INFORMATIONAL TEXT AND THE COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS Improving Vocabulary & Comprehension Common Core State Standards 2 Calls for an interdisciplinary approach with a balance of literature and informational texts in: history social studies science Preparation for reading complex informational texts should begin at the very earliest elementary school grades. Domain-specific nonfiction can be infused within the English language arts block. Florida Department of Education - Just Read, Florida! Teacher Use of Informational Texts 3 Narrative texts have largely dominated read-alouds in the primary classroom. Mixed Genre 13% Expository 4% (Duke, 2000) In the past, when teachers read aloud & interpreted difficult nonfiction, young readers learned information but failed to read expository text. (Palmer & Stewart, 2003) Teachers need to directly instruct how to navigate & extract information in order to become fluent & strategic readers of this genre. (RAND, 2002) Narrative 82% Pentimonti et al, 2010 The Water Hole 4 Mixed genre text The way a teacher uses it in read-aloud will determine benefits from its use: Focus on literary elements: entertainment Focus on informational elements: content knowledge A read-aloud can increase learning benefits by: emphasizing the book’s informational elements pairing it with another informational text (i.e., Animal Dictionary) rereading, each time with a more precise focus: 1. 2. 3. 4. Specific name of animal (i.e., panda bear, toucan, etc.) Specific type of animal (i.e., mammal, bird, etc.) Animal comparisons (i.e., animals with horns, pouches, etc.) Animal habitats (i.e., mountains, jungle, etc.) ACTIVITY: Using Informational Texts 5 How do I use informational text in my classroom? With a partner, discuss the following: What percentage of read-alouds in my classroom are: READ-ALOUD TEXTS IN MY CLASSROOM Literary/Narrative Text Informational/Expository Text The Water Hole by Graeme Base The Paper Crane by Molly Bang The Water Hole by Graeme Base Monarch Butterfly by Gail Gibbons How do I currently use informational texts? Where could I locate more informational texts? Informational Text: The Benefits Align with Elements of Text Complexity 6 Expands student development of: • more sophisticated oral language Elements of Text Complexity (Reese & Harris, 1997; Smolkin et al, 2008) •content area knowledge in science and social studies Text Structure Levels of Meaning (Stone & Twardosz, 2001; Hirsch, 2003) •expository text structures (Duke & Kays, 1998; Donovan & Smolkin, 2001) •reading interest in various topics (Duke 2000; Casteel & Isom, 1994) Language Knowledge Demands Selecting Informational Texts 7 Criteria for Selecting Informational Texts for Primary Classrooms Cover Does the cover showcase and accurately represent content information inside the book? Content/Topic Illustrations Organization Font size/type Does this text & its potential use align with and meet one or more of the Common Core State Standard(s)? Which standard(s) does it target? Does the text relate to a topic that is a focus in one or more of the subject areas? (i.e., reading, science, social studies, etc.) Which content, topic, and subject area? Does this text share a theme with another informational text for use as paired/series text? Does the writer share: - accurate, reliable, and current facts? - intriguing information? - references or research sources? Do the illustrations: include accurate and sufficient labels or captions? explain and/or enhance the content? Are the sections, headings, sub-headings, and illustrations: well-organized and clearly distinct from one another? well-designed with table of contents, index, or glossary? Are the letters/font large and simple enough for students to clearly see? ACTIVITY: Instruction in the Fall 8 Text: From Seed to Pumpkin Author: Wendy Pfeffer Materials for Activity: Handout pages 2, 3, & 4 With a partner, identify specific Common Core Standard(s) that correspond with instructional tasks for reading, language, and writing. On the timeline, place specific instructional routines in sequence. (See three of the instructional routines on the following page – p 4.) Discuss how instruction for this lesson facilitates the performance task for this text. From Seed to Pumpkin is a Kindergarten exemplar of complex informational text located in Appendix B of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). From Seed to Pumpkin 9 PICTURE SORT ROUTINE