CHAPTER 15:
INFORMATIONAL READING
Courtney Fisher
2011
What? Informational text is…






Expository Text that communicates facts about the
natural or social world; (Duke 2006)
Found in many types and format;
Organized to steer readers to understanding and
identifying key information and make connections
among ideas;
Ranges from Cookbooks to magazines; textbooks to
internet websites;
More of a challenge for the reader;
Lastly, uses diverse ranges of reading strategies to
understand.
Honig, Diamond, Gutlohn 2008
What? Text Structure

Informational Text Structure and Signal Words
Text Structure
Signal Words or Phrases
Description
Explains, defines, illustrates a concept or topic
For example, for instance, main parts, such as, this particular
Compare-Contrast
Presents similarities & differences between
two or more objects, places, events, or ideas
Compare: like, alike, just as, similar, both, also, too
Contrast: unlike, differ, but, in contrast, on the other hand,
however
Cause-Effect
Presents the reason an event happened and
its results
Because, due to, since, therefore, so, as a result, consequently,
lead to , this is why, the reason, result in, consequences
Problem/Solution
Poses a problem and suggests ;possible
solutions
Problem: problem, question, the trouble
Solution: solution, answer, in response
Time Ordered (Sequence)
Groups ideas by order or time
First, next, then afterward, later, last finally, not, after, before,
stages, steps
Honig, Diamond, Gutlohn 2008
What? Graphic Organizers

Graphic Organizers can aid in Informational
reading by helping students to:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
Record information about underlying text structures;
See how concepts fit within text structures;
Focus on the most important ideas;
Examine relationships among text concepts;
Recall key text information;
&, write well organized summaries.
Honig, Diamond, Gutlohn 2008
What? Considerate Texts

Ideas for choosing Informational Text
Structural
Clues
Coherence
Audience
Appropriateness
• Text Structure apparent to reader
• Aspects of text that suggest, indicate, or emphasize its structure
• Clarity of writing…does it make sense?
• Features:
• Main ideas are easy to find and clearly stated
• Information supports the main idea
• Events and ideas are in logical order
• Signal words are used to illuminate relationships between events and ideas
• Precise wording is used
• Transitions are smooth between topics
• Builds on the word knowledge students already have
• New concept introduction is appropriate for word knowledge of student
Honig, Diamond, Gutlohn 2008
What? Comprehension Strategies

Strategy Application
 All
comprehension strategies apply.
 Text that is close to the content-area shows greater
build in comprehension strategies.
 Students learning informational reading strategies are
more likely to utilize the different skills when techniques
are valuable and can be used in new learning
situations.
Students can avoid this
situation by understanding
text structures…
Honig, Diamond, Gutlohn 2008
What? Recognition of Structure


Text structure allows students to locate and organize
information being presented.
Using clues such as:
Signal words,
 Physical features,

Headings
 Boldface type
 Tables

& Graphic organizers
Students will be able to “see” the text structure for
understanding and comprehension.

Honig, Diamond, Gutlohn 2008
What? Monitoring Comprehension



Students need to understand if the text is making
sense and know how to handle comprehension issues
when they come up.
Tools such as searching, scanning and skimming are
helpful to build understanding.
Text Search Model is one tool for understanding
text.
 See
Chart page 688
Honig, Diamond, Gutlohn 2008
What? Connecting to Word Knowledge




Information is learned by creating connections with
information learned in the past.
Word knowledge shapes a readers perception of
text.
Teacher guidance helps encourage understanding
when new information does not link to previous
word knowledge.
K-W-L charts are often used to stimulate word
knowledge of a topic. For example see page 689.
Honig, Diamond, Gutlohn 2008
What? Word Knowledge Tools

Predicting:


Asking Questions:



Question-Answer Relationships Framework is a tool for students and teachers
to use when answering questions based on a text. See chart page 691.
Constructing Mental Images:


Elaborative Interrogation= students create hypotheses as a way to remember
facts.
Useful in Math and Science
Answering Questions:


Making an informed guess of what the content contains.
Mental images are created as the reading is done, thus creating a visual
mental image that can change as the content becomes more intricate.
Summarizing:

Students use one of three strategies to come the main idea of a text.
Dependent upon the strategy being taught, students may use a series of steps
of techniques to come the main idea of the text.
Honig, Diamond, Gutlohn 2008
What? Multiple-Strategy Instruction Program


Collaborative Strategic Reading= creates students that
use self monitoring comprehension strategies that
support their understanding of informational text.
Reader Response utilizes two techniques to create
understanding.
Discussion-Oriented Instruction focuses the student on content
by engaging them through questioning.
 Writing for Content-Area Learning utilizes students ability to
respond to informational texts through their own written
response, review of text, improving text, as well as
producing their own informational text.

