Unlocking Expository Text
Teaching American History
In Miami-Dade County
December 14, 2012
Fran Macko, Ph.D.
fmacko@aihe.info
Framing the Session
• Why are history texts
often difficult for
students to comprehend?
• What skills and
strategies do students
need to become expert
readers of history?
• What can history
teachers do to help
struggling readers in
their classrooms?
What factors affect the
readability of history texts?
• Lack of prior knowledge
• Unfamiliar text
structure or schema
• Difficulty identifying
important material from
less important material
• Academic vocabulary and
abstract concepts (“isms”)
• Level of analysis and
synthesis
• Role of visuals, such as
maps, graphs and charts,
as sources of information
Informational Text and the Common Core
• The Common Core State
Standards require
students to read,
comprehend and analyze
increasingly complex
informational text.
• 70% of high school
reading will be
informational text.
• Informational text makes
up 90% of adult reading.
Why do students struggle with informational
text?
• Yet, students in elementary school spend an average
of 4 minutes per day with informational text.
• As a result, students are most familiar with narrative
text, and are unprepared to be effective readers of
informational text.
• Students need to know how informational texts work,
how to prepare to read them, and what to do once they
begin reading.
• The strategies for reading informational text are often
not modeled for students.
• How do narrative and
informational text
differ?
• Turn and talk with a
colleague.
• What is on your list?
How do narrative and informational text
differ?
• Narrative and
informational text differ in
their organizational
pattern, language and
purpose.
• How do narrative and
informational text differ in
their organization al
pattern, language and
purpose?
• Turn and talk with a
colleague and generate a
Organizational Structure
• Narrative text typically
follows one structure or
story grammar.
• Narrative texts have a
beginning, middle and end
and are frequently
chronological.
• Narrative text includes
such elements as theme,
plot, conflict, resolution,
characters and setting.
• Informational text
reflects a variety of
structures or
organizational patterns:
definition, cause-effect,
sequence, categorization,
comparison/contrast,
enumeration, process,
problem-solution, and
description.
The Seven Organizational Patterns of
Informational Text
• 1 - Chronological sequence organizes information
in the time sequence that the events occurred.
• 2- Compare and Contrast organizes information
about two or more topics in terms of their similarities
and differences.
• 3 - Concept/ Definition organizes information by
beginning with a generalized idea or abstraction and
then delineating its characteristics or attributes.
• 4 - Description organizes information around the
characteristics of a specific person, place or event and
does not reflect a particular order.
• 5 -Episode organizes a large body of information
around specific times, places, people or sequence of
events.
• 6 - Generalization/ Principle organizes information
into general statements with supporting examples.
• 7 - Process/ Cause and Effect organizes information
into a series of steps leading to a specific product, or
into a causal sequence that leads to a specific outcome.
• All seven patterns can be found in informational text.
Some texts reflect more than one organizational
pattern.
Purpose
• The main purpose of
narrative text is to tell a
story.
• Students read narrative
text for enjoyment, to
analyze story grammar,
and appreciate the
author’s writing style.
• The purpose of
informational text is to
inform or describe.
• Informational text often
reflects research on a
topic.
• Students read
informational text to gain
factual information,
identify main ideas and
trends, and analyze
divergent viewpoints on a
Language
• The language of narrative
text is often personal and
informal.
• Narrative texts uses
dialogue and more
emotional language.
Language
• The language of
informational text is
often formal.
• Informational text uses
technical terms and
academic vocabulary..
Narrative and Expository Text
A Comparison
Narrative
Reader’s Purpose
•
•
•
•
•
•
Enjoyment
Interpret character
Appreciate style
Analyze plot
Identify story grammar
Critically evaluate
Informational
Reader’s Purpose
•
•
•
•
•
•
Identify main ideas
Determine trends
Consider implications
Identify viewpoints
Interpret visuals
Critically evaluate
Narrative
Typical Language
•
•
•
•
•
Personal and informal
Diverse vocabulary
Dialogue
Expressive and emotive
Action, humor and style
Informational
Typical Language
• Formal prose
• Descriptive
• Technical terms and
concept words
• Visual supports
Narrative
Typical Organization
• Narrative (tells a story)
• Genre characteristics
(novel, short story, play,
poem)
• Story grammar (setting,
character, plot, climax,
resolution)
Informational
Typical Organization
• Structured (sub-headings
and case studies)
• Maps, charts and pictures
• Main ideas and details
• Chronological sequence
• Cause and effect
So…how can we help students unlock
informational text structure?
