Informational Text Strategies for Student Success

 CHOOSING NARRATIVE NONFICTION BOOKS

  Think about what you know about the subject you will read about and set a purpose for reading the chapter or text.  Use text features to preview and navigate the text.  Use primary-source documents to help you learn about firsthand accounts of an event.  Organize information by creating your own text features if the text does not contain ones you can use to help you comprehend the text. Workshop Purpose: Strategies to Help You Comprehend Informational Text

  Become detectives when reading an informational text by previewing text features and “reading” primary-source documents.  Remember to ask lots of questions as you read your text. Write down your questions so you can investigate how to find the answers.  Get excited about reading informational texts. Workshop Purpose

 “Although students may continue to find fiction appealing, nonfiction doesn't have to be boring. On the contrary, allowing students to explore and pursue their interests within a broad array of informational texts can help them to see that the real world can often be just as surprising and intriguing as make-believe.” – “Research Says Nonfiction Reading Promotes Student Success,” Educational Leadership, January 2013, Volume 70 Informational Text/ Narrative Nonfiction

 “Primary sources engage students in active learning. By drawing their own conclusions from primary sources, students construct meaning and direct their own learning. Students of any age find primary sources appealing because they are tangible and real.” – “Engaging Students with Primary Sources,” Smithsonian National Museum of American History Informational Text/ Narrative Nonfiction

 “Research shows that the KWL strategy not only helps students retain what they have read, but also helps them make connections among various information categories (Hall and Strangman, 2009). Research has also indicated that an important part of learning is being able to make connections between prior knowledge and new knowledge—thus constructing meaning—and that KWL does a good job helping students accomplish this (Bridwell et. al., 1997). “ – “Not Afraid to Learn,” Kelsey Gallant Informational Text/ Narrative Nonfiction

  Reading nonfiction is different than reading fiction.  Today we will look at the importance of primary-source documents.  How well students read fiction (stories) does not predict their ability to read informational texts. Informational Text/ Narrative Nonfiction

  The style of writing differs in informational text vs. fictional stories.  Informational materials can contain technical vocabulary and difficult concepts.  Information is presented in a compact fashion; each chapter can contain a great amount of information. Challenges

 A Firsthand Account From the Past

  Think about what you know about the topic BEFORE you begin reading the selected text. Set a purpose for your reading. Reading Strategies for Informational Text Materials

 What I know about President Lincoln’s assassination…. What I want to know/find out about his assassination… What I learned…. What Do I Know?

  Take the time to look up new vocabulary words to help you understand what you are reading. Replace unfamiliar words with words you can understand to help you read the book or article. Reading Strategies for Informational Text Materials

 Vocabulary  Look for words you do not know as you read the text.  Use the glossary or a dictionary to replace the word with one you know.  Here are some words that you need to know when reading this book: co-conspirator, conspirator, assassinate, accomplice, avenge, sympathizer.

  Use the chapter headings, bibliography, index, or glossary (text features) when available to help you locate information. If your text is missing some key text features, make up your own to help you understand the text. Reading Strategies for Informational Text Materials

  “Reading” images: Previewing a chapter or an informational text before reading the text. Reading Strategies for Informational Text Materials

 Who: President Abraham Lincoln Republican elected as president in 1861 and reelected in Picture taken when president first took office.

 What do you see?

 Who: John Wilkes Booth, Actor

 Where, When, and How: Ford’s Theatre, Washington, D.C.

 Plan Was To Murder Others As Well Cabinet Member Seward and his daughter Vice President Johnson

  Look at the photos/ pictures taken from the book Chasing Lincoln’s Killer.  Find three photographs or pictures you would like to use for this activity. Note the pages where you found the photo/picture for further reference.  You and your partner will describe everything you see in each picture. Write down the most interesting discoveries you make.  Ask the following questions. Reading Images

  What can tell about the object, information, or person you see in the picture?  Why do you think this photo was taken or the picture was printed?  How will looking at this picture help you as you read about this historic event? Reading Images

  Each partner pair should choose one of the pictures/ photos to share with tablemates.  Discuss what you have learned about this photo. Give the page number of the photo so that everyone at your table can see what you are talking about.  How will looking over these documents before you read the book help students better understand the book’s content?

 Cartoons Can Be Great Sources of Information

 Cartoons Can Be Primary Sources of Information

 Reading Primary-source Documents WhoWhatWhereWhenWhyHow

 What Did You Detect from These Two Sources? Let’s Review

 March 4, 1865Lincoln gives his second inaugural address. John Wilkes Booth is in the crowd listening to his speech. April 14, 1865Booth shoots President Lincoln at 10:15 p.m. and escapes by jumping from the theater box. April 15, 1865President Lincoln dies from his wound. He was 56 years old. Booth goes to Dr. Mudd’s home for treatment of his broken leg. April 17, 1865Some of Booth’s co-conspirators are arrested. April 20, 1865Booth and David Herald have been hiding for five days; now they row across the river and end up in Maryland again. April 21, 1865Over the course of 12 days, a nine-car funeral train carries Lincoln’s body close to 1,700 miles from Washington to Springfield, Ill. April 26, 1865Booth and Herold are caught at the Garrett farm. Booth is shot and dies from his wound.. May 4, 1865President Lincoln is laid to rest at the Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield. May 12, 1865Booth’s co-conspirators are tried by a military tribunal. July 7, 1865Four of the conspirators are hanged. The rest are put in prison. Make A Timeline of Events

 What I know about President Lincoln’s assassination... What I want to learn about his assassination … What I learned... What Have You Learned?

 Use Multiple Sources of Information to Investigate John Wilkes Booth’s Diary Route of the Assassins After Lincoln was Shot The Reward for the Killers

 Primary-source Photographs/Documents Under His Hat: Discovering Lincoln’s Story From Primary Sources

 Additional Activities  Read the prologue to set the stage for reading Chasing Lincoln’s Killer. Have each partner pair choose one statement from the prologue and discuss it with their tablemates.  Use the map found at the end of Chasing Lincoln’s Killer and place the dates Wilkes, Herold, and others traveled to each place.  Look for multiple references to discover different opinions authors have about what happened.

  Wrote down what we already knew about the topic and set a purpose for reading the text or chapter  Asked “who,” “what,” “when,” “where,” “why,” and “how” questions while we previewed the text  Read images or documents to gain additional knowledge about our topic  Reviewed a timeline of events and developed our own text features.  Recognized the importance of investigating multiple sources What Strategies Did We Use to Help Us Learn?

 1.Begin using the reading strategies we practiced today to become comfortable reading an informational text. 2.Add in additional reading strategies as you develop your investigating techniques and become a good detective. Things You Can Do at Home

 Bringing It Back To Your Campus Sending the “Right” Invitation What is the right invitation? What are ways to get the attention of parents/guardians? What has worked well in the past to get families to attend an event?

 Finding the Right Book School or Public Library

 Plan to Hold a Family Workshop During Book Fair Week Help Families Get Excited About Books

 How To Get Started

 Materials You Can Use

 Thank You for Attending!