Many students struggle with reading informational text. It brings on new components for readers to understand. Technical vocabulary, charts, new units for measurement and labeling objects, and a need to draw on many specific experiences are all examples of items that students need to help in reading and comprehending informational texts. I have stated this in previous posts, but I feel that graphic organizers are a very effective way to help students build background knowledge, prepare for the reading, focus during reading, and reflect after reading. When students have questions and structure that help direct their thinking it provides a greater focus for the purpose of reading the material. Taking an interest inventory is also important when reading informational texts. It is very difficult for all readers to focus and comprehend material that is not interesting. Trying to find materials that will interest the greatest number of students can be helpful. When we are able to read and write about topics that interest us the experience will be more engaging. If anyone has any ideas for informational texts that would work for a 3rd-4th grade boy I would love suggestions! The students that I am tutoring have a very difficult time with vocabulary words. We are beginning a guided reading lesson on a nonfiction informational book about baseball. The students enjoy baseball and they have a great deal of background knowledge, but they are still struggling with many of the technical terms. I think that figure 9.17 on page 237 will be a very helpful resource for me. I plan on having students write baseball as the main idea in the middle of the organizer. Then I will have them write the different areas of baseball that we will be discussing (i.e. rules, equipment, and teams). Students will then be able to fill in details about each of the areas. They will have the opportunity to write in different vocabulary words which will help them tie the words to the context of baseball.
In Response to Jaclyn C. I too agree that graphic organizers are a very great tool. This type of reading also gives students an opportunity to take notes on what they read. I have in the past had students make note card of important facts and organize them. This can also be done with sticky notes. Love the baseball idea!
This is where I see many students have trouble comprehending. This is a very different type of reading and students need to be trained to use informational text. Many times these types of books are not as interesting as narrative books and the students need to be transitioned to information texts and learn how to read them. In the classroom that I am doing my social studies/science internship in they do not use textbooks they use a series of trade books. They have found that students respond better to non-fiction trade books and the students find them more fun to read then the traditional text book. I thought figure 9.3 was a great word bank for students to know and would be a great addition to post in the classroom. These are words that students may not be familiar with and they need to know in order to comprehend informative text. Teachers can also read these types of books for read alouds and model the thinking process needed for informational texts. In 4th and 5th grade many of these text structures are assessed and the more familiar students become with them is best and can be done before these grade levels. I personally enjoy reading expository text and have always enjoyed so. I hope that this spills into the lives of my students!
In response to Jaclyn: I think that you are right about graphic organizers. They are a great way to help students understand the information that they are being given. I use graphic organizers for my tutoring students for the books that we read and it helps tremendously. It gives the students something to focus on while they are reading.
Chapter 9 is about comprehension of information text. This chapter covers ways to improve comprehension when reading informational text. Even I have a hard time concentrating on something that is just information. If it doesn't interest me, I don't want to read it. But there is information out there that we must learn some how and this chapter is full of ideas for teachers. There are three factors that affect the comprehension process. They are the factors within the reader, factors within the readers environment, and factors within the text. Students need to be exposed to the vocabulary of a text before they can understand what the text means. The teacher must also give the student some background knowledge on the information. Teachers should find out how students feel about topics by giving an interest inventory. The question that I have about the text is how do you make something the students are not interested in fun for them. We all know that they are topics out there that we do not find interesting but we still had to learn about them. After reading this chapter, I now understand why I did not learn anything in my history classes. We did not use graphic organizers or any supplementary tools. I didn't want to learn about history and I wasn't interested in it. If my teacher had use other resources other than lecturing and the book, I may have learned something.
Chapter 9 discusses informational texts, which can sometimes be difficult for readers to comprehend. Just reading about something that is real can sometimes be boring to younger children, but I can see ways it can be an advantage too. My mentor teacher from my reading class had the students read their share of informational texts. The students enjoyed the informational text, as long as it was something they were interested in. They learned about rain forest animals, and after reading about them, wrote a paper about them. For first graders, this really impressed me. Children need all three factors mentioned in chapter 9 to be fully involved in reading and have a good attitude about reading. If the child's home doesn't have any books, magazines, or informational material, this will be difficult for them to learn while at home. I make sure that my son has all of the resources to educational things as he would at school. He's also lucky enough to have a librarian as a grandma so he can be exposed to educational things with her at her house and at the library. This chapter made me fully understand more of why I did not like learning information in school, such as history, because I wasn't comprehending correctly.
In response to Brandy: I completely agree with you about not being able to comprehend in history classes. They need more resources to learning the information, such as organizers. All we ever did was read the chapter in class, make it into an outline on the board, and do two different worksheets over the chapter or section. We never did anything else out of that cycle. I disliked it greatly!
Reading Informational text is rarely a student's favorite. However there are a few students who will prefer it over narrative surprisingly. I enjoyed this chapter not only because of the great way that they broke each type of text down, but it gave great ideas to helping students make sense of the informational text. I loved all the graphic organizers. I have struggled with reading informational text and it truly does make a difference if it is a subject of interest. I won't mention any certain classes but if all texts were as easy to read as this one then the drudgery of reading chapters would not be quite as bad. I have noticed within the last few years of working at the school that typically the students who prefer informational text typically have a better understanding of most of the vocabulary that is brought up in the classes.
In response to loriamaro: I also remember struggling with comprehension of informational text. I imagine most adults do. I never realized until now but the lack of informational text reading is mostly due to lack of interest or lack of comprehending. It is great that your son has great reading mentors.
I liked the scenario in this chapter. That is what I think of when I think about an effective teacher. Mr. Blackright works towards getting J.J. to like reading different texts. I can understand how some students have problems with reading. My best friend has trouble with reading and she didn’t particularly like to read in high school because the teachers wouldn’t help her. I remember actually seeing her read 2 books for enjoyment. Other than that she didn’t read at all. I’ve afraid that there are a lot of students like this and as future teachers we need to help students understand informational text like the chapter talks about. I really like the idea of graphic organizers for the books that you read. Depending on what the book is about (animals, space, earth, etc.) you could make the graphic organizer in the shape of something from the book (like on page 212). I found the section over factors within the reader’s environment. I knew that the child’s home and school help a child develop a love or hatred for reading. I didn’t know that the community also played a part in a students reading, but it makes sense though. When I was little my public library always had summer reading programs for the communities children to go to. I always loved going to these during the summer because I enjoyed reading and it helped instill a love of reading in me. My parents also loved to read and we spent time reading at home. I never thought that the books eye appeal depends on whether the student will read it or not. I always browse through the books that I want to read before I actually read them. If I find them boring I won’t even bother picking them up. There was one book that I had to read that I had no desire to read and I found it hard to finish. Teachers need to figure out ways to get their students engaged in reading and to love reading. That's one of the most important jobs of being a teacher.
I agree with you about informational texts, but there are some students who love them. Mostly those who have Aspergers, ADD, or ADHD. When they have a subject that they fixate on (my sisters is dinosaurs), then they will read anything on that particular fixation.
I also loved the graphic organizers. Especially the octopus one at the beginning of the chapter.
I too have often wondered how to make the "dull" and "boring" topics and readings more interesting and fun. I know there are many games and activities that can be modified to intise students interest, however, I hate to say, that I think there are going to be times in which students just don't enjoy the topic. With this being said, I do think that we can catch students attention, even if it just slightly, by incorporating different activities.
One area that students struggle with the most is informational reading. The vocabulary often proves to be difficult for some students There are several techniques and resources that students can use to improve their overall fluency of informational text. It is important that teacher review the vocabulary before reading. This is similar to what we do with our guided reading groups during our tutoring sessions. It is important that we incorporate several types of reading in our classrooms to meet the interests of our students. Students will most likely have a love or hate relationship with reading when they enter the classroom from previous experience rather they be in prior grades or from experiences of lack of reading exposure at home.
Brandy, I have a difficult time comprehending informational texts if I do not use some type of visual aid or graphic organizer that allows space for me to take notes. It is very different from reading narrative texts. I felt like this chapter had a lot of great examples and strategies which will help us to increase comprehension of informational text for our students, graphic organizers are always the best for me!
Ashley, You make such a great point in saying that vocabulary in informational texts often cause problems for students! I read a baseball guided reading text with my students and they had a very difficult time with the vocabulary. I was surprised because they both like baseball, but after we started reading I realized that they did not use the technical terms when talking about baseball with their friends. I definitely think it is important to go over vocabulary, build background knowledge, and reinforce vocabulary development throughout reading the text.
Once again, there are so many factors that affect a student’s ability to comprehend informational text. After looking at the text I feel that it is a very daunting task to not only teach students to read informational text, but also understand what they are reading. Several veteran teachers have mentioned to me that specific grade level textbooks are often too difficult for students at that grade level to understand, especially science and social studies textbooks. Teachers must be aware of the students’ reading level and determine if grade level textbooks are appropriate for instruction. Fortunately, our textbook mentions several different things to look for when analyzing informational texts, like textbooks, for our classroom. I have read one too many textbooks that I didn’t comprehend due to lack of interest or too difficult vocabulary. Teachers need to be aware of this so that they can do their best to provide students with appropriate informational texts. Teachers also need to use other materials, like graphic organizers, to enhance and help understand informational text. Chapter 9 provides some activities to do to help students better comprehend informational test. For example, inference training on page 243 helps connect the informational text with everyday experiences and make learning relevant for the student.
In response to Ashley R… Vocabulary in informational text often consists of new terms that students are not familiar with. You are right that this can give students trouble when attempting to comprehend informational text. Thank you for pointing out the importance of introducing these new terms with students so that they can better grasp what they are reading. I think that students often dislike reading informational text because they do not understand the vocabulary and that makes the reading meaningless. By understanding key words, students can better comprehend and begin to relate the information to their personal lives.
In response to Brandy...I know exactly what you mean! Thinking back to my high school days and earlier, we had nothing like graphic organizers to help us retain information and organize our thoughts. It's great to see my own children now learning with the aid of graphic organizers - they study and retain info in a completely different and much more positive way that I did. Organizers truly are the key to comprehension of informational text!
