Using Information Books to Teach Reading

1. Using Information Books to Teach Reading D. Ray Reutzel, Ph.D. Emma Eccles Jones Endowed Chair Professor of Early Literacy Utah State University Logan, UT 84321 Website: www.cehs.usu.edu/ecc

2. Text Structure and Genre:What’s the Difference? Text Structure Genre • Narrative Text Structure • Story Structure • Expository Text Structure • Description/List • Compare Contrast • Time Order, Procedural • Cause and Effect • Question/Answer • Fantasy -Fairy Tales, Folktales, Tall Tales, Fables, Myths, Epics, Legends, Ballads, Science Fiction • Realism -Historical Fiction, Series Books, Mysteries • Biographical –Autobiography, biography, journal, diary, logs • Reference –Encyclopedia, manuals, scripts, dictionary, almanacs, guides, atlas • Information – textbooks, trade books, scripts, recipes, directions

3. Nonfiction and Information Books:What’s the Difference? Nonfiction Information Books • Nonfiction includes any text that contains factual information!! • Information books are a very specific type of nonfiction text. Information books: • Convey factual information about the physical world and human societies. • Present information focused on a clear topic or class of things and has a “timeless” quality – butterflies, clouds, reptiles. • Present information using a variety of physical features and formats, e.g. CD, internet links, photos, diagrams, inserts, footnotes, etc. • Convey facts using a variety of text organizations, e.g., compare/contrast, question-answer, description, list, etc.

4. Why different genres? • Genre researchers hypothesize that various genres were developed to fill very specific purposes in the real world, i.e. folk tales, fairy tales, almanacs, advertisements, newspapers, TV guides, business letters, memos, reports, lab notes, etc. • Researchers have shown that texts have a multitude of different features, formats, word choices, that affect students’ reading ability. • Even young children are sensitive to the differences among genres but may not be familiar with how to navigate different text genres effectively or efficiently chiefly because the receive far less exposure at home and school to some genres than others.

5. Why teach withinformation books? • In a set of studies about teaching reading with information texts in first grades, Nell Duke (2000) described experiences offered to children in 20 first-grade classrooms selected from very low and very high socio-economic-status school districts. She found a scarcity of informational texts in these classrooms (particularly the low socio-economic status schools). There were relatively few informational texts included in classroom libraries and on classroom walls and other surfaces. The most startling finding was children in low socioeconomic classrooms had access to and read in information trade books about – 3.6 minutes per day on average. Duke, N. K. (2000). For the rich it’s richer: print experiences and environments offered to children in very low- and very high-socioeconomic status first-grade classrooms. American Educational Research Journal, 37, 441-478. Duke, N. K. (2000). 3.6 minutes per day: The scarcity of informational texts in first grade. Reading Research Quarterly, 35(2), 202-224.

6. Why teach withInformation Books? • 86% of the texts read by adults are information texts • 50–85% of test items used to test reading comprehension of children are informational. • The acquisition of comprehension strategies is thought to be “genre specific.” In other words, comprehension strategies are learned within the confines of a particular genre or text type. Thus young children require specific • instruction with informational texts to assure transfer and generalization of comprehension skills and • strategies. • Calkins, L. M., Montgomery, K., Santman, D., & Falk, B. (1998). A teacher’s guide to standardized reading tests: Knowledge • is power. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. • Duke, N. K. (2000). 3.6 min per day: The scarcity of informational texts in first grade. Reading Research Quarterly, 35(2), • 202–224. • Duke, N. K., Bennett-Armistead, S., & Roberts, E. M. (2002). Incorporating informational text in the primary grades. In C. • M. Roller (Ed.), Comprehensive reading instruction across the grade levels: A collection of papers from the 2001 Reading • Research Conference, 41–54.. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

7. So why aren’t teachers using information books?: Myths • Young children cannot handle informational text. Children learn content as well as language from information texts! • Young children do not like informational text or at least prefer other forms of text. Studies show young children prefer informational texts! • Young children should first learn to read and then (around fourth grade) read to learn. This is a false dichotomy as we explain in the next slide! Duke, N. K. (2000). 3.6 minutes per day: The scarcity of informational texts in first grade. Reading Research Quarterly, 35(2), 202-224.

8. Myth 1: Too Difficult Research by Kamil & Lane (1997, a, b) showed that first-grade students who were taught to read with information texts made “normal or above-average progress” and that “it is not only possible but desirable to teach students at the first-grade level about information text genres, features, and uses. Kamil, M. L., & Lane, D. (1997). A classroom study of the efficacy of using information text for first-grade reading instruction. Paper presented at AERA, Chicago, IL. Kamil, M.L. & Lane, D. (1997). Using information text for first-grade reading instruction: Theory and practice.

9. Myth 2 : Kids Don’t Prefer • K. Mohr (2002) researched the book preferences of 190 first-grade children in north Texas. They were given seven picture books to choose from: narrative, information, poetry, Spanish, Hispanic Characters, English, & English Characters. Over 84% of ALL children chose one book to keep (which they indeed received to keep). It was an information book in English – Animals Nobody Loves. Mohr commented, young children seem to see books as “windows to their world rather than as mirrors of themselves.” Mohr, K. A. J. (2003). “I want this book!: First-graders rationales for preferring expository texts.” Reading Psychology: An International Quarterly, 24(2), 163-176.

