Reading Informational Text

I require my students read 1 non-fiction book a week. It helps train their brain to learn from text books and other informational texts, and exposes them to great vocabulary. Most non-fiction books have pictures too, so even if it is above their reading level, they can use context clues and picture clues to correctly infer meaning.

That said, I wanted my students to know that expository and non-fiction texts are not the only kind of informational passages, so I created this anchor chart.

We used the Brain Pop Jr video to understand how informational writing often appears with pictures, graphics, sequence words