There was a lot of good information in this chapter about promoting good, solid comprehension of informational text. The chapter details the three factors affecting comprehension, which include factors within the reader, factors within the reader's environment, and factors within the text. I like that the chapter took the time to detail what the organizational structure of expository text looks like - it is so different than narrative text. We will have to be aware of its special challenges and teach students how to get through the information most effectively. I am (I'm sure we all are!!) a huge believer in graphic organizers and how effective they are as comprehension tools. As I am going through my social studies and science methods internships this sememster in 6th grade, and hardly a lesson goes by in either of these classes when we aren't utilizing a graphic organizer in some form. I have noticed that the students seem to have much more interest in the text since they work with graphic organizers so often - they are not intimidated or bored with long sections of historical or scientific information. Great recommendations for English language learners here as well. Overall, a very important chapter for us all regarding textbooks and other informative reading materials.
Comprehension is the breakdown of the reading. It describes different material that can be used for students so that you know and they understand the information that you are coming across to them. Sometimes you have to think of different ways to have the students understand the stories. It does mentions “formal assessments” which gives a different way to approach comprehension. My personally thought and how the reading reflects me is the visual aids are the best. I feel that having a piece of paper in-front of the student or something gives the student a better idea of the events. Having a teacher just display the information on the board and the students are trying their best to pay attention can be difficult sometimes. I think the book material gave great tools to use with comprehension.
In response to Julie L... I agree with you graphic organizers are great tools for the students to have. I feel that having different graphic organizers also keep the students interested instead of the same KWL.
This chapter was once again packed with useful information. There are three factors that can interfere with a student’s comprehension. Factor’s within the reader is probably the most frequent factor that could interfere with the child’s ability to comprehend, followed closely by the reader’s environment. Factor’s within the text is the final one, but I think that this would be linked to one of the other too somehow. Factor’s within the reader can include difficulty analyzing mutli-syllable words, the ability or lack of to read at an adequate rate, among many other things. I love the graphic organizer on pg 212 of the octopus. On page 213 of the text there is a list of characteristics of skilled and unskilled readers that I think is very helpful. The text goes on to talk about the organizational structure of expository texts. I have found that sequencing is something that can be pretty difficult for more students than I thought there would be. Compare/ contrast and cause and effect are things I have done with my tutoring group that I see them not fully grasping (as a whole group) when they are asked to do this they make it very general. For example in one story we read I asked them to tell one way the character was the same as them and one way he/she was different. Their answers were ‘he is a boy and I am a girl”, they were very simple and “right there” answers. I have also been working with them on problem solution and most of the group is beginning to look for more in depth problems where the solution may not be stated but more assumed, therefore making them think a little more about it. I did find it interesting that this text referenced our other text (CFC) for assessments. At the end of the chapter there is examples of the different ways to use the graphic organizers to check the understanding of the organizational text structures.
In response to Julie L., My social studies intern classes uses a lot of graphic organizers. I really do believe it helps them remember what they are reading. There is so much going on in the chapter that I have a hard time remembering one ruler from another. My science class doesn’t use a lot of graphic organizers, but they do crossword puzzles, flap books and games.
I really liked how Mr. Blackright in the scenario was able to figure out the J.J. thinks reading only involves stories. Honestly, I’m horrible at comprehending informational text, but I’m getting better because now I learned to look at the vocabulary first, headlines, anything in bold print. Then I go back and read the information. I find the graphic organizers to be very beneficial and I’ve been including them in my tutoring sessions. I looked through both my science and social studies internship textbooks and they both contain vocabulary that will be in the chapter, questions after a passage and at the end of the chapter. Both of my intern mentors use flap books in their classes. Social Studies had four questions that the students wrote on the front then they answered the question inside the flap and drew a picture relating to the answer. In science, she used the flap book for vocabulary and had them write the word on the outside and the definition inside with a corresponding picture. A great chapter on informational text with lots of ways to use graphic organizers for any subject.
Informational texts are not easy readers for a lot of children, however I think that the book gave several examples of how to make the process a little easier. Discussing key vocabulary, using creative graphic organizers and building on ones passed experiences or knowledge. My mentor teacher last year had a student who loved to read however, he despised reading informational texts. Therefore, the goal they set together was to read so many non fiction/informational texts. She was a fantastic teacher and had him look for books that had to do with an interest or background knowledge. He was then able to meet his goal and learn to appreciate informational texts for what they are worth. Like others have previously stated text books can be very hard to read and comprehend I think the text had a great idea with using the graphic organizers to enhance what they are reading.
I agree the scenario at the beginning of the chapter was yet again a great way to lead into this chapter. I love the scenarios and how they fit right in to what we will face. I also think that using the graphic organizers are a great tool in helping the students comprehend informational texts. I had to admit I am one who loves informational texts, far and few between I know, however, I know that they have a purpose and I can learn from them. However, the vocabulary in some are very difficult which can hinder to many students.
Comprehension of expository text is much more difficult for some students. The lack of a storyline, something they’ve become familiar with since first hearing books aloud, hampers their comprehension. However, there are many ways we can introduce students to this kind of text, and how to help them to understand what they read.
One of the examples the text gives is to use informational texts that also have narrative qualities. An example that comes to mind would be the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The books are non-fiction, although some details have been altered for the purposes of the story. However, they are written in story format. A student could easily comprehend what life was like for people of the late 1800s by reading these books.
I appreciated the look at the three factors that affect informational comprehension; however, although prior knowledge and experience are listed as important components, this chapter did not go into much detail in building these experiences. Multimedia would be a good way to introduce a concept before reading about it. For instance, the teacher could introduce a unit about sharks by watching some video, then reading the text. The students would already have been exposed to hearing the specific vocabulary before reading it.
The section on comprehension for ELL students was well written. The example of the teacher acting out the text helped me to “see” how to handle new vocabulary for these students.
In all, I’ve decided to include more expository text in my tutoring sessions, as it seems this is where many students struggle the most.
In response to Hannah B. Isn't it interesting that, even at our level, textbooks can still be poorly written/designed? It might be just me, but even college level texts that offer too much text without variation (such as different font sizes, readability, etc.) are difficult to comprehend.
I think that the scenario at the beginning of Chapter 9 is a great example of why getting to know students and their interests is important. Not all students will enjoy reading informational texts and finding a topic of interest can help get students to value these types of texts. This is especially important for struggling readers in order to help them read more and become more interested in the act of reading. This chapter details the three major factors that affect comprehension of informational text. It is important to understand how these factors affect each student in order to increase their interest in informational texts. I was lucky growing up in a household where my parents not only read to me but took me to the library often. I can remember being excited for Saturday because it was the day we went to the library and I could find new books to read. Our community library had a great section for children and this really helped me become a better reader. In the classroom it is important for instructors to teach children how to read informational texts. This can be a difficult genre for many students because the books are so different from narrative texts. The chapter provides good examples of organizational patterns often found in expository texts. My Reading Internship class last semester spent a lot of time learning about expository texts and the different ways in which they are written. I think I am lucky to have witnessed these lessons as they will surely help me pass this information on to my students.
Response to Ashley R: I agree that vocabulary can be a difficult aspect of informational reading, and it is important to review new vocabulary terms prior to reading a passage. It will certainly help students remain engaged in the passage if they understand these key terms prior to reading.
Chapter nine was about comprehending informational text. I really liked how the chapter outlined and explained the different factors a student must master to be able to comprehend this type of text. It is helpful to know exactly what the student must know to be successful when reading. It was also very helpful when the text went through the different layouts of expository text and teaching strategies for expository text. The chapter also did a great job of explaining each of the different assessment tools. I really like the cloze assessment and the different graphic organizers. I also liked how the text explained how to choose informational text. The activities in the back of the book were also helpful in teaching and assessing comprehension with informational text. The quote at the beginning of the chapter sums teaching up very well in my opinion. I really appreciated the fact that it shows exactly how a teacher needs to be. As teachers, we are not there to just pour information into students and hope for the best, it is our job to help students reach their potential and help them along their educational journey. I see this in my tutoring sessions and also in my internship classes.
In response to Tyler G…I agree that it is really important to learn about the students and their individual interests. Without this knowledge, it would be more difficult to reach the students and get them interested in reading! Working with my tutoring students this semester, I finally see what it is like to try to get students interested in reading when there isn’t any interest to start with! I too remember going to the library to get books to read and it was a special treat to get new books and also when my mother would read to me. I definitely credit this with my love of reading! Even though I love reading, I can definitely relate to the dislike of informational texts! If the content is over something that does not interest me, I have a hard time reading it!
Sometimes I find that I forget all the skills it requires to be a good all-around reader. There are so many things students have to master to be good comprehensive readers and I wish I could remember what it was like when I was little and trying to learn to read, but for some reason I can't pull up any of those memories. I often think it may help me relate to my students' problems more clearly if I could remember what it was like when I was their age. Besides all the specific skills like decoding, the students have to be able to relate to what they are reading on some level if they are to understand any of it. So background knowledge and interest play a big role. It would be like expecting a third grader to understand some scientific article about nuclear fusion. Even if they could decode any unfamiliar words, since they most likely have no background knowledge of the topic they still won't have a clue what they just read. (I probably wouldn't either) The material we present our students has to be somewhat familiar so they can relate to it if they are to build their knowledge base adequately. Informational text can be difficult for students to relate to if it's not at an appropriate level to correspond with their prior knowledge or interests. I like the idea of using supplementary material along with a text. That would get really old eventaully if their was nothing but text work.
Chapter 9 covered the comprehension of informational text. I thought this chapter was great because as it pointed out, many children love to read narrative text but really struggle with informational text. The three major factors that affect the comprehension process of informational text are the factors within the reader, factors within the reader's environment, and factors within the text. This quote really stood out to me on page 213, " A positive attitude toward learning and reading is key to being a successful lifelong learner." Such a great quote! I thought that this chapter did a wonderful job in explaining all of the organizational structures of expository text. Also, for ELL students it is important that the teacher scaffold instruction when reading informational books. I never realized how many different methods of assessment, both informal and formal, could be used for informational texts. I have seen children who dread reading informational text in my internship classes so it is great to get ideas and tools on how to make reading informational text both fun and beneficial for students!
In response to Shylah-- I completely agree about not being able to remember what it what like learning how to read. I remember reading when I was young, but I can't pull up the memory of how I acquired all of the skills needed to read. I like that you pointed out the absolute necessary of the students' background knowledge. If the students are unfamiliar with the material, then even if they are good readers with all the right tools, they will still not be able to comprehend the text. Educators, as you said, need to make sure the informational text is at the level of the students as well as providing some supplementary material to go along with it. Great post and great points that you addressed!
