One thing that has happened over the last few years is an increased focus on reading a balance of informational and fictional texts. We try to work in informational reading as often as possible--both with specific units and by weaving instruction and experiences into content whenever possible. As we dig into our mapping unit, I wanted to see what kinds of experiences my students had with ... Read the Post
Google Form Assessment: Text Structures!
Today I wanted to share with you something I did this week that I loved! Like many of you, we explicitly teach the concept of informational "text structures" in both reading and writing--and have to give a grade on report cards. This is a tough concept to quantify! As the unit came to a close, I had an idea of how I could get a sense for how well students were applying the ... Read the Post
“Read like a Writer”: Informational Texts
Greetings! Just thought I'd share a little more of the beginnings of our informational text reading unit...I think some students had some nice "a ha" moments today! We started off by partner reading some "easy-to-read" content-related human body books. We are studying the circulatory system, and I told the students that today we were going to try to "read to learn" and find ... Read the Post
Getting started with informational texts
Our next unit in a reading and writing involves the study of informational texts. This unit is geared toward helping students recognize different text structures and how writers organize informational text so that their readers can truly understand their messages. One book that is forming the foundation for my unit is yet another wonderful professional book by Aimee Buckner. If ... Read the Post
Categorizing Information to Remember More
As we move into our in-depth study of informational text, it has become more and more clear that many of my students struggle remembering what they have read. This, of course, creates many problems for them as learners! As I dug a little deeper, I began to realize that some of my students were able to hang on to a few random details from texts they read...but these details were often ... Read the Post
It’s My Day on ATUE: Introduction to Information Texts
I am still reeling over the last week of giveaways, and I'm excited to be getting back into the "real world" of blogging! My first day back in the trenches has me posting over at All Things Upper Elementary with a little reflection on one of my early lessons to kick off my informational text unit. Stop by and check it out! I hope everyone has a great week--I have lots on my ... Read the Post
5 Tips for Teaching Information Text and Text Structures
We are finishing our "Feature Article" unit today, and I thought I'd share FIVE things we learned while writing them. This was my first time teaching this unit, and it was as much a learning experience for ME as it was for my fourth graders! One of our key focus areas is "text structures", so that was the lens I used while planning and teaching. So...what did we learn? Five Strategies to ... Read the Post