TIPS for Supporting Students Understanding of
Informational Texts in Science
A Framework for K-12 Science Education and Common Core State Standards
(CCSS) for ELA expect that all students can find meaning in Informational
texts. Starting at grades 7-12, the CCSS for ELA shift the focus away from
opinion-centered writing toward evidence-based writing and require that
students ask increasingly sophisticated questions about texts.1 The language
and intent of the Framework is consistent with the CCSS for ELA. A
Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science
Standards also expect students at the 7-12 grade span to ask clarifying and
probing questions of science texts and phenomena (Practice 1) and expect
students to understand, communicate, and apply the science information of
texts to the phenomena and ideas in the world around them (Practice 8).2 By
grade 12 students should be able to evaluate the science evidence that an
author presents to support a claim, including the value of any visual supports
(photos, charts, graphs) that the author presents.
Teachers across Maine and the country are trying to make sense of and
implement these ideas. The list below provides tips to help students gain the
most from informational science texts. The list is adapted from work being
done by teachers at the Doughty Middle School in Bangor, Maine. The
teachers at the Doughty School ask students to tag the text as they read with
sticky notes of different colors for each of the categories below. I thank them
for sharing their ideas with me and allowing me to share those ideas with
you.
Text Title
Maine Department of Education, August 2012
 List something you already know about this topic.
 Make an observation about the cover or title page.
 Write a prediction of about the main point of the text and explain
your reasoning for the prediction [inference and evidence].
Reader “Hooks”
 Note curious facts
 Find interesting quotes
 Locate information that is new to you
 Identify the author’s primary and secondary claims, and significant
supporting evidence.
Graphics: Photos, drawings, diagrams
 Write 3 observations about the graphics. Which graphics support
understanding? Why?
 Find examples of graphics with distinct purpose. Does the caption
aid understanding or confuse?
Vocabulary
 Note words or phrases that are specific to the topic, especially any
that are used repeatedly in the text.
 Explain the meaning of the words in the context of science.
Details
 Summarize the 5 most important details within the text
 Identify and summarize the claims and make note of supporting
evidence
Communicate your understanding
Evaluate the value of the information presented in a broader context of what
you know about science.
 Does the information help you to make sense of data you have
collected?
 Do the author’s claims make sense in relationship to other data that
is commonly accepted by scientists?
Maine Department of Education, August 2012
 Do the author’s claims and evidence help us to understand and
answer new questions?
 What new information does the author add to the field?
1
Common Core State Standards Initiative. 2012. http://www.corestandards.org/thestandards/english-language-arts-standards (Reading: Standard1 (evidence) and Standard 2
(summary). Note 5/6 where opinion is removed. Writing: Standard 7 (research and asking
questions). Note, in particular, the 5-8 progression.)
2
A Framework for K-12 Science Education. 2011. pp. 40 – 80.
Maine Department of Education, August 2012