Parts of a Pumpkin Basic Needs of a Pumpkin Florida Department of Education - Just Read, Florida! From Seed to Pumpkin 10 MAIN IDEA ROUTINE (Using approximately 10 words or less) Pumpkins need sunlight, water, and air to grow from a seed. Florida Department of Education - Just Read, Florida! From Seed to Pumpkin 11 Routine for Retelling and Writing The farmer plants the seeds. •Seeds A stem shoots up from the ground and becomes a seedling. Leaves grow bigger by turning sunlight into food energy and mixing air with water. The plant grows bigger every day by soaking up water from the soil. •Seedling •Plant •Leaves Florida Department of Education - Just Read, Florida! ACTIVITY: Instruction in the Spring 12 Text: How a Seed Grows Author: Helene Jordan BACKGROUND INFORMATION • From the Let’s-Read-And-Find-Out Science Series (same series as From Seed to Pumpkin) • About the processes of planting and growing seeds so the teacher: • briefly demonstrates during read aloud for students to observe differences in seed growth across days. • relates to the book in different ways over several lessons. • can use both books in a lesson as paired texts (How a Seed Grows and From Seed to Pumpkin) INSTRUCTION: Main Idea & Summarizing 13 Sprouts Lesson 4: Bean seeds grow sprouts a little bit everyday. Roots Lesson 3: Lesson 1: Bean seeds grow roots a little bit everyday. Different seeds grow in different ways. Seeds Lesson 5: Summary Statement Lesson 2: Planting requires seeds, a container, soil, water, and sunlight. Planting Lesson 5: Summary Statement The book How a Seed Grows is about how different seeds grow in different ways, how to plant bean seeds, and how watch their roots and sprouts grow a little bit every day. The book From Seed to Pumpkin describes how pumpkins seeds grow and what they need in order to grow into pumpkin plants. ACTIVITY: Instruction in the Spring 14 Text: How a Seed Grows Author: Helene Jordan Materials for Activity: Handout pages 5 & 6 With a partner, identify specific Common Core Standard(s) that correspond with instructional tasks for reading, language, and writing. Determine which routines in lessons 1-5 facilitate student understanding in: Text structure Basic comprehension Vocabulary development Content-area concepts Complex thinking 15 Florida Department of Education - Just Read, Florida! Teacher-Directed Instruction 16 EXAMPLE OF TEACHER-DIRECTED INSTRUCTION USING INFORMATIONAL TEXT Instructional Focus & Process Text Segment from Monarch Butterfly Teacher Comments VOCABULARY OF INFORMATIONAL TEXT: The teacher focuses on meanings of general academic & discipline-specific vocabulary. After reading the text segment, the teacher The teacher rereads text aloud In a few days the egg hatches. points to text and says: This word larva is one we & briefly stops at strategic Out crawls a small caterpillar, haven’t heard before. Let’s say the word larva together: places in text using: also called a larva. “larva.” Larva is one of the growing stages of the caterpillar. choral response (Teacher holds up large picture of caterpillar) pictures to illustrate First, the caterpillar hatches from the egg (teacher uses pantomime (perhaps with plastic egg to animate hatching action), then it objects) to animate action becomes larva. Everyone, what happens to the egg? “It graphic organizers to hatches.” What does it hatch into? “Larva.” (Teacher show relationships records words on graphic organizer next to repetitive use of new word picture of caterpillar, then points to words for students to say them with her again) Florida Department of Education - Just Read, Florida! EXAMPLE OF TEACHER-DIRECTED INSTRUCTION USING INFORMATIONAL TEXT Instructional Focus & Process Text Segment from Monarch Butterfly Teacher Comments 17 USING INFORMATIONAL TEXT: The teacher models various aspects of close reading during rereading. The teacher models thinking In a few days the egg hatches. Out Between text segments, the teacher models questioning, skills and processes: crawls a small caterpillar, also comprehension monitoring, & metacognitive awareness Text-marking with called a larva. . . . using text-marking technique by placing large yellow variety of manipulatives First, the caterpillar eats the transparent sticky flags over the target words: Now that I (i.e., post-it notes, sticky eggshell and then chews away at know that larva is a growth stage of the caterpillar, I want to keep flags) the milkweed leaf. The egg of a reading to find out the