Becky, I think the factors necessary to understand text were outlined well also. It's crazy how many skills students have to posess to really comprehend what they read. I liked the octopus graphic organizer! It was really cute and different. And you do make a very good point about not just throwing as much information at our students as possible and "hoping for the best."
Chapter 9 in the DeVries text is about Comprehension of Informational Text. I really enjoyed reading through the scenario because I feel like there are several children out there who have the same thinking as J.J. It is amazing how much graphic organizers can help a student comprehend the text better, and the great thing about graphic organizers is that they can be used in a variety of ways. How quickly do children pick up on the fact that they are filling out graphic organizers? Even if they are used in a variety of ways, do they always realize it is a “graphic organizer?” The scenario gave me a better idea of how to handle a student who doesn’t enjoy informational text. As a future educator, I need to make sure and understand the factors that affect the comprehension process of informational text: 1. Factor’s within the reader 2. Factors within the reader’s environment 3. Factors within the text. Each factor plays a different role in understanding why the child reads and understands the things they do and why they comprehend it that way. Figure 9.3 really helped me understand how certain words are broke down and their meaning. It is definitely something I will refer back to. I was glad the text broke down each segment of the Figure (chronology or sequence, description or enumeration, listing, classification or hierarchy, comparison/contrast, cause/effect, problem/solution, and persuasion). Figure 9.6 reminds me of Bloom’s Taxonomy questions. I think it is a graphic organizer that could be used when asking Bloom’s questions. It is something that would really make the students think about what they are reading because they have to understand the text enough to ask questions about it. I’m glad the text had a section where it listed some valuable information about English Learners and Expository Text because I have encountered several ELL students these past two years in internship.
I love that quote! It is simple, yet so true! I think as future educators we need to keep that quote in mind because we play a major factor in helping students have a positive attitude about reading. The factors are a big thing to remember because certain factors may affect a student more than other students. This chapter did a great job of breaking the information down and giving different scenarios for each thing.
This chapter gave some great reading strategies to aid in reading comprehension of expository text. I think informational texts can sometimes be difficult for readers to comprehend which makes it so important to teach these strategies to our students. One of the biggest keys in selecting informational text is to be sure it is interesting to the student. This is why it is so important that we take the time to get to know our students and where interest inventories can be a good tool to use. Another thing I took away from reading this chapter is that students struggle with informational reading because the vocabulary is too difficult at times. This proved true in one of my previous lessons with my 3rd graders. My students had all background knowledge on baseball and were very interested in the topic; however, after reading an expository text on baseball I found they did not understand a lot of the technical terms used in sports and baseball. After observing this, we worked on the vocabulary words using flashcards as well as forming sentences using the vocabulary words. This improved both the readers’ fluency and comprehension dramatically. This was a great example of why it is important for the teacher to review vocabulary before reading text.
In response to Jaclyn: I believe you are absolutely right about graphic organizers! During tutoring this semester, I have found graphic organizers to be a great way for students to organize and visually see the information they are working with. My students struggled with comprehension until I used graphic organizers in my lessons. I also recently did a lesson on baseball with my 3rd grade students. I can relate because like your students, my students had the background knowledge yet still struggled with some of the technical terms. We used note cards to work on vocabulary words and then students used the words to form sentences. It was amazing how much this strategy helped the students remember the terms! I also used a graphic organizer during my lesson and it was very successful. Best of luck on your lesson!
Kacey, Did you use the baseball story from the Reading A to Z website? I had the same problem with that story and I learned that although the students really like baseball, they did not know many of the technical terms used in the sport. We ended up working very intensely on vocabulary and it really helped the students to build their fluency and comprehension for the story. I learned that I should never take for granted the fact that students will know all of the vocabulary because it is a popular topic which they enjoy!
Chapter 9 is all about the comprehension of informational texts. I wasn’t surprised to read that expository texts are difficult for students to read and comprehend the material. I still have difficulty-reading textbooks. For one, expository texts usually use a whole new set of vocabulary words for the students. I think it is important to keep in mind that just because a student has an interest in it, it doesn’t mean that the student knows everything about it. So as teachers we need to fill that part. The student’s interest is the key part but now as teachers we have to give the student all the pieces he/she needs to succeed and learn about the subject. Once again I love all the activities used in our Devries text. To start with the activities the first example on page 212 is a great graphic organizer. The octopus is a great visual aid. The student’s will know right away that the facts are all about the octopus. I love all of the graphic organizers presented to us in this chapter. As I was reading through each one my mind kept going off into how could I use this in my tutor group? I really like the use of the think-aloud. Modeling is a great way for students to learn not only comprehension but also fluency. I thought the scanning activity was interesting. So often I feel that students hunting for the answers is viewed as a bad skill, but the texts state that the students need to learn the skill of scanning so they are able to identify the most important parts of a text.
I love that quote too! I think this is why learning about each student individually is super important. If students don't have an interest what they are learning then they are not going to enjoy reading and learning about the topic. I really like that we have learned in this class to have the students fill out an interest inventory. Also I am so glad that all of our instructors constantly state how important it is for us as teachers to get to know our students.
Chapter 9 is regarding different ways to improve comprehension while reading. Once again, the best way of doing this is with graphic organizers. The chapter also talks about working with the student on the vocabulary before reading the text so they can understand what they read better.
I was surprised to read that of the three factors within the reader’s environment, home most affects reading comprehension and is the foundation upon which attitudes toward reading are built. What happens if you come from a family who doesn’t like to read?
I use a graphic organizer in every LP for my tutoring. I want to make sure they understand either what I read or what they read. My Social Studies class that I am mentoring in passes out a handout that she helps the students fill out after they have gone over a section. That would SO have helped me in school. The test comes right off the handout. All the students have to do is study the handout. WOW.
I too am very fond of graphic organizers and have learned to use them A LOT in my tutoring. I have found some fun ones that I print off in color just to make them more fun, and I try to make them go along with my books. My theme is Dr Seuss, so they are pretty easy to find.
I also include 1 graphic organizer in the student’s portfolio each week so at the end of the 20 weeks, there will be 10 graphic organizers for the student to take home and show mom and dad. I thought this would be a neat way for them to show off their work.
Of all the three major factors given in the beginning of Chapter 9, I believe "factors within the reader" are the most important. Specifically, prior knowledge and experience are the most important according to Anders and Lloyd (page 213) as opposed to reading ability when comprehending informational text.
There is research that proves students who experienced going to the zoo, the museum, or going on walks in the woods with their guardians or adult figures help build prior knowledge experiences. What happens when children never get these experiences? Does it set them farther behind other?
The nation's budget cuts are limiting the amount of field trips students can take to museums or nature walks so they aren't able to build prior knowledge that will help them to READ later on... But then they are expected to read an informational paragraph about dinosaurs and answer questions about it even though their school couldn't afford to take a field trip to the Sternberg Museum (for example)
I think it's fabulous that you're including Graphic Organizers as opposed to worksheets, worksheets, worksheets. Keep in mind that Chapter 9 also talks about prior knowledge experiences. Make sure you're connecting with your students while reading to make sure they understand what the informational text is about. Bring in primary sources in your Social Studies class or have a veteran talk to the class about a war. Let those students build prior knowledge so they can fill out the graphic organizers later on.
Like your internships for Social Studies and Science, mine are similar. When the class is starting a new section or chapter, my mentor teacher first goes over the vocabulary for the section or chapter. When she does this, she asks the students if they know what the word might mean before they start reading. The class that I am in for these internships are eager and excited when it is science or social studies time, they love reading about these subjects. When they finish the chapter, the review questions and even the worksheets that go with the chapter pertain to all of the vocabulary that was in the unit.
This chapter discussed informational text and the different structures that can be used. I found it interesting that persuasive text and informational text are put together because at our school persuasive text is not even discussed until 5th grade. I think that the part I liked best about the chapter is the variety of graphic organizers. I have been working at an elementary school for five years and I have only seen the KWL and Venn Diagram used most of the time. I think some of these organizers would be really nice to use because they are different and students would be more apt to remember the information in the future. The text also stated that some struggling readers come from parents that were struggling readers or had bad experiences with reading. In a lot of instances this is true. Children learn what they live and if parents do not impress the importance of reading it is a struggle for the teacher to change that perception. I believe that we are in such a technology rich society that printed materials such as newspapers and magazines, are slowly losing out to the internet. What I am trying to say is that there is so much more to pull a child away from reading a book that when you couple that with other factors it compounds the problem.
Chapter 9 was about comprehension in informational texts. For me I found that the chapter was full of examples that will help students with comprehension when reading this type of text. I know that as a student, I had trouble with this type of text. I was always interested in the science and what went with learning about science. When it came to history, I found that I liked the subject but had a hard time comprehending what I was reading. I found the activities and graphic organizers that were provided in the chapter to be very helpful. I am actually using one of the examples this week in my LP for tutoring.
The graphic organized based on Octopus’ Den by Deirdre Langeland on pg 212, fig 9.1 is super cute! I am actually reading Because of Winn-Dixie in my tutoring class and I am thinking that would be super cute to do on a dog outline for my story. I was trying to figure out some comprehension activities for this story and I think this would be something my kindergarten students would like. All these graphic organizers that are in this chapter are so useful!
Jen Hittle – informational texts are not easy readers for a lot of people not just children! I think this book does give some really good examples of how to use informational texts and make them easy and useful. Graphic organizers are the best and they are so useful for so many activities.
I agree that background knowledge is very important to help readers make connections to the text. Our school does not have opportunities to take field trips like they used to either. Sometimes that is the only time some students get to visit different places. I don't know that it would make them farther behind, but I don't think they would have the curiosity or desire to learn more about a topic.
One of the main things I noticed about the kids in my internship classes was that they never read anything that didn’t interest them in some way shape or form. When the book talked about interests and attitudes, I knew I was going to be able to write quite a bit on that subject. When I was in grade school, we had the Accelerated Reader program. It was a great way to encourage students to read because there was always a prize for however many points you received. For each grade level, there were specific books we had to read and we couldn’t pick up anything harder unless our teacher said it was okay that we read it. Since most of the books were not interesting to me, I never read because why read something that I had no desire to read. This program lasted up through eighth grade and by then, I really didn’t care. I think this is important to remember when we are in our own classrooms; each of our students will have a different preference on what they like to read and we have to provide them with a variety of reading materials. As teachers, we have to have a positive outlook on reading and encourage our students to read because it can be fun. Some students don’t like reading because maybe there are people in their family who say that reading is dumb and that they hate it; ultimately, we will have a student who is like this in our classrooms and it is up to us to show them and expose them to reading materials that he or she might find interesting.
