In today’s session we will:

• Introduce the iTEXT™ program• Model the parent program• Brainstorm – Bringing it back to your campus• Share tools and resources to continue your

progress

• Between 50 and 80 percent of all standardized tests your students take will be an informative-type text.

• By sixth grade more than 75 percent of reading in school is going to be informational text. Most of what adults read on the job, and off, is informational text (Venezky, 2000).

• We need to prepare students for the kinds of reading expected in both college and the workplace.

Why Are We Focusing on Informational Text?

Fiction

Used to entertain us.

Has a beginning, middle, end of the story, has a setting, plot, characters, etc.

Read from front to back

When answering questions about the story, you could say: “I think he is going to do this because…..”

What’s the Difference between Fiction and Informational Text?

Informational Text

Used to inform/let us know about …

Has text features that guide us when reading information about the subject

Can read one chapter, anywhere you want to start usually (how to…)

When answering questions about the text, you need to find the exact answer that can be found in the content you just read.

Informational texts include all kinds of non-fiction.

We read informational texts to:

• Increase our knowledge about a topic.

• Understand how things work and why things happen.

HISTORYWEATHER

$200$100

LET’S FIND OUT!

Board Completed?

I want to learn more about the different kinds

of clouds you find in the sky…

Answer

Cloud Formations on Internet, Cloud Books,

Weather Books

Return to Main Board

Answer

I want to read about the life of

George Washington…

Biographies, Books on the Presidency

Return to Main Board

HISTORYWEATHER

WINNER

THANKS FOR PLAYING LET’S FIND OUT!

• Think about what you know about the subject BEFORE you start reading.

• Set a purpose for reading the chapter, book, etc. Students can also set their own purpose for reading.

Let’s Get Started

1. Choose an informational text at your table.

2. Think about what you may already know about the topic you have chosen. Write down two or three things you already know or think you know.

3. Look at the What I Want to Know column. Write down two or three things you want to know more about as you read the book.

What to do before you start reading..

What are Text Features?

Table of contents

TimelinesTitles &

Headings

Glossary

Bold PrintMaps

Text Features

Table of Contents

Titles/Headings

Practice Using Titles & Subheadings

Choose any chapter in your informational text book.

Use the Title and Subheadings to create questions about the text.

Go back into the text to find the EXACT answers to the questions you created.

Share Your Answers

Choose a partner at your table

and share both your questions and your answers with your partner.

Bold Print Italicized Print

Glossary

Maps

Timelines

Seek & Find Text Features

1. Let’s use your informational text book again.

2. Take out the “Informational Text Features” sheet located in your folder.

3. Look at the “Informational Text Features” sheet and check off all the text features you find in your informational text book.

4. When you are looking through the text features, look for a fact you did not know and share that fact and its location with your tablemates.

Share the Fact You Did Not Know

Share a fact that you did not know with your tablemates and

tell them where you found that informational in the book.

What have you learned?

1. Go back to your thinking guide.

2. Look back at what you knew about the topic you have explored and what you wanted to know as well. Did you learn more about your topic?

3. Go to the what I learned section and write down three new things you learned as you looked at the text features found in your book.

Pair/Share

Share your findings with a partner at your table. (Five Minutes)

What to Do When You Are Stuck!

Do you understand what you just read? If you don’t go back into the text and ask questions.– What do I already know about this topic? – How can the text features help me understand

what I am reading? – Am I using the glossary to help me with the new

vocabulary words? – Do I need to reread some of these pages? – Can I turn titles into headings to ask myself

questions I can answer about what I just read?

What if Your Text Doesn’t Have a Text Feature that You Need?

Examples: Table of Contents Glossary Timeline Index Key Words/Guide Words Titles/Headings

• Read several articles/books on the same subject so that you will be able to learn more about the topic.

• Think about why the author wrote this kind of

book.

• When you read about a topic written by more than one author you learn how authors might think differently about a topic.

Always Look For Different Points of View

Planning for a Parent/Guardian Event

What has worked in the past to bring families together for a parent/student event?

Bringing It Back to Your Campus

Sending the “Right” Invitation

• What is the right invitation?• What are the ways to get the

attention of parent/guardians?

Bringing It Back to Your Campus

Sharing successful Parent/Student Nights

• What works to make a successful parent/student night?

Bringing It Back to Your Campus

Additional Resources to Use

• 3-2-1 Strategy Chart• Text Feature Notes• 10 Tips for Reading Nonfiction with Your Child

For Attending Our Workshop