answer this question: Pre-recorded questions monarch is almost always laid on a What does a caterpillar do in the larva stage? for display milkweed plant. The plant will be its food. The teacher models how to extract and use text information. . . . The skin falls off. A new, strange form appears! It is called the chrysalis or pupa. The chrysalis is like a blanket that is wrapped around the body growing inside. After reading the text segment, the teacher says: Pupa is the caterpillar’s next stage of growth. I know that because of these words on this page (Teacher points to & rereads segment): “A new, strange form appears.” (Teacher traces shape of pupa on the page’s picture) This has 2 names, and it says what the names are right here (points to text): “chrysalis or pupa.” And, these words on the next line tell me what a pupa looks like (points to text): “a blanket that is wrapped around the body growing inside.” See, this picture shows the caterpillar’s skin wrapping around it like a blanket. (Teacher records words on graphic organizer next to picture of caterpillar forming a pupa, then points to words for students to say them with her.) Organizing & Using Extracted Text Information 18 6. Butterfly dries wings 5. Butterfly pulls out of pupa 1. Butterfly lays egg Life Cycles of the Monarch Butterfly 2. Egg hatches and becomes caterpillar (larva) 4. Caterpillar forms a pupa 3. Caterpillar molting Florida Department of Education - Just Read, Florida! EXAMPLE OF TEACHER-DIRECTED INSTRUCTION USING INFORMATIONAL TEXT Instructional Focus & Process 19 Text Segment from Monarch Butterfly Teacher Comments NAVIGATING INFORMATIONAL TEXT: The teacher points out to students the purpose & use of organizational elements of text. The teacher models how to navigate the following organizational elements of informational text: 1. 2. 3. text features (headings, diagrams) 2. text structure or organization (sequence, compare/contrast, etc.) text resources in the book ( table of contents, glossary, etc.) When the butterfly lays the egg . 2. . . In a few days the egg hatches… First, the caterpillar eats the eggshell… It breaks out of its old skin (molting)… For two weeks the caterpillar eats. It molts about five times. Finally, it is a full grown monarch caterpillar…It attaches itself to the stem and drops down head first… A new, strange form appears! It is called chrysalis … Before reviewing text segments, the teacher says: Let’s look at this large chart that we made during our last rereading. (Teacher refers to each step on the chart, one by one, turning to the corresponding page in text to point out sequence of stages in life cycle). All of this shows the stages from the egg. This helps us understand what this book is all about. All of the growing stages in the life of a monarch butterfly. Organizing & Using Extracted Text Information 20 What creatures eat butterflies? 6. Butterfly dries wings 5. Butterfly pulls out of pupa 1. Butterfly lays egg What happens inside the pupa to make it shrink, harden, and turn into a butterfly? Life Cycles of the Monarch Butterfly How many eggs do monarch butterflies lay? 2. Egg hatches and becomes caterpillar (larva) 4. Caterpillar forms a pupa 3. Caterpillar molting Why do caterpillars molt? How many days does it take for an egg to hatch into a caterpillar? 21 Florida Department of Education - Just Read, Florida! Classroom Diagrams 22 Diagrams can be used in class: • interactive word wall • discussions • picture glossaries • picture summaries How can feelers help a butterfly touch and smell? scales How wide are the wings? proboscis thorax Diagrams can become a Question Generation Board abdomen What kind of flower juice does the monarch eat with its proboscis? Student Diagrams 23 Diagrams can become part of student work: • picture glossaries • summaries • writing • question generation • research projects Paired Text Lesson 24 Text 1: Face to Face with Caterpillars by Darlyne Murawski Text 2: Monarch Butterfly by Gail Gibbons Students compare & contrast information across texts: Research different types of caterpillars Learn & use more specific terminology (i.e., cocoon, etc.) since the Winter of the year Draw and write information about the activities of various caterpillars (i.e., contrast how larva is different for various insects). Unanswered Questions? 25 Stuart.Greenberg@fldoe.org Ruth.Gumm@fldoe.org Katie.Moeller@fldoe.org CALL: 850-245-9529 Florida Department of Education - Just Read, Florida Office