The next area I read that caught my attention was the section over the important areas within the reader’s environment. One of the most important places a child is most of the time is at home; because of this, parents need to be encouraged to read to their children and show them that reading can be fun. When I was growing up, I remember my grandma reading me a book and I loved it; she even made different voices for all the animals and I couldn’t get enough of it. Even though I made her read the same book almost every time, I still loved how she read it; she made it fun! What parents do in the home with the children is important but some children are not all going to come from homes like ours. As teachers we need to help get the parents involved as well and help them to see that reading is important to do at home and not just in the school setting.
Close to the end of the chapter, I really liked the graphic organizer ideas they had on the pages. They had some really neat things to use for different reading materials that could include cause and effect relationships, they use compare and contrast, and they give problem and solution ones as well. I have seen many of these in action in my internships and the students seem to like them a lot depending on how it is used in the lesson. I thought that the chapter had some very good points to keep in mind when we start teaching later in the future.
In response to Margaret W: I had some difficulty with comprehension when I was in school also. I always found that when the reading contained information that was more higher level thinking or critical thinking I really had a hard time comprehending. I would read the text over and over until I finally understood what they were talking about. Sometimes when we would read a chapter book, I would still have to go back and reread some things because some parts didn't make since. I thought the book provided good examples and information to use for this in the classroom.
This chapter was very helpful for teachers when they are having their students read directly from their textbooks, which we did a lot in school. Reading text books is usually always boring and tough to read, but if you have graphic organizers and worksheets to fill out while you read it makes the text easier to understand and easier to understand. I really liked that in this chapter it gave the teachers great ideas to use in the classroom for graphic organizers and different strategies to use.
After reading Chatper 9, I have learned that there are there factors that affect the comprehension process: factors with the reader, the reader’s environment, and the text. Factors with the reader include prior knowledge and experience. Factors with the reader’s environment include home, community, and school. Factors with the text include sequence, description, classification, compare/contrast, cause/effect, problem/solution and persuasion. I really thought the chart on page 214 of the characteristics of skilled and unskilled readers of informational text was very interesting. Personally, whenever my children choose a book the number one factor is eye appeal! Who wants to read a book that looks boring? I am the same way! I love eye popping covers and illustrations! I also think that readability is a huge factor when choosing books. I am afraid that many textbooks that schools use are not on the correct readability level for the appropriate grade. This is unfortunate. Lastly, I really liked the graphic organizer examples starting on page 236. I am a big fan of graphic organizers and really like including them in my lesson plans as often as possible. I also like the paragraph framing activity and the scanning practice activity.
I really liked your idea of using graphic organizers for textbooks! I think that it definitely helps with comprehension and depending on the graphic organizer, it could make reading from the textbook more enjoyable! Thanks for sharing your great idea!
The three factors affecting the comprehension process, factors within the reader, community, and text itself, all deserve special attention. These factors are restated as being very influential throughout this whole text. I couldn’t agree more! Most people don’t realize how much a child learns about reading outside of the classroom and variety of influences everyday life has on it. Building better readers is as much of a community project as it is the family and schools job. I was not a fan of most informational texts growing up and I still opt to try to do something myself before bothering to read the instructions, which I almost always have to resort back too. I think that the graphic organizers and outlines that my teachers had us use when reading informative material were very helpful. It gave us a sense of direction for comprehension of the text and was a great to be able to look back and remember what the text was about without completely re-reading it. I have seen an increase in the amount of graphic organizers used in schools since I was in elementary school, and I think it is great! I think it is even more important to know a child’s reading level when you are having them to read informational texts. Since most children do not enjoy reading informational texts, having the material be full of unknown vocabulary words and above or at the top of their comprehension level is in my opinion, setting the child up for failure or to learn to hate reading this type of text. Would most reading experts recommend starting out reading informational text over content that they are very familiar with to encourage an understanding of the type of text and to teach them how to pull valuable information from it? Teaching children to understand how to read different types of informative texts, comprehend the information, and even be able to write their own piece of it is essential in today’s world. As we grow older, more and more of the text we read is informational rather than narrative. Being able to easily follow the directions and understand the points of the text help us to function as part of society. For example, being able to read a drivers-ED manual makes us aware of driver’s safety and rules of the road. If misinterpret the material because we don’t know how to read it in the correct way might put us as a risk to the rest of the community or anyone/thing who is on the roads. Lucky for us, we don’t rely strictly on textbooks and pamphlets etc. for informational texts anymore and can receive the same materials on video, audio, magazines etc. Presenting informative information through a variety of media does a better job of reaching all types of learners. I think that the variety of media to teach this type of content will make it easier for a teacher to keep her student on task and interested in the material being presented.
I really liked those graphic organizers and activities too! I think that the readability level of many text books used in school is that of a student who is right right above grade level. They don’t seem to take into consideration that students become more proficient readers as the year goes on, they are written at that one reading level. This is why graphic organizers are so handy and helpful for students, and a simple way to help teachers combat the issue of an inappropriate reading level of text.
This chapter was one that I was really looking forward to reading because I know in my elementary years I was not always a fan of reading the informational text that was assigned to us. I found the three factors, within the reader, within the reader’s environment, and within the text, listed in the text to be a great way of understanding why students may struggle with reading informational text. In my tutoring sessions, we are working on the different text structures, so it was great to read all the information. I feel it is important to help relate what we are learning the tutoring sessions to the student’s everyday learning, so I am going to try to find materials suggested in the text to use in my tutoring sessions.
I really enjoy practicing asking students the before, during, and after questions with the read alouds and guided reading stories. So, the pre-reading question examples on page 222 in Figure 9.6 were great to read!
Also, the graphic organizer examples at the end of the chapter were also important to see. I use graphic organizers quite often in my tutoring sessions because I love the results they provide for me and the students. It truly helps me understand where the students do not understand, and what sections may need more work on. The graphic organizers in Figure 9.19, 9.21, and 9.22 were all organizers that I have used within my tutoring sessions in the past week!
In response to Jen Hittle, I thought all of the suggestions within this chapter were great. I enjoyed reading about all the different strategies the textbook had to share. My favorite were the graphic organizers though, I have always enjoyed the use of these better than a simple worksheet. A graphic organizer makes the students really understand what the text meant rather than the students having to answer plain black-and-white questions that can be looked back up in the text. I really appreciate you sharing your experience with your mentor teacher and the student she worked with. It is important that your mentor teacher really understand the student’s interests and included them in his reading activities.
Chapter 9 discussed comprehending informational texts. I know a lot of students find informational text such as History books or text books in general to be boring but they have a great place in the classroom. The book gave several great ideas for making informational text easier for children to read and understand. Making it more fun is something to think about. I know also that text books are often written a couple grades above grade level which can also deter the reader. If they can’t understand it even if they try they are less likely to try again. In one of my previous internships I had sixth grade SS and I thought their book was a little too difficult for them. They often had a lot of questions and struggled to understand it. The teacher did a lot of vocabulary from it and it seemed to help.
In response to Emily: I also like the results you can get from using a graphic organizer but I can remember filling out the same graphic organizer again and again in grade school. Since then I have found others but I was wondering if you've found a good website etc. to find different types?
Informal texts are often a struggle for students, at least more so of a struggle than narrative texts. I think one of the most important things to do with students prior to starting informal reading would be to review all the different text features such as captions, headings, titles, maps, charts, etc. I think once they understand all the different components it will be a great help when they are reading informal texts. It's hard for students, or even anyone to completely understand and soak up everything they read in informal texts so knowing what headings and bold faced words are will help them pick out what's really important. Graphic organizers are also great when introducing informal texts. I think having the students pick out the characters, setting, main ideas, etc. will be a great took for them to look back on if they need a reminder. Students just reading out of a text book will soon become very boring to them and attention spans will vanish. The thing to remember when teaching informal text is to relate it to the students lives and let them engage themselves in discussions and activities that correspond to the specific reading.
In response to Shaina: I completely agree with you about making informal reading fun and that students get bored really easily if what they are reading doesn't make any sense to them. I find in my internship this semester that there are a ton of words my fourth graders don't understand. I think prior to reading the chapter the teacher should give a vocab review and maybe that would help the comprehension. I'll be sure to recommend that to my mentor teacher.
Reading informational text can be very hard for the students. Interest surveys are important when reading informational texts. Reading text that is not interesting is really hard for a student to comprehend and focus on. Finding what the students are interested in when choosing reading materials, will make them be involved in the reading experience better. When a student is told what they have to read, they will more than likely not want to read it as much. They like to choose what they are reading about and how much they are going to read. Sometimes, they need to understand that they have to read stuff they are not interested in because it is in the curriculum, but a teacher can make it interesting for them to read the material. I think web diagrams are also a great toll for students to write about a topic. I have a hard time concentrating and comprehending something that is just plain information. The only way I have any interest in it, then I am able to read it a little more easier.
In response to Jaclyn C – I agree that graphic organizers are a very great tool for students to use. I think when students are able to fill out a graphic organizer whether it be a Venn diagram or a web diagram, they can write their own ideas and thoughts about the topic being studied. Also, they can write any questions they have that they want to learn more about the topic. I think when students read informational texts, they are reading the important factors in regards to that topic, but they don’t care as much because they have no interest in the topic.
Many students struggle with reading informational text. It brings on new components for readers to understand. Technical vocabulary, charts, new units for measurement and labeling objects, and a need to draw on many specific experiences are all examples of items that students need to help in reading and comprehending informational texts.
ReplyDeleteI have stated this in previous posts, but I feel that graphic organizers are a very effective way to help students build background knowledge, prepare for the reading, focus during reading, and reflect after reading. When students have questions and structure that help direct their thinking it provides a greater focus for the purpose of reading the material.