Honig, Diamond, Gutlohn 2008
What? Motivation and Engagement



“Engaged readers are strongly motivated to learn from what they are
reading- taking satisfaction in successful reading, believing in their reading
skills, and persisting in the face of difficulty.” (Honig, Diamond, Gutlohn
2008)
Students who show understanding through comprehension subsequently show
understanding in content area.
Engaged informational readers are:





Motivated,
Knowledge-driven,
Socially interactive,
& strategic in how they go about reading.
Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction (CORI) employ five motivational
practices of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Relevance,
Choice,
Collaboration,
Success,
& Conceptual theme.
Honig, Diamond, Gutlohn 2008
What? Web-Based Text

Web-based text is:
Able to supply options for greater comprehension;
 Engaging when carefully chosen;
 Encompasses a vast majority of student use;
 Challenging due to timing, navigation understanding,
distractions from outside sources, and harder to judge for
credibility;
 & A tool requiring a strategies to be manipulated for the
content.


Strategy Application Chart provides many ideas for the
direct application of informational text reading
strategies on the web. See page 697.
Honig, Diamond, Gutlohn 2008
Why? Informational Reading

Informational reading helps young readers to:
Build content knowledge and vocabulary;
 Profit from students interest, curiosities, and experiences;
 Provide opportunities for students to develop areas of
expertise;
 Prepare students for the texts they will see and use
frequently as adults;
 Support students in finding answers and creating questions;
 &, serve as a tool for both serving and posing problems.
(Honig, Diamond, Gutlohn 2008)

When? To Teach, Assess, & Intervene
Intervention of
comprehension strategies
can be practiced through
re-teaching strategies.
Assessing comprehension
of Informational Text
requires the use of
several formats.
Intervene:
When misusing
or not using
strategy
Assess:
Frequently
Informational Text provides
interest reading in the
primary grades…even
when being read to the
student.
Teach:
Primary
Grades
Honig, Diamond, Gutlohn 2008
How? Question-Answer Relationships

Question-Answer Relationships (QAR)
 Research Based
 Helps students to understand text relationships
 Text- what I read…
 Personal- what I believe in my head…
In the Text
In my head
Right There
The answers to the questions is “right
there” in one sentence; the question and
answer have the same meaning.
On My Own
The answer to the question comes
entirely from students’ world knowledge.
Think and Search
The answer to the question requires
searching across the text; the question
and answer have different wordings.
Author and Me
The answer to the question comes from
understanding the text in the conjunction
with students’ world knowledge.
Honig, Diamond, Gutlohn 2008
How? Paragraph Shrinking
Paragraph shrinking allows students to make summaries for identifying
information learned in order to synthesize and restate the concept objective.
Steps of Paragraph Shrinking
1.Identify who or what (person, animal, place or thing) a paragraph is mostly
about.
2. Identify the most important information about the who or what.
See
Page
712
3. Shrink all the information into one main-idea statement of 10 words or less.
Honig, Diamond, Gutlohn 2008
How? Collaborative Strategic Reading

Combination of two instructive strategies:



Comprehension Strategy Instruction
Cooperative Learning
See Page
720
Teacher models each strategy in whole group setting.
Before Reading: Preview
Scan-Brainstorm What You Know-Predict What You Will Learn
During Reading:
Click and Clunk-Get the Gist
After Reading: Wrap Up
Ask and Answer Questions-Review What You Learned
Students eventually learn to collaboratively use the strategies where each student knows
his/her role.
Honig, Diamond, Gutlohn 2008
How? Questioning the Author





Focus on text content through teacher-directed
discussions.
Ability to engage in discussions to tackle text
meaning.
Ability to recognize the intentions , biases, and
fallibility of authors.
Ability to recognize that poor comprehension may
be due to poorly written text.
Works both in whole class and small group reading
strategies.
See page 733
for sample plan
Honig, Diamond, Gutlohn 2008
How? Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction


Science instruction is paired with the strategic reading
of informational and narrative texts, supported through
student writing. (Honig, Diamond, Gutlohn 2008)
Objectives:


Increase students’ reading comprehension, science
knowledge, and motivation to read independently.
Comprehension Strategies Include:
Activating Background Knowledge
 Questioning
 Organizing Graphically
 Structuring Story
 Summarizing

See
Page 739
Honig, Diamond, Gutlohn 2008
Conclusion
Informational Reading is:
•Expository Text that communicates facts about the
natural or social world.
•Used to reach content areas generally found in more
specific areas of Math and Science.
•Best used when aspects such as reading level, word
knowledge, and content area are clearly understood
and structure is reviewed.
•Found in many sources for student comprehension.
•Taught through many different styles and strategies to
increase comprehension strategies in whole group, small
group and individual learning styles.
Bibliography
Honig, Diamond, Gutlohn (2008) Teaching
Reading Sourcebook, 2nd Ed. California:
Arena Press