
Informational Text/Narrative Nonfiction
Reading nonfiction is different than reading fiction. Today we will look at the importance of primary-source
documents. How well students read fiction (stories) does not predict
their ability to read informational texts.
Informational Text/Narrative Nonfiction
The style of writing differs in informational text vs.
fictional stories.
Informational materials can contain technical vocabulary and difficult concepts.
Information is presented in a compact fashion; each chapter can contain a great amount of information.
Challenges
A Firsthand Account From the Past
Think about what you know about the topic BEFORE you
begin reading the selected text. Set a purpose for your reading.
Reading Strategies for Informational Text Materials
What I know about President Lincoln’s assassination….
What I want to know/find out about his assassination…
What I learned….
What Do I Know?
Take the time to look up new vocabulary words to help
you understand what you are reading. Replace unfamiliar words with words you can understand to help you read the book or article.
Reading Strategies for Informational Text Materials
Vocabulary
Look for words you do not know as you read the text. Use the glossary or a dictionary to replace the word with one
you know. Here are some words that you need to know when reading
this book: co-conspirator, conspirator, assassinate, accomplice, avenge, sympathizer.
Use the chapter headings, bibliography, index, or glossary
(text features) when available to help you locate information. If your text is missing some key text features, make up your own to help you understand the text.
Reading Strategies for Informational Text Materials
“Reading” images: Previewing a chapter or an
informational text before reading the text.
Reading Strategies for Informational Text Materials
Who: President Abraham Lincoln
• Republican elected as president in 1861 and reelected in 1865.
• Picture taken when president first took office.
What do you see?
18651861
Who: John Wilkes Booth, Actor
Where, When, and How: Ford’s Theatre, Washington, D.C.
Plan Was To Murder Others As Well
Cabinet Member Seward and his daughter
Vice President Johnson
Look at the photos/ pictures taken from the book Chasing
Lincoln’s Killer. Find three photographs or pictures you would like to use
for this activity. Note the pages where you found the photo/picture for further reference.
You and your partner will describe everything you see in each picture. Write down the most interesting discoveries you make.
Ask the following questions.
Reading Images
What can tell about the object, information, or person
you see in the picture? Why do you think this photo was taken or the picture was
printed? How will looking at this picture help you as you read
about this historic event?
Reading Images
Reading Images
Each partner pair should choose one of the pictures/ photos to share with tablemates.
Discuss what you have learned about this photo. Give the page number of the photo so that everyone at your table can see what you are talking about.
How will looking over these documents before you read the book help students better understand the book’s content?
Cartoons Can Be Great Sources of Information
Cartoons Can Be Primary Sources of Information
Reading Primary-source Documents
Who What Where When Why How
What Did You Detect from These Two Sources?
Let’s Review
March 4, 1865 Lincoln gives his second inaugural address. John Wilkes Booth is in the crowd listening to his speech.
April 14, 1865 Booth shoots President Lincoln at 10:15 p.m. and escapes by jumping from the theater box.
April 15, 1865 President Lincoln dies from his wound. He was 56 years old. Booth goes to Dr. Mudd’s home for treatment of his broken leg.
April 17, 1865 Some of Booth’s co-conspirators are arrested.
April 20, 1865 Booth and David Herald have been hiding for five days; now they row across the river and end up in Maryland again.
April 21, 1865 Over the course of 12 days, a nine-car funeral train carries Lincoln’s body close to 1,700 miles from Washington to Springfield, Ill.
April 26, 1865 Booth and Herold are caught at the Garrett farm. Booth is shot and dies from his wound..
May 4, 1865 President Lincoln is laid to rest at the Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield.
May 12, 1865 Booth’s co-conspirators are tried by a military tribunal.
July 7, 1865 Four of the conspirators are hanged. The rest are put in prison.
Make A Timeline of Events
What I know about President Lincoln’s assassination . . .
What I want to learn about his assassination …
What I learned . . .
What Have You Learned?
Use Multiple Sources of Information to Investigate
John Wilkes Booth’s Diary
Route of the Assassins
After Lincoln was Shot The Reward for the Killers
Primary-source Photographs/Documents
Under His Hat: Discovering Lincoln’s Story From Primary Sources
Additional Activities
Read the prologue to set the stage for reading Chasing Lincoln’s Killer. Have each partner pair choose one statement from the prologue and discuss it with their tablemates.
Use the map found at the end of Chasing Lincoln’s Killer and place the dates Wilkes, Herold, and others traveled to each place.
Look for multiple references to discover different opinions authors have about what happened.
Wrote down what we already knew about the topic and
set a purpose for reading the text or chapter Asked “who,” “what,” “when,” “where,” “why,” and “how”
questions while we previewed the text Read images or documents to gain additional knowledge
about our topic Reviewed a timeline of events and developed our own
text features. Recognized the importance of investigating multiple
sources
What Strategies Did We Use to Help Us Learn?
1. Begin using the reading strategies we practiced today to
become comfortable reading an informational text.2. Add in additional reading strategies as you develop your
investigating techniques and become a good detective.
Things You Can Do at Home
Bringing It Back To Your Campus
Sending the “Right” Invitation
• What is the right invitation?• What are ways to get the attention of
parents/guardians?• What has worked well in the past to get families to
attend an event?
Finding the Right Book
School or Public Library
Plan to Hold a Family Workshop During Book Fair Week
Help Families Get Excited About Books
How To Get Started
Materials You Can Use
Thank You for Attending!