Taking an interest inventory is also important when reading informational texts. It is very difficult for all readers to focus and comprehend material that is not interesting. Trying to find materials that will interest the greatest number of students can be helpful. When we are able to read and write about topics that interest us the experience will be more engaging. If anyone has any ideas for informational texts that would work for a 3rd-4th grade boy I would love suggestions!
The students that I am tutoring have a very difficult time with vocabulary words. We are beginning a guided reading lesson on a nonfiction informational book about baseball. The students enjoy baseball and they have a great deal of background knowledge, but they are still struggling with many of the technical terms. I think that figure 9.17 on page 237 will be a very helpful resource for me. I plan on having students write baseball as the main idea in the middle of the organizer. Then I will have them write the different areas of baseball that we will be discussing (i.e. rules, equipment, and teams). Students will then be able to fill in details about each of the areas. They will have the opportunity to write in different vocabulary words which will help them tie the words to the context of baseball.
In Response to Jaclyn C.
ReplyDeleteI too agree that graphic organizers are a very great tool. This type of reading also gives students an opportunity to take notes on what they read. I have in the past had students make note card of important facts and organize them. This can also be done with sticky notes. Love the baseball idea!
This is where I see many students have trouble comprehending. This is a very different type of reading and students need to be trained to use informational text. Many times these types of books are not as interesting as narrative books and the students need to be transitioned to information texts and learn how to read them. In the classroom that I am doing my social studies/science internship in they do not use textbooks they use a series of trade books. They have found that students respond better to non-fiction trade books and the students find them more fun to read then the traditional text book. I thought figure 9.3 was a great word bank for students to know and would be a great addition to post in the classroom. These are words that students may not be familiar with and they need to know in order to comprehend informative text. Teachers can also read these types of books for read alouds and model the thinking process needed for informational texts. In 4th and 5th grade many of these text structures are assessed and the more familiar students become with them is best and can be done before these grade levels. I personally enjoy reading expository text and have always enjoyed so. I hope that this spills into the lives of my students!
In response to Jaclyn:
ReplyDeleteI think that you are right about graphic organizers. They are a great way to help students understand the information that they are being given. I use graphic organizers for my tutoring students for the books that we read and it helps tremendously. It gives the students something to focus on while they are reading.
Chapter 9 is about comprehension of information text. This chapter covers ways to improve comprehension when reading informational text. Even I have a hard time concentrating on something that is just information. If it doesn't interest me, I don't want to read it. But there is information out there that we must learn some how and this chapter is full of ideas for teachers. There are three factors that affect the comprehension process. They are the factors within the reader, factors within the readers environment, and factors within the text. Students need to be exposed to the vocabulary of a text before they can understand what the text means. The teacher must also give the student some background knowledge on the information. Teachers should find out how students feel about topics by giving an interest inventory.
ReplyDeleteThe question that I have about the text is how do you make something the students are not interested in fun for them. We all know that they are topics out there that we do not find interesting but we still had to learn about them.
After reading this chapter, I now understand why I did not learn anything in my history classes. We did not use graphic organizers or any supplementary tools. I didn't want to learn about history and I wasn't interested in it. If my teacher had use other resources other than lecturing and the book, I may have learned something.
Chapter 9 discusses informational texts, which can sometimes be difficult for readers to comprehend. Just reading about something that is real can sometimes be boring to younger children, but I can see ways it can be an advantage too. My mentor teacher from my reading class had the students read their share of informational texts. The students enjoyed the informational text, as long as it was something they were interested in. They learned about rain forest animals, and after reading about them, wrote a paper about them. For first graders, this really impressed me. Children need all three factors mentioned in chapter 9 to be fully involved in reading and have a good attitude about reading. If the child's home doesn't have any books, magazines, or informational material, this will be difficult for them to learn while at home. I make sure that my son has all of the resources to educational things as he would at school. He's also lucky enough to have a librarian as a grandma so he can be exposed to educational things with her at her house and at the library. This chapter made me fully understand more of why I did not like learning information in school, such as history, because I wasn't comprehending correctly.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Brandy:
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you about not being able to comprehend in history classes. They need more resources to learning the information, such as organizers. All we ever did was read the chapter in class, make it into an outline on the board, and do two different worksheets over the chapter or section. We never did anything else out of that cycle. I disliked it greatly!
Reading Informational text is rarely a student's favorite. However there are a few students who will prefer it over narrative surprisingly. I enjoyed this chapter not only because of the great way that they broke each type of text down, but it gave great ideas to helping students make sense of the informational text. I loved all the graphic organizers. I have struggled with reading informational text and it truly does make a difference if it is a subject of interest. I won't mention any certain classes but if all texts were as easy to read as this one then the drudgery of reading chapters would not be quite as bad. I have noticed within the last few years of working at the school that typically the students who prefer informational text typically have a better understanding of most of the vocabulary that is brought up in the classes.
ReplyDeleteIn response to loriamaro: I also remember struggling with comprehension of informational text. I imagine most adults do. I never realized until now but the lack of informational text reading is mostly due to lack of interest or lack of comprehending. It is great that your son has great reading mentors.
ReplyDeleteI liked the scenario in this chapter. That is what I think of when I think about an effective teacher. Mr. Blackright works towards getting J.J. to like reading different texts. I can understand how some students have problems with reading.
ReplyDeleteMy best friend has trouble with reading and she didn’t particularly like to read in high school because the teachers wouldn’t help her. I remember actually seeing her read 2 books for enjoyment. Other than that she didn’t read at all. I’ve afraid that there are a lot of students like this and as future teachers we need to help students understand informational text like the chapter talks about.
I really like the idea of graphic organizers for the books that you read. Depending on what the book is about (animals, space, earth, etc.) you could make the graphic organizer in the shape of something from the book (like on page 212).
I found the section over factors within the reader’s environment. I knew that the child’s home and school help a child develop a love or hatred for reading. I didn’t know that the community also played a part in a students reading, but it makes sense though. When I was little my public library always had summer reading programs for the communities children to go to. I always loved going to these during the summer because I enjoyed reading and it helped instill a love of reading in me. My parents also loved to read and we spent time reading at home.
I never thought that the books eye appeal depends on whether the student will read it or not. I always browse through the books that I want to read before I actually read them. If I find them boring I won’t even bother picking them up. There was one book that I had to read that I had no desire to read and I found it hard to finish.
Teachers need to figure out ways to get their students engaged in reading and to love reading. That's one of the most important jobs of being a teacher.
In response to Janet H:
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about informational texts, but there are some students who love them. Mostly those who have Aspergers, ADD, or ADHD. When they have a subject that they fixate on (my sisters is dinosaurs), then they will read anything on that particular fixation.
I also loved the graphic organizers. Especially the octopus one at the beginning of the chapter.
In response to Brandy....
ReplyDeleteI too have often wondered how to make the "dull" and "boring" topics and readings more interesting and fun. I know there are many games and activities that can be modified to intise students interest, however, I hate to say, that I think there are going to be times in which students just don't enjoy the topic. With this being said, I do think that we can catch students attention, even if it just slightly, by incorporating different activities.
One area that students struggle with the most is informational reading. The vocabulary often proves to be difficult for some students There are several techniques and resources that students can use to improve their overall fluency of informational text. It is important that teacher review the vocabulary before reading. This is similar to what we do with our guided reading groups during our tutoring sessions. It is important that we incorporate several types of reading in our classrooms to meet the interests of our students. Students will most likely have a love or hate relationship with reading when they enter the classroom from previous experience rather they be in prior grades or from experiences of lack of reading exposure at home.
ReplyDeleteBrandy,
ReplyDeleteI have a difficult time comprehending informational texts if I do not use some type of visual aid or graphic organizer that allows space for me to take notes. It is very different from reading narrative texts. I felt like this chapter had a lot of great examples and strategies which will help us to increase comprehension of informational text for our students, graphic organizers are always the best for me!
Ashley,
ReplyDeleteYou make such a great point in saying that vocabulary in informational texts often cause problems for students! I read a baseball guided reading text with my students and they had a very difficult time with the vocabulary. I was surprised because they both like baseball, but after we started reading I realized that they did not use the technical terms when talking about baseball with their friends. I definitely think it is important to go over vocabulary, build background knowledge, and reinforce vocabulary development throughout reading the text.
Once again, there are so many factors that affect a student’s ability to comprehend informational text. After looking at the text I feel that it is a very daunting task to not only teach students to read informational text, but also understand what they are reading. Several veteran teachers have mentioned to me that specific grade level textbooks are often too difficult for students at that grade level to understand, especially science and social studies textbooks. Teachers must be aware of the students’ reading level and determine if grade level textbooks are appropriate for instruction. Fortunately, our textbook mentions several different things to look for when analyzing informational texts, like textbooks, for our classroom. I have read one too many textbooks that I didn’t comprehend due to lack of interest or too difficult vocabulary. Teachers need to be aware of this so that they can do their best to provide students with appropriate informational texts. Teachers also need to use other materials, like graphic organizers, to enhance and help understand informational text. Chapter 9 provides some activities to do to help students better comprehend informational test. For example, inference training on page 243 helps connect the informational text with everyday experiences and make learning relevant for the student.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Ashley R…
ReplyDeleteVocabulary in informational text often consists of new terms that students are not familiar with. You are right that this can give students trouble when attempting to comprehend informational text. Thank you for pointing out the importance of introducing these new terms with students so that they can better grasp what they are reading. I think that students often dislike reading informational text because they do not understand the vocabulary and that makes the reading meaningless. By understanding key words, students can better comprehend and begin to relate the information to their personal lives.
In response to Brandy...I know exactly what you mean! Thinking back to my high school days and earlier, we had nothing like graphic organizers to help us retain information and organize our thoughts. It's great to see my own children now learning with the aid of graphic organizers - they study and retain info in a completely different and much more positive way that I did. Organizers truly are the key to comprehension of informational text!
ReplyDeleteThere was a lot of good information in this chapter about promoting good, solid comprehension of informational text. The chapter details the three factors affecting comprehension, which include factors within the reader, factors within the reader's environment, and factors within the text. I like that the chapter took the time to detail what the organizational structure of expository text looks like - it is so different than narrative text. We will have to be aware of its special challenges and teach students how to get through the information most effectively. I am (I'm sure we all are!!) a huge believer in graphic organizers and how effective they are as comprehension tools. As I am going through my social studies and science methods internships this sememster in 6th grade, and hardly a lesson goes by in either of these classes when we aren't utilizing a graphic organizer in some form. I have noticed that the students seem to have much more interest in the text since they work with graphic organizers so often - they are not intimidated or bored with long sections of historical or scientific information. Great recommendations for English language learners here as well. Overall, a very important chapter for us all regarding textbooks and other informative reading materials.
