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