As curriculums became aligned to the common core standards around 2012, one big shift that was emphasized was the teaching of informational reading. As a third grade, we begin our non-fiction unit with a review on the difference between non-fiction and fiction texts. I do this by giving my kids a stack of books and asking them to observe and write down what they think about books in pile 1 vs pile 2. We have a great discussion and write our ideas down together.
The next lesson, students learn how to use text features. They review the types of text features and then learn HOW text features are used (R.I.3.5) This takes time and practice so we spend a few days answer questions related to how the text features are used.
The next skill taught is how to use the illustrations to gain information (R.I.3.7)
The next skill after text features is text structures. As students grow older, they need to learn how to recognize the text structure. This helps them better comprehend the topics being taught. On the first day of teaching students text structure, they are introduced to each type (Video Intro) We look at one passage together and I model how I use clues to figure out the text structure, then students read another passage and do the same. We continue to practice in many ways for the next couple of days. I show how I introduce and use these powerpoint slides to instruct HERE. (R.I.3.8)
Once my students have a good grasp on text features and structures, we move onto strategies for determining domain-specfic words (R.I.3.4) This is when we learn how to use glossaries/dictionaries/context clues! (L.3.2G)
Most importantly to comprehend, they should be able to pick out the main idea and details. When I begin these lessons, I use the analogy of a table with four legs. The table top is the main idea and the legs are the details. We learn how to find the main idea and then we shift to finding details. We discuss how the details hold up the main idea so that we know what everything is all about. (R.I.3.2) I have several activities I use for teaching this concept below:
After we learn all these skills we take two different texts on the same topic and we compare and contrast them. (R.I.3.9)