ReplyDeleteComprehension is the breakdown of the reading. It describes different material that can be used for students so that you know and they understand the information that you are coming across to them. Sometimes you have to think of different ways to have the students understand the stories. It does mentions “formal assessments” which gives a different way to approach comprehension. My personally thought and how the reading reflects me is the visual aids are the best. I feel that having a piece of paper in-front of the student or something gives the student a better idea of the events. Having a teacher just display the information on the board and the students are trying their best to pay attention can be difficult sometimes. I think the book material gave great tools to use with comprehension.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Julie L...
ReplyDeleteI agree with you graphic organizers are great tools for the students to have. I feel that having different graphic organizers also keep the students interested instead of the same KWL.
This chapter was once again packed with useful information. There are three factors that can interfere with a student’s comprehension. Factor’s within the reader is probably the most frequent factor that could interfere with the child’s ability to comprehend, followed closely by the reader’s environment. Factor’s within the text is the final one, but I think that this would be linked to one of the other too somehow. Factor’s within the reader can include difficulty analyzing mutli-syllable words, the ability or lack of to read at an adequate rate, among many other things. I love the graphic organizer on pg 212 of the octopus. On page 213 of the text there is a list of characteristics of skilled and unskilled readers that I think is very helpful. The text goes on to talk about the organizational structure of expository texts. I have found that sequencing is something that can be pretty difficult for more students than I thought there would be. Compare/ contrast and cause and effect are things I have done with my tutoring group that I see them not fully grasping (as a whole group) when they are asked to do this they make it very general. For example in one story we read I asked them to tell one way the character was the same as them and one way he/she was different. Their answers were ‘he is a boy and I am a girl”, they were very simple and “right there” answers. I have also been working with them on problem solution and most of the group is beginning to look for more in depth problems where the solution may not be stated but more assumed, therefore making them think a little more about it. I did find it interesting that this text referenced our other text (CFC) for assessments. At the end of the chapter there is examples of the different ways to use the graphic organizers to check the understanding of the organizational text structures.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Julie L.,
ReplyDeleteMy social studies intern classes uses a lot of graphic organizers. I really do believe it helps them remember what they are reading. There is so much going on in the chapter that I have a hard time remembering one ruler from another. My science class doesn’t use a lot of graphic organizers, but they do crossword puzzles, flap books and games.
I really liked how Mr. Blackright in the scenario was able to figure out the J.J. thinks reading only involves stories. Honestly, I’m horrible at comprehending informational text, but I’m getting better because now I learned to look at the vocabulary first, headlines, anything in bold print. Then I go back and read the information. I find the graphic organizers to be very beneficial and I’ve been including them in my tutoring sessions.
ReplyDeleteI looked through both my science and social studies internship textbooks and they both contain vocabulary that will be in the chapter, questions after a passage and at the end of the chapter. Both of my intern mentors use flap books in their classes. Social Studies had four questions that the students wrote on the front then they answered the question inside the flap and drew a picture relating to the answer. In science, she used the flap book for vocabulary and had them write the word on the outside and the definition inside with a corresponding picture.
A great chapter on informational text with lots of ways to use graphic organizers for any subject.
Informational texts are not easy readers for a lot of children, however I think that the book gave several examples of how to make the process a little easier. Discussing key vocabulary, using creative graphic organizers and building on ones passed experiences or knowledge. My mentor teacher last year had a student who loved to read however, he despised reading informational texts. Therefore, the goal they set together was to read so many non fiction/informational texts. She was a fantastic teacher and had him look for books that had to do with an interest or background knowledge. He was then able to meet his goal and learn to appreciate informational texts for what they are worth. Like others have previously stated text books can be very hard to read and comprehend I think the text had a great idea with using the graphic organizers to enhance what they are reading.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Christine:
ReplyDeleteI agree the scenario at the beginning of the chapter was yet again a great way to lead into this chapter. I love the scenarios and how they fit right in to what we will face. I also think that using the graphic organizers are a great tool in helping the students comprehend informational texts. I had to admit I am one who loves informational texts, far and few between I know, however, I know that they have a purpose and I can learn from them. However, the vocabulary in some are very difficult which can hinder to many students.
Comprehension of expository text is much more difficult for some students. The lack of a storyline, something they’ve become familiar with since first hearing books aloud, hampers their comprehension. However, there are many ways we can introduce students to this kind of text, and how to help them to understand what they read.
ReplyDeleteOne of the examples the text gives is to use informational texts that also have narrative qualities. An example that comes to mind would be the Little House series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The books are non-fiction, although some details have been altered for the purposes of the story. However, they are written in story format. A student could easily comprehend what life was like for people of the late 1800s by reading these books.
I appreciated the look at the three factors that affect informational comprehension; however, although prior knowledge and experience are listed as important components, this chapter did not go into much detail in building these experiences. Multimedia would be a good way to introduce a concept before reading about it. For instance, the teacher could introduce a unit about sharks by watching some video, then reading the text. The students would already have been exposed to hearing the specific vocabulary before reading it.
The section on comprehension for ELL students was well written. The example of the teacher acting out the text helped me to “see” how to handle new vocabulary for these students.
In all, I’ve decided to include more expository text in my tutoring sessions, as it seems this is where many students struggle the most.
In response to Hannah B.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it interesting that, even at our level, textbooks can still be poorly written/designed? It might be just me, but even college level texts that offer too much text without variation (such as different font sizes, readability, etc.) are difficult to comprehend.
I think that the scenario at the beginning of Chapter 9 is a great example of why getting to know students and their interests is important. Not all students will enjoy reading informational texts and finding a topic of interest can help get students to value these types of texts. This is especially important for struggling readers in order to help them read more and become more interested in the act of reading. This chapter details the three major factors that affect comprehension of informational text. It is important to understand how these factors affect each student in order to increase their interest in informational texts. I was lucky growing up in a household where my parents not only read to me but took me to the library often. I can remember being excited for Saturday because it was the day we went to the library and I could find new books to read. Our community library had a great section for children and this really helped me become a better reader.
ReplyDeleteIn the classroom it is important for instructors to teach children how to read informational texts. This can be a difficult genre for many students because the books are so different from narrative texts. The chapter provides good examples of organizational patterns often found in expository texts. My Reading Internship class last semester spent a lot of time learning about expository texts and the different ways in which they are written. I think I am lucky to have witnessed these lessons as they will surely help me pass this information on to my students.
Response to Ashley R:
I agree that vocabulary can be a difficult aspect of informational reading, and it is important to review new vocabulary terms prior to reading a passage. It will certainly help students remain engaged in the passage if they understand these key terms prior to reading.
Chapter nine was about comprehending informational text. I really liked how the chapter outlined and explained the different factors a student must master to be able to comprehend this type of text. It is helpful to know exactly what the student must know to be successful when reading. It was also very helpful when the text went through the different layouts of expository text and teaching strategies for expository text. The chapter also did a great job of explaining each of the different assessment tools. I really like the cloze assessment and the different graphic organizers. I also liked how the text explained how to choose informational text. The activities in the back of the book were also helpful in teaching and assessing comprehension with informational text.
ReplyDeleteThe quote at the beginning of the chapter sums teaching up very well in my opinion. I really appreciated the fact that it shows exactly how a teacher needs to be. As teachers, we are not there to just pour information into students and hope for the best, it is our job to help students reach their potential and help them along their educational journey. I see this in my tutoring sessions and also in my internship classes.
In response to Tyler G…I agree that it is really important to learn about the students and their individual interests. Without this knowledge, it would be more difficult to reach the students and get them interested in reading! Working with my tutoring students this semester, I finally see what it is like to try to get students interested in reading when there isn’t any interest to start with! I too remember going to the library to get books to read and it was a special treat to get new books and also when my mother would read to me. I definitely credit this with my love of reading! Even though I love reading, I can definitely relate to the dislike of informational texts! If the content is over something that does not interest me, I have a hard time reading it!
ReplyDeleteSometimes I find that I forget all the skills it requires to be a good all-around reader. There are so many things students have to master to be good comprehensive readers and I wish I could remember what it was like when I was little and trying to learn to read, but for some reason I can't pull up any of those memories. I often think it may help me relate to my students' problems more clearly if I could remember what it was like when I was their age. Besides all the specific skills like decoding, the students have to be able to relate to what they are reading on some level if they are to understand any of it. So background knowledge and interest play a big role. It would be like expecting a third grader to understand some scientific article about nuclear fusion. Even if they could decode any unfamiliar words, since they most likely have no background knowledge of the topic they still won't have a clue what they just read. (I probably wouldn't either) The material we present our students has to be somewhat familiar so they can relate to it if they are to build their knowledge base adequately. Informational text can be difficult for students to relate to if it's not at an appropriate level to correspond with their prior knowledge or interests. I like the idea of using supplementary material along with a text. That would get really old eventaully if their was nothing but text work.
ReplyDeleteChapter 9 covered the comprehension of informational text. I thought this chapter was great because as it pointed out, many children love to read narrative text but really struggle with informational text. The three major factors that affect the comprehension process of informational text are the factors within the reader, factors within the reader's environment, and factors within the text. This quote really stood out to me on page 213, " A positive attitude toward learning and reading is key to being a successful lifelong learner." Such a great quote! I thought that this chapter did a wonderful job in explaining all of the organizational structures of expository text. Also, for ELL students it is important that the teacher scaffold instruction when reading informational books. I never realized how many different methods of assessment, both informal and formal, could be used for informational texts. I have seen children who dread reading informational text in my internship classes so it is great to get ideas and tools on how to make reading informational text both fun and beneficial for students!
ReplyDeleteIn response to Shylah-- I completely agree about not being able to remember what it what like learning how to read. I remember reading when I was young, but I can't pull up the memory of how I acquired all of the skills needed to read. I like that you pointed out the absolute necessary of the students' background knowledge. If the students are unfamiliar with the material, then even if they are good readers with all the right tools, they will still not be able to comprehend the text. Educators, as you said, need to make sure the informational text is at the level of the students as well as providing some supplementary material to go along with it. Great post and great points that you addressed!