10. Myth 3: Read to Learn Later On Today in the U.S., economic differences between the haves and have-nots are greater than at any other time in history since 1929…Teachers must ensure that children develop factual knowledge that has coherence and depth. All of our children, rich and poor and in between, deserve no less” (pp. 470-70). Neuman, S. B. (2001). The role of knowledge in early literacy. Reading Research Quarterly 36 (4), 468-475.

11. Balance the Genres and Structures in your Classroom! • Distribute your use of genre and structures 33% narrative, 33% expository, and 33% other. • Use of more information books helps students by: • Growing vocabulary • Expanding background knowledge • Appealing to students’ interests • Increasing students’ motivation and engagement

12. Criteria for selectinginformation texts • Authority of the Author • Accuracy of information • Accessibility • Attractiveness/Appeal • Addresses Diversity • Appropriateness • Student Interest • Text Format or Presentation • Recommendations

13. Print Rich Classrooms and Information Texts • Classroom Display Areas and Surfaces • Daily Activities • Genre Diversity • Magazines • Newspapers • Charts/Posters • Technology Access • Classroom Library

14. Your Classroom Library:Organizing Information Texts

15. Your Classroom Library:Organizing Information Texts Science Social Studies Other Content Areas Volcano Rocks China Benedict Arnold Mozart Art Plays Revolution! Cultures Health Sport Math Plants Clouds Maps Presidents Computers Photos Magnets HumanBody

16. Your Classroom Library:Organizing Information Texts

17. Your Classroom Library:Organizing Information Texts

18. Your Classroom Library:Organizing Information Texts

19. Your Classroom Library:Organizing Information Texts

20. Your Classroom Library:Organizing Information Texts

21. Your Classroom Library:Organizing Information Texts

22. Information Text Read Aloud

23. Information Text Read Aloud • Activate children’s knowledge or experiences with the Topic/Content Campbell, R. (2001). Read-Alouds with Young Children. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

24. Information Text Read Aloud • Create a Listening Framework (Picture the Organization with a Picture Walk of the Book) Campbell, R. (2001). Read-Alouds with Young Children. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

29. Information Text Read Aloud • Providing a Listening Purpose • I Remember Strategy • What is this book about? • What are some important facts I learned about? • Some examples of this are…. Campbell, R. (2001). Read-Alouds with Young Children. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

30. Information Text Read Aloud • Talking and Looking (Images and Captions) Campbell, R. (2001). Read-Alouds with Young Children. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

31. Information Text Read Aloud • Showing What We Know • Student Dictated and Teacher Recorded Knowledge Webs • Word Wall Vocabulary Words • Group Summaries Campbell, R. (2001). Read-Alouds with Young Children. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

32. Shared Reading ofInformation Text The Directed Listening Thinking Activity (Stauffer, 1975) Step 1: Introducing the Book and Predicting • Activate children’s knowledge or experiences with the Topic/Content • What do you think this book may be about? • What do you know about_______? • Take a picture walk and ask – What do the pictures tell you about? Buss, K., & Karnowski, L. (2002). Reading and Writing Nonfiction Genres. Newark, DE: International Reading Association. Hoyt, L. (2002). Make it real: Strategies for success with informational texts. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Educational Books. Stauffer, R. (1975). Directing the reading-thinking process. New York: HarperCollins.

33. Shared Reading ofInformation Text The Directed Reading Thinking Activity (Stauffer, 1975) Continued Step 1: Introducing the Book and Predicting • Predicting Content Elements • Display a web with the topic in the center • Place pictures or text from the book in random order next to the web. • Help students read or look at a picture one at a time. • Talk about where this particular text or picture would likely fit into the web. • Place pictures or text around the web to record predictions.

34. Shared Reading ofInformation Text

35. Shared Reading ofInformation Text The Directed Listening Thinking Activity (Stauffer, 1975) Continued Step 2: Reading, Thinking, and Talking • Read the book in segments • Stop to check web predictions • Stop to talk about what you are learning

36. Shared Reading ofInformation Text

37. Shared Reading ofInformation Text The Directed Listening Thinking Activity (Stauffer, 1975) Continued Step 3: Supporting with Evidence • Confirming predictions with the text web • Summarizing our learning • Extending our learning

38. Shared Reading ofInformation Text

39. Shared Reading of Information Text Extending Our Learning – “T” Comparison Charts 6 8 Legs 3 2 Body Parts

40. Guided Reading ofInformation Texts Fluency Oriented Reading Instruction • Step 1: Teacher Reads the Book Aloud while Students Follow Along in Their Own Copy

49. Guided Reading ofInformation Texts Fluency Oriented Reading Instruction • Step 2: Teacher points out interesting and important features of the book to assist comprehension. • No table of contents • Captioned photographs • Bolded terms • Descriptive text structure • No headings or subheadings • Volcano status • Volcano size and shape • Effects of Volcanic eruptions • How volcanoes grow

50. Guided Reading ofInformation Texts Fluency Oriented Reading Instruction • Step 3: Over the next several days students reread the book orally in different ways: • Echo • Unison • Antiphonal • Mumble • With a partner • With a fluency phone