Would a clearer purpose help students identify main ideas?
Posted on February 2, 2021Share This Content
teaching with informational texts
Observing for what students are “not saying” during conferences
Posted on March 11, 2019During conferences, while I do listen to what students are saying, I also listen for what they are NOT saying. This is why. Frequently when you ask a student to tell you what they have learned from a complex informational source (or a part of a source), they will talk about content they understood without …Read more
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Hey, Mom! Guided Writing
Posted on March 18, 2018“Who will you tell?” This is a conversation I’ve started having with students at the guided reading table before they write in response to an informational source. I usually start by saying something like the following: When you go home tonight and your mom asks about school, you could just say, “It was okay” OR …Read more
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Three-Phase Plan for Learning with Informational Sources (Updated 2025)
Posted on January 12, 2018I offer a three-phase guide to teaching students how to effectively engage with informational sources such as texts, videos, and infographics. Phase 1 involves introducing the source, Phase 2 focuses on teaching strategies for understanding, and Phase 3 requires students to create a response, enhancing comprehension.
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When kids ‘mumble read’ a word they don’t know…
Posted on October 10, 2017A few weeks ago I was in a conference with a student reading a book about the sea lizard. When he came to a word he didn’t know, he mumbled the word and kept going. Do you have students that do this? These students are self-monitoring but they lack fix-up strategies. They know when they …Read more
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Orally rehearsing with key words can boost writing
Posted on April 14, 2017Do your students struggle to compose sentences about nonfiction topics that make sense or sound right? Do they lack structure at the sentence and paragraph level? Here’s a few tricks I’ve been trying with small groups of late-early and transitional stage readers. Generate key words As part of a conversation generate key words they will …Read more
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Discourage students from taking notes like this. Here’s why.
Posted on March 22, 2017If students are reading multiple texts on a topic and taking notes on each of those sources, I require that (or strongly suggest) they write notes in phrases–just enough words to help them remember what they learned or what the author was saying or the student’s response to information. In most cases, I strongly encourage …Read more
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“I highlighted all the words! They’re all important!”
Posted on October 12, 2016When annotating, do your students underline (or highlight 😉 most of what they’ve read because they think “it’s all important”? Maybe they’ve underlined that much because they don’t know how to determine what is important? Below I describe a Phase 2 demo lesson I gave to tackle this issue – focused on helping students identify …Read more
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Creative Responses Analyzed – Persuasive Letter from the Roots to the Plant
Posted on May 3, 2016A few posts ago I wrote about shaking up how we ask students to write in response to texts–creating hall of fame posters, designing two-page layouts for trade books, and writing letters. One of my colleagues in the field, Britany, a fifth grade teacher, gave this a go! She asked students who’d read the book …Read more
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How Authors Reveal Different Points of View
Posted on April 15, 2016Here’s a middle school lesson for teaching students to analyze how two authors writing about the same topic may shape their presentations of key information by emphasizing different evidence or advancing different interpretations of the facts. Preparation Go to Science News for Students and locate an article that cites a study. Most of these articles …Read more
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If your students struggle with determining what’s important or they think “It’s all important!” make sure they have a clear purpose for reading. A purpose stated as a question is even better. Questions like “What is the author’s point of view? What are details in the sources that make me think so?” or “How did …Read more