ReplyDeleteBecky,
ReplyDeleteI think the factors necessary to understand text were outlined well also. It's crazy how many skills students have to posess to really comprehend what they read. I liked the octopus graphic organizer! It was really cute and different. And you do make a very good point about not just throwing as much information at our students as possible and "hoping for the best."
Chapter 9 in the DeVries text is about Comprehension of Informational Text. I really enjoyed reading through the scenario because I feel like there are several children out there who have the same thinking as J.J. It is amazing how much graphic organizers can help a student comprehend the text better, and the great thing about graphic organizers is that they can be used in a variety of ways. How quickly do children pick up on the fact that they are filling out graphic organizers? Even if they are used in a variety of ways, do they always realize it is a “graphic organizer?” The scenario gave me a better idea of how to handle a student who doesn’t enjoy informational text. As a future educator, I need to make sure and understand the factors that affect the comprehension process of informational text: 1. Factor’s within the reader 2. Factors within the reader’s environment 3. Factors within the text. Each factor plays a different role in understanding why the child reads and understands the things they do and why they comprehend it that way. Figure 9.3 really helped me understand how certain words are broke down and their meaning. It is definitely something I will refer back to. I was glad the text broke down each segment of the Figure (chronology or sequence, description or enumeration, listing, classification or hierarchy, comparison/contrast, cause/effect, problem/solution, and persuasion). Figure 9.6 reminds me of Bloom’s Taxonomy questions. I think it is a graphic organizer that could be used when asking Bloom’s questions. It is something that would really make the students think about what they are reading because they have to understand the text enough to ask questions about it. I’m glad the text had a section where it listed some valuable information about English Learners and Expository Text because I have encountered several ELL students these past two years in internship.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Kelsey M:
ReplyDeleteI love that quote! It is simple, yet so true! I think as future educators we need to keep that quote in mind because we play a major factor in helping students have a positive attitude about reading. The factors are a big thing to remember because certain factors may affect a student more than other students. This chapter did a great job of breaking the information down and giving different scenarios for each thing.
This chapter gave some great reading strategies to aid in reading comprehension of expository text. I think informational texts can sometimes be difficult for readers to comprehend which makes it so important to teach these strategies to our students. One of the biggest keys in selecting informational text is to be sure it is interesting to the student. This is why it is so important that we take the time to get to know our students and where interest inventories can be a good tool to use. Another thing I took away from reading this chapter is that students struggle with informational reading because the vocabulary is too difficult at times. This proved true in one of my previous lessons with my 3rd graders. My students had all background knowledge on baseball and were very interested in the topic; however, after reading an expository text on baseball I found they did not understand a lot of the technical terms used in sports and baseball. After observing this, we worked on the vocabulary words using flashcards as well as forming sentences using the vocabulary words. This improved both the readers’ fluency and comprehension dramatically. This was a great example of why it is important for the teacher to review vocabulary before reading text.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Jaclyn: I believe you are absolutely right about graphic organizers! During tutoring this semester, I have found graphic organizers to be a great way for students to organize and visually see the information they are working with. My students struggled with comprehension until I used graphic organizers in my lessons. I also recently did a lesson on baseball with my 3rd grade students. I can relate because like your students, my students had the background knowledge yet still struggled with some of the technical terms. We used note cards to work on vocabulary words and then students used the words to form sentences. It was amazing how much this strategy helped the students remember the terms! I also used a graphic organizer during my lesson and it was very successful. Best of luck on your lesson!
ReplyDeleteKacey,
ReplyDeleteDid you use the baseball story from the Reading A to Z website? I had the same problem with that story and I learned that although the students really like baseball, they did not know many of the technical terms used in the sport. We ended up working very intensely on vocabulary and it really helped the students to build their fluency and comprehension for the story. I learned that I should never take for granted the fact that students will know all of the vocabulary because it is a popular topic which they enjoy!
Melinda S.
ReplyDeleteChapter 9 is all about the comprehension of informational texts. I wasn’t surprised to read that expository texts are difficult for students to read and comprehend the material. I still have difficulty-reading textbooks. For one, expository texts usually use a whole new set of vocabulary words for the students. I think it is important to keep in mind that just because a student has an interest in it, it doesn’t mean that the student knows everything about it. So as teachers we need to fill that part. The student’s interest is the key part but now as teachers we have to give the student all the pieces he/she needs to succeed and learn about the subject. Once again I love all the activities used in our Devries text. To start with the activities the first example on page 212 is a great graphic organizer. The octopus is a great visual aid. The student’s will know right away that the facts are all about the octopus. I love all of the graphic organizers presented to us in this chapter. As I was reading through each one my mind kept going off into how could I use this in my tutor group? I really like the use of the think-aloud. Modeling is a great way for students to learn not only comprehension but also fluency. I thought the scanning activity was interesting. So often I feel that students hunting for the answers is viewed as a bad skill, but the texts state that the students need to learn the skill of scanning so they are able to identify the most important parts of a text.
In response to Kelsey M.
ReplyDeleteI love that quote too! I think this is why learning about each student individually is super important. If students don't have an interest what they are learning then they are not going to enjoy reading and learning about the topic. I really like that we have learned in this class to have the students fill out an interest inventory. Also I am so glad that all of our instructors constantly state how important it is for us as teachers to get to know our students.
Chapter 9
ReplyDeleteChapter 9 is regarding different ways to improve comprehension while reading. Once again, the best way of doing this is with graphic organizers. The chapter also talks about working with the student on the vocabulary before reading the text so they can understand what they read better.
I was surprised to read that of the three factors within the reader’s environment, home most affects reading comprehension and is the foundation upon which attitudes toward reading are built. What happens if you come from a family who doesn’t like to read?
I use a graphic organizer in every LP for my tutoring. I want to make sure they understand either what I read or what they read. My Social Studies class that I am mentoring in passes out a handout that she helps the students fill out after they have gone over a section. That would SO have helped me in school. The test comes right off the handout. All the students have to do is study the handout. WOW.
In response to Jaclyn….
ReplyDeleteI too am very fond of graphic organizers and have learned to use them A LOT in my tutoring. I have found some fun ones that I print off in color just to make them more fun, and I try to make them go along with my books. My theme is Dr Seuss, so they are pretty easy to find.
I also include 1 graphic organizer in the student’s portfolio each week so at the end of the 20 weeks, there will be 10 graphic organizers for the student to take home and show mom and dad. I thought this would be a neat way for them to show off their work.
Of all the three major factors given in the beginning of Chapter 9, I believe "factors within the reader" are the most important. Specifically, prior knowledge and experience are the most important according to Anders and Lloyd (page 213) as opposed to reading ability when comprehending informational text.
ReplyDeleteThere is research that proves students who experienced going to the zoo, the museum, or going on walks in the woods with their guardians or adult figures help build prior knowledge experiences. What happens when children never get these experiences? Does it set them farther behind other?
The nation's budget cuts are limiting the amount of field trips students can take to museums or nature walks so they aren't able to build prior knowledge that will help them to READ later on... But then they are expected to read an informational paragraph about dinosaurs and answer questions about it even though their school couldn't afford to take a field trip to the Sternberg Museum (for example)
In response to Debbie M,
ReplyDeleteI think it's fabulous that you're including Graphic Organizers as opposed to worksheets, worksheets, worksheets. Keep in mind that Chapter 9 also talks about prior knowledge experiences. Make sure you're connecting with your students while reading to make sure they understand what the informational text is about. Bring in primary sources in your Social Studies class or have a veteran talk to the class about a war. Let those students build prior knowledge so they can fill out the graphic organizers later on.
In response to Christine D....
ReplyDeleteLike your internships for Social Studies and Science, mine are similar. When the class is starting a new section or chapter, my mentor teacher first goes over the vocabulary for the section or chapter. When she does this, she asks the students if they know what the word might mean before they start reading. The class that I am in for these internships are eager and excited when it is science or social studies time, they love reading about these subjects. When they finish the chapter, the review questions and even the worksheets that go with the chapter pertain to all of the vocabulary that was in the unit.
This chapter discussed informational text and the different structures that can be used. I found it interesting that persuasive text and informational text are put together because at our school persuasive text is not even discussed until 5th grade. I think that the part I liked best about the chapter is the variety of graphic organizers. I have been working at an elementary school for five years and I have only seen the KWL and Venn Diagram used most of the time. I think some of these organizers would be really nice to use because they are different and students would be more apt to remember the information in the future.
ReplyDeleteThe text also stated that some struggling readers come from parents that were struggling readers or had bad experiences with reading. In a lot of instances this is true. Children learn what they live and if parents do not impress the importance of reading it is a struggle for the teacher to change that perception. I believe that we are in such a technology rich society that printed materials such as newspapers and magazines, are slowly losing out to the internet. What I am trying to say is that there is so much more to pull a child away from reading a book that when you couple that with other factors it compounds the problem.
Chapter 9 was about comprehension in informational texts. For me I found that the chapter was full of examples that will help students with comprehension when reading this type of text. I know that as a student, I had trouble with this type of text. I was always interested in the science and what went with learning about science. When it came to history, I found that I liked the subject but had a hard time comprehending what I was reading. I found the activities and graphic organizers that were provided in the chapter to be very helpful. I am actually using one of the examples this week in my LP for tutoring.
ReplyDeleteThe graphic organized based on Octopus’ Den by Deirdre Langeland on pg 212, fig 9.1 is super cute! I am actually reading Because of Winn-Dixie in my tutoring class and I am thinking that would be super cute to do on a dog outline for my story. I was trying to figure out some comprehension activities for this story and I think this would be something my kindergarten students would like. All these graphic organizers that are in this chapter are so useful!
ReplyDeleteJen Hittle – informational texts are not easy readers for a lot of people not just children! I think this book does give some really good examples of how to use informational texts and make them easy and useful. Graphic organizers are the best and they are so useful for so many activities.
In response to Larissa:
ReplyDeleteI agree that background knowledge is very important to help readers make connections to the text. Our school does not have opportunities to take field trips like they used to either. Sometimes that is the only time some students get to visit different places. I don't know that it would make them farther behind, but I don't think they would have the curiosity or desire to learn more about a topic.