• Understanding how a piece of text is organized helps students
make sense of their reading.
• Each organizational structure presents distinct features and
suggests questions that effective readers consider before, during
and after reading.
• Understanding the features and elements of text supports
students in their ability to navigate through the text and
increases their understanding of the relationship between the
concepts presented and the structure of the text.
• The more opportunities students have to discover and become
familiar with the features of informational text, the greater their
ability to become effective readers.
Comparing Narrative and Informational
Text Structure
• Select two passages on the same historical topic: one
narrative and one informational.
•
Have students read each passage and consider a set
of questions based on the three elements of text
structure:
• Purpose: Why did the author write this passage?
• Vocabulary: What kinds of vocabulary/language does the
author use?
• Structure: How is the text organized?
Modeling the Strategy
Modeling the Strategy:
Narrative Text
• Read the excerpt from
Across Five Aprils.
• Answer each of the
following questions:
• Purpose: Why did the
author write this piece?
• Vocabulary: What kinds
of vocabulary/language
does the author use?
• Structure: How is the
text organized?
Checking for Understanding
• Purpose: Why did the
author write this piece?
– To tell the story of the
Creighton family
– To tell the story through
Jethro’s eyes
– To introduce us to the
members of the family
– To describe the way the
family lived
– To explain the impact of
the war on the family
• Vocabulary: What
kinds of vocabulary
words or language does
the author use?
– Dialogue
– Words that made us feel
sad
– Words that made us
understand the emotions
of the characters
– Some regional language
• Structure: How is the
piece organized?
– It tells a story
– It has a beginning, middle
and end
– It has characters, setting
and plot
– It has a conflict that is
resolved
Modeling the Strategy: Informational Text
• Read excerpt from: “The
Mudsill Theory”, James
Henry Hammond, 1858.
• Answer each of the
following questions:
• Purpose: Why did the
author write this piece?
• Vocabulary: What kinds
of vocabulary/language
does the author use?
• Structure: How is the
text organized? What cue
words indicate the
pattern?
Checking for Understanding
• Purpose: Why did the
author write this piece?
– To give a rationale for
slavery.
– To argue for the
admission of Kansas as a
slave state.
– To compare the working
conditions of poor
Northerners with
Southern slaves.
• What challenges would
students encounter
with the purpose?
• Vocabulary: What
kinds of vocabulary
words or language did
the author use?
– Words you find in a
textbook
– Foreign words
– Hard words
• What challenges would
students encounter
with the language?
• Structure: How is the
piece organized?
– It has paragraphs
– It has quotations
– It has a main idea and
supporting details
• What is the main
organizational
pattern?
• What challenges would
students encounter
with the structure?
Comparing Narrative and Informational Text
• What themes/ ideas/ concepts do both pieces share?
• How does the author’s choice of language and
organizational structure support his/her purpose?
• How can the comparison of narrative and expository text
support student understanding of events in history?
• Turn and talk with a partner.
Bridging the Gap:
Historical Fiction and Picture Books
• Historical fiction and
quality content picture
books combine the
elements of narrative and
informational text.
• Each can be used to
support students in
understanding the
differences between
narrative and
informational text.
Adapting Unlocking Informational Text
Structure to Your Classroom
• How might you use the
strategy of comparing
narrative and
informational text in
your social studies
classroom?
• What adaptations to the
strategy might you
make?
Next Steps
• Depending on the goal of the reading, teachers can
help students better understand how expository texts
work and read them more effectively by teaching them
how to:
– identify the text elements of a paragraph.
– recognize the transitional words that signal important
information or a shift in focus.
– establish the organizational pattern--e.g., cause-effect,
definition, persuasion
– organize the information within informational text into
an outline for subsequent analysis.
– use available
information such as
subheadings to orient
and focus their reading.
– identify the main ideas
throughout the text.
– develop their own
questions and apply
them to the text.
– take effective notes for
subsequent discussions
or writing assignments.
Final Thoughts
• Understanding how a
piece of text is organized
helps students make sense
of their reading.
• Students need explicit
instruction in
understanding the
differences in purpose,
vocabulary and structure
between narrative and
expository text.
• Understanding the features and elements of text
supports students in their ability to navigate through
the text and increases their understanding of the
relationship between the concepts presented and the
structure of the text.
• The more opportunities students have to discover and
become familiar with the features of informational
text, the greater their ability to become effective
readers of history.