This summer I had the opportunity to work
with teachers in two different workshops.
One was a book study
about Comprehension & Collaboration by Stephanie Harvey and Harvey
Daniels.
The other was a workshop
about using Informational Texts as a part of our daily instruction.
Of course, as I began to
plan for these workshops, I realized how woefully unprepared I was to talk
about informational texts. They were just not my ‘thing’. My interactions with
informational texts have been limited to books about immigration (4th
grade research) and polar animals (1st grade research). I realized
that these texts were probably not going to cut it in a room full of educated
individuals.
And then, I discovered The
Family Romanov by Candace Fleming. This book was unbelievable! For the
first time, I actually cared (and understood!) what was going on in
history. The family, time period,
and country were coming alive through Fleming’s words. I had not experienced
informational texts like this before. I knew I needed to search out other texts
like this.
As I began searching at
the library for great books, more and more texts kept popping out at me. I knew
I needed to narrow my workshop focus if I was going to fit everything in three
hours.
I defined my purpose for
using informational texts in the classroom:
- When
we read aloud informational texts to students we demonstrate that we value
informational texts as much as narratives. We must be sure to read aloud or ‘bless’
a wide range of texts and genres.
- Informational
texts inspire curiosity and wonder.
- Informational
texts can build background knowledge and give us more information about a topic
we read in a narrative.
- Informational
texts are fantastic mentor texts for writing.
Fortunately, a good
friend and colleague captured many of the books I talked about here. I was so
grateful to have someone capturing my ideas as I talked about them.
WOW! Great discoveries! I hope you shared your inspirational and insightful blog with your students and colleagues!! Hope you start writing and publishing your own books soon! Thanks for sharing! Keep it up!!
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