One of the main things I noticed about the kids in my internship classes was that they never read anything that didn’t interest them in some way shape or form. When the book talked about interests and attitudes, I knew I was going to be able to write quite a bit on that subject. When I was in grade school, we had the Accelerated Reader program. It was a great way to encourage students to read because there was always a prize for however many points you received. For each grade level, there were specific books we had to read and we couldn’t pick up anything harder unless our teacher said it was okay that we read it. Since most of the books were not interesting to me, I never read because why read something that I had no desire to read. This program lasted up through eighth grade and by then, I really didn’t care. I think this is important to remember when we are in our own classrooms; each of our students will have a different preference on what they like to read and we have to provide them with a variety of reading materials. As teachers, we have to have a positive outlook on reading and encourage our students to read because it can be fun. Some students don’t like reading because maybe there are people in their family who say that reading is dumb and that they hate it; ultimately, we will have a student who is like this in our classrooms and it is up to us to show them and expose them to reading materials that he or she might find interesting.
ReplyDeleteThe next area I read that caught my attention was the section over the important areas within the reader’s environment. One of the most important places a child is most of the time is at home; because of this, parents need to be encouraged to read to their children and show them that reading can be fun. When I was growing up, I remember my grandma reading me a book and I loved it; she even made different voices for all the animals and I couldn’t get enough of it. Even though I made her read the same book almost every time, I still loved how she read it; she made it fun! What parents do in the home with the children is important but some children are not all going to come from homes like ours. As teachers we need to help get the parents involved as well and help them to see that reading is important to do at home and not just in the school setting.
Close to the end of the chapter, I really liked the graphic organizer ideas they had on the pages. They had some really neat things to use for different reading materials that could include cause and effect relationships, they use compare and contrast, and they give problem and solution ones as well. I have seen many of these in action in my internships and the students seem to like them a lot depending on how it is used in the lesson. I thought that the chapter had some very good points to keep in mind when we start teaching later in the future.
In response to Margaret W:
ReplyDeleteI had some difficulty with comprehension when I was in school also. I always found that when the reading contained information that was more higher level thinking or critical thinking I really had a hard time comprehending. I would read the text over and over until I finally understood what they were talking about. Sometimes when we would read a chapter book, I would still have to go back and reread some things because some parts didn't make since. I thought the book provided good examples and information to use for this in the classroom.
This chapter was very helpful for teachers when they are having their students read directly from their textbooks, which we did a lot in school. Reading text books is usually always boring and tough to read, but if you have graphic organizers and worksheets to fill out while you read it makes the text easier to understand and easier to understand.
ReplyDeleteI really liked that in this chapter it gave the teachers great ideas to use in the classroom for graphic organizers and different strategies to use.
After reading Chatper 9, I have learned that there are there factors that affect the comprehension process: factors with the reader, the reader’s environment, and the text. Factors with the reader include prior knowledge and experience. Factors with the reader’s environment include home, community, and school. Factors with the text include sequence, description, classification, compare/contrast, cause/effect, problem/solution and persuasion. I really thought the chart on page 214 of the characteristics of skilled and unskilled readers of informational text was very interesting.
ReplyDeletePersonally, whenever my children choose a book the number one factor is eye appeal! Who wants to read a book that looks boring? I am the same way! I love eye popping covers and illustrations!
I also think that readability is a huge factor when choosing books. I am afraid that many textbooks that schools use are not on the correct readability level for the appropriate grade. This is unfortunate.
Lastly, I really liked the graphic organizer examples starting on page 236. I am a big fan of graphic organizers and really like including them in my lesson plans as often as possible. I also like the paragraph framing activity and the scanning practice activity.
In response to Kiley:
ReplyDeleteI really liked your idea of using graphic organizers for textbooks! I think that it definitely helps with comprehension and depending on the graphic organizer, it could make reading from the textbook more enjoyable!
Thanks for sharing your great idea!
The three factors affecting the comprehension process, factors within the reader, community, and text itself, all deserve special attention. These factors are restated as being very influential throughout this whole text. I couldn’t agree more! Most people don’t realize how much a child learns about reading outside of the classroom and variety of influences everyday life has on it. Building better readers is as much of a community project as it is the family and schools job.
ReplyDeleteI was not a fan of most informational texts growing up and I still opt to try to do something myself before bothering to read the instructions, which I almost always have to resort back too. I think that the graphic organizers and outlines that my teachers had us use when reading informative material were very helpful. It gave us a sense of direction for comprehension of the text and was a great to be able to look back and remember what the text was about without completely re-reading it. I have seen an increase in the amount of graphic organizers used in schools since I was in elementary school, and I think it is great!
I think it is even more important to know a child’s reading level when you are having them to read informational texts. Since most children do not enjoy reading informational texts, having the material be full of unknown vocabulary words and above or at the top of their comprehension level is in my opinion, setting the child up for failure or to learn to hate reading this type of text. Would most reading experts recommend starting out reading informational text over content that they are very familiar with to encourage an understanding of the type of text and to teach them how to pull valuable information from it?
Teaching children to understand how to read different types of informative texts, comprehend the information, and even be able to write their own piece of it is essential in today’s world. As we grow older, more and more of the text we read is informational rather than narrative. Being able to easily follow the directions and understand the points of the text help us to function as part of society. For example, being able to read a drivers-ED manual makes us aware of driver’s safety and rules of the road. If misinterpret the material because we don’t know how to read it in the correct way might put us as a risk to the rest of the community or anyone/thing who is on the roads.
Lucky for us, we don’t rely strictly on textbooks and pamphlets etc. for informational texts anymore and can receive the same materials on video, audio, magazines etc. Presenting informative information through a variety of media does a better job of reaching all types of learners. I think that the variety of media to teach this type of content will make it easier for a teacher to keep her student on task and interested in the material being presented.
In response to Trisha:
ReplyDeleteI really liked those graphic organizers and activities too! I think that the readability level of many text books used in school is that of a student who is right right above grade level. They don’t seem to take into consideration that students become more proficient readers as the year goes on, they are written at that one reading level. This is why graphic organizers are so handy and helpful for students, and a simple way to help teachers combat the issue of an inappropriate reading level of text.
This chapter was one that I was really looking forward to reading because I know in my elementary years I was not always a fan of reading the informational text that was assigned to us. I found the three factors, within the reader, within the reader’s environment, and within the text, listed in the text to be a great way of understanding why students may struggle with reading informational text. In my tutoring sessions, we are working on the different text structures, so it was great to read all the information. I feel it is important to help relate what we are learning the tutoring sessions to the student’s everyday learning, so I am going to try to find materials suggested in the text to use in my tutoring sessions.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy practicing asking students the before, during, and after questions with the read alouds and guided reading stories. So, the pre-reading question examples on page 222 in Figure 9.6 were great to read!
Also, the graphic organizer examples at the end of the chapter were also important to see. I use graphic organizers quite often in my tutoring sessions because I love the results they provide for me and the students. It truly helps me understand where the students do not understand, and what sections may need more work on. The graphic organizers in Figure 9.19, 9.21, and 9.22 were all organizers that I have used within my tutoring sessions in the past week!
In response to Jen Hittle, I thought all of the suggestions within this chapter were great. I enjoyed reading about all the different strategies the textbook had to share. My favorite were the graphic organizers though, I have always enjoyed the use of these better than a simple worksheet. A graphic organizer makes the students really understand what the text meant rather than the students having to answer plain black-and-white questions that can be looked back up in the text. I really appreciate you sharing your experience with your mentor teacher and the student she worked with. It is important that your mentor teacher really understand the student’s interests and included them in his reading activities.
ReplyDeleteChapter 9 discussed comprehending informational texts. I know a lot of students find informational text such as History books or text books in general to be boring but they have a great place in the classroom. The book gave several great ideas for making informational text easier for children to read and understand. Making it more fun is something to think about. I know also that text books are often written a couple grades above grade level which can also deter the reader. If they can’t understand it even if they try they are less likely to try again. In one of my previous internships I had sixth grade SS and I thought their book was a little too difficult for them. They often had a lot of questions and struggled to understand it. The teacher did a lot of vocabulary from it and it seemed to help.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Emily:
ReplyDeleteI also like the results you can get from using a graphic organizer but I can remember filling out the same graphic organizer again and again in grade school. Since then I have found others but I was wondering if you've found a good website etc. to find different types?
Informal texts are often a struggle for students, at least more so of a struggle than narrative texts. I think one of the most important things to do with students prior to starting informal reading would be to review all the different text features such as captions, headings, titles, maps, charts, etc. I think once they understand all the different components it will be a great help when they are reading informal texts. It's hard for students, or even anyone to completely understand and soak up everything they read in informal texts so knowing what headings and bold faced words are will help them pick out what's really important. Graphic organizers are also great when introducing informal texts. I think having the students pick out the characters, setting, main ideas, etc. will be a great took for them to look back on if they need a reminder. Students just reading out of a text book will soon become very boring to them and attention spans will vanish. The thing to remember when teaching informal text is to relate it to the students lives and let them engage themselves in discussions and activities that correspond to the specific reading.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Shaina:
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you about making informal reading fun and that students get bored really easily if what they are reading doesn't make any sense to them. I find in my internship this semester that there are a ton of words my fourth graders don't understand. I think prior to reading the chapter the teacher should give a vocab review and maybe that would help the comprehension. I'll be sure to recommend that to my mentor teacher.
Reading informational text can be very hard for the students. Interest surveys are important when reading informational texts. Reading text that is not interesting is really hard for a student to comprehend and focus on. Finding what the students are interested in when choosing reading materials, will make them be involved in the reading experience better. When a student is told what they have to read, they will more than likely not want to read it as much. They like to choose what they are reading about and how much they are going to read. Sometimes, they need to understand that they have to read stuff they are not interested in because it is in the curriculum, but a teacher can make it interesting for them to read the material. I think web diagrams are also a great toll for students to write about a topic. I have a hard time concentrating and comprehending something that is just plain information. The only way I have any interest in it, then I am able to read it a little more easier.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Jaclyn C –
ReplyDeleteI agree that graphic organizers are a very great tool for students to use. I think when students are able to fill out a graphic organizer whether it be a Venn diagram or a web diagram, they can write their own ideas and thoughts about the topic being studied. Also, they can write any questions they have that they want to learn more about the topic. I think when students read informational texts, they are reading the important factors in regards to that topic, but they don’t care as much because they have no interest in the topic.