Southern Nevada Regional
Professional Development
Program
RPDP.net
RPDP Secondary Literacy
Strategies for Reading
Informational Text
Created by Jill M. Leone
Reading Specialist
Copyright © 2006
RPDP Secondary Literacy
We will discuss how to –
• read critically.
• preview informational text.
• ask questions while reading.
• use strategies for reading
informational text.
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What is the first thing you do
when you want information about
something?
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Turn on your computer and
search the Internet?
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Whichever methods you choose,
most of the reading you do
in your lifetime will be
informational “real world” reading.
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What is real world reading?
• Reading for information
• Non-fiction text
• Provides facts and/or
information on a given
topic for a specific purpose
• Helps you stay informed,
up-to-date, and
knowledgeable about
the world around you.
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What is its purpose?
• To provide a reader with facts
and/or ideas.
• Background knowledge is
essential.
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Nevada Film Production Tops
$100 Million for 5th Straight Year
By David McKee, Business Press
For the fifth consecutive year,
revenues from film, TV, and
advertising production in Nevada
topped the $100 million mark. TV
series and specials contributed
$39 million and reality-TV series
$10.3 million. Music-video makers
also dropped $2.8 million in
Nevada last year…
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• Text features & organization important
• Usually read more slowly & carefully
• Facts & details important
• Questions have one best answer
• Difficult to create mental images
• More difficult to remember
• Reader’s purpose different from literary
text
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Essays
Articles
Textbooks
Flyers
Memos
Schedules
Postcards
Horoscopes
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Book & film reviews
Instructions Manuals
Tables of Contents
Autobiographies
Biographies
Editorials
Contracts
Resumes
Informational
text
is nonfiction.
We read
nonfiction
differently from
the way we
read fiction.
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How do we
read
informational
text?
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Read and think
about the title.
Make
connections
to what you
already know.
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There are many different purposes
for reading:
• to learn assigned material
• to complete an assignment
• to follow a set of directions
• for pleasure
• to study for a test
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You don't read
everything for the same
reason or in the same
way or at the same rate.
Each purpose or reason
for reading requires a
different reading
approach.
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Ask yourself these three
questions:
What is the material
about?
What type of material is
this?
Why am I reading this
material?
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Title of Selection:
Type of Text:
Topic:
My purpose for reading:
What I know about this topic:
What I predict:
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Quickly previewing
will give you
information about
the topic.
This makes
reading much
easier.
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•
Titles/subtitles
Facts Statistics
Main Ideas
Chapters
Paragraphs
Headings
Quotations
Italicized/Bold Print
Capitals
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Tables
Charts
Columns
Dates
Lists
Glossaries
• Introductions
• Timelines
• Labels and captions
• Numbered steps
• Bulleted lists
• Footnoted words
• Pronunciation key
• Transition words
RPDP Secondary Literacy
• Consider the title, headings,
and subheadings.
• Look at the visuals and read the
captions.
• Ask yourself in what class or setting
you might read this selection.
• Read the opening sentence and try
to predict what the selection is
about.
RPDP Secondary Literacy
Making
predictions
increases
understanding
because it
requires you to
access your
prior knowledge.
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A phrase may remind you
of a personal experience
or something that you
read or saw in a film.
This helps you
understand the new
material.
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Form mental images
that relate to the
material.
Images are like movies
in your head.
They increase your
understanding of what
you read.
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• Read critically.
• Ask questions while you read.
• Search for reasons and
connections.
• Reread for understanding.
• Question the source of
the information.
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Ask questions –
• before reading
• during reading
• after reading
Read for ideas – not just words.
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• Read the selection in small
sections. Ask yourself “what’s the
writer's main idea in this section?”
• Identify which information is more
important, somewhat important,
and less important.
• Then, ask yourself
how the main point is
supported or proven.
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Then, consider the
entire selection.
Ask yourself “overall
what’s the main
point the writer is
trying to make?”
Finally, try to sum up
what you’ve read.
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Look for  individual events or steps in a sequence
 words that identify time:
during the summer…
in the year 2002 …
an hour before…
 words that signal order (first, then, next)
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To find the cause or reason, ask Why did this happen?
To find the effect or result, ask What happened?
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You make inferences every day.
To infer means to figure out
something.
You base these inferences or
conclusions on the information that
you have.
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Understanding the author’s
purpose for writing helps you to
better understand his • tone or viewpoint
• intended audience
• main ideas
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Ask yourself if this was written to –
• inform
• educate
• influence
• entertain
• warn
• share a personal experience
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Remember –
If you can prove
it, it’s a fact.
If there can be
other points of
view, it’s an
opinion.
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Writers are considerate of their readers.
They often leave behind clue words and
phrases to help us to:
• understand the passages.
• know how fast we should read.
• decide the importance of information.
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To figure out the meaning of a
new word always:
• Read the sentence that contains
the word.
• Read the sentence right before.
• Read the sentence right after.
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Review the material.
Look over your notes.
Get an overall view of
the main points.
Recall supporting details
under each main point.
Verify your predictions.
nvtech.com
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A good summary:
• is brief
• describes the main ideas
• includes only important
information
• omits irrelevant details
• organizes the information
in a clear way, and
• restates the information in
the reader's own words.
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• Read the complete selection.
• Look at the graphics for additional
information.
• Read one question at a time.
• Find information in the text that helps
you answer questions.
• Write your answers to the questions.
• Go to the next question.
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Answer questions based on your
reading of the selection, not just
your general knowledge
of the topic.
But don’t forget to use your prior knowledge.
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Are you
ready to try
a few
practice
questions?
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Practice Question
Food choking is caused by a piece of
food caught in the throat. This blocks
the windpipe, so the person can’t get air.
The lack of air changes the person’s skin
tone to a bluish color. Often victims can’t
breathe or speak and fall to the floor.
Which is not a symptom of food choking?
A. The person turns blue.
B. The person collapses.
C. The eyes are filled with tears.
D. The person cannot breathe or speak.
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Practice Question
Diseases travel at the same rate as people.
When it took people three days to travel
from one town to another, it took diseases
the same time to get there. Today with jet
travel, we must be prepared to deal with the
immediate spread of illness.
A flucausing virus may begin
in
China and travel to Australia
within a few days.
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Practice Question
Compared to the 17th century,
diseases today are spread –
A. more slowly than in the past.
B. at about the same speed as
in the past.
C. more rapidly than in the past.
D. none of the above.
How did you do?
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Practice Question
In the early years of basketball, height
was considered unimportant. A 6-foottall player was considered to be quite tall,
but no one thought that his height made
him a more successful player. Today,
however, a 6-foot-tall player would be
considered too short for professional
play. Coaches now know
that tall players are more
successful in the modern game.
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How has the feeling about height changed?
A. Coaches used to think that height was
important. Now, they think it’s unimportant.
B. Coaches used to think that height was
unimportant. Now, they think it’s important.
C. Coaches used to think that height was
important, and they still do.
D. Coaches used to think that height
was unimportant, and they still do.
How did you do?
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Practice Question
Rice is a very important food crop. In fact, rice is the
main food for over half the world’s population. Rice
cakes provide the major diet for many Asian people.
This great need for rice is why scientists are working to
develop new types of rice. They are looking for the
healthiest types of rice that grow well under different
conditions. Using these healthy types of rice, scientists
hope to produce rice plants that will
be stronger and more disease-free
than those grown now.
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Practice Question
To whom is rice more important than
wheat?
A. Asians
B. Scientists
C. Farmers
D. Americans
How did you do?
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Good readers:
• ask questions
• interpret information
• draw conclusions
• challenge information
• react to what they read
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Today we discussed –
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Characteristics of Informational Text
Strategies for Reading
Determining Purpose
Using Prior Knowledge
Previewing Text
Using Informational Aids
Chronological Order
Cause & Effect
Making Inferences
Facts vs. Opinions & Context Clues
RPDP Secondary Literacy
Copyright Notice
Permission is granted to copy (unmodified) all or part
of this PowerPoint for educational, personal, noncommercial use off-line as long as the copyright
message (Copyright © 2006 by Jill Leone) is
maintained on the title page. This material may not
be sold, duplicated on other websites, incorporated
in commercial documents or products, or used for
promotional purposes.
Copyright © 2006 by Jill M. Leone
RPDP Secondary Literacy