Incorporating Informational Text in all Content Areas (K-6)

Summer Institute 2016‎ > ‎Day 2 & 3: Instruction & Achievement Sessions‎ > ‎Effective Practice Sessions‎ > ‎

Incorporating Informational Text in all Content Areas (K-6)

M-3

Session Description

Research shows that using more informational text can increase student proficiency and growth, so how are you using it in your classroom? Learn how to:

Increase students' access to informational text.
Increase the time students spend working with informational text in instructional activities.
Explicitly teach comprehension strategies.
Create opportunities for students to use informational text for authentic purposes.

Learner Outcomes

By the end of the sessions participants will know / be able to:

Provide students with authentic purposes for reading informational texts
Match an informational text with grade level content
Teach specific skills and strategies using informational text

Activity 1:

Let’s take a moment to talk about what your needs are based on the feedback you provided us in the survey. Now, respond to this survey indicating the ratio of fiction to nonfiction usage in your classroom. What do the CCSS recommend as far as ratio of fiction to nonfiction?

Activity 2:

Rationale and and Strategies. We are using the following presentation to support these ideas. Informational Text in the Primary Grades

Activity 3:

In what ways have you created opportunities for your students to use informational text authentically? We have some ideas we would like to quickly share with you regarding how you can create authentic purposes in your classroom. These ideas can be accessed in slides 6-9 of the Google Presentation.

Activity 4:

Click on the link to open up the document that you will collaborate on with your grade level group and make a copy. This will be a resource that will match content area topics in Science, Social Studies, Music and Art with texts. You will also match strategies and/or standards with resources such as anchor charts, videos, step-by-step lessons and activities.

Pull from the provided resources for texts and lesson ideas. Of course, you may also pull from your own resources! We have also provided standards for all grade levels and general nonfiction strategies if needed.

Sample document

Breakout Session:

If you feel you could benefit from seeing a lesson modeled on close reading of informational text, this opportunity will be provided at this time. After the breakout session, you will join your grade level group to work on the template.

Access standards in the MGSD livebinder.
Additional strategies that are not tied to specific standards or may be multi-standard
Resources for both nonfiction texts and lesson ideas.

Participants in 1st session (8:30)- Please share your link here to allow members of the next session to add to the document for your grade level. Title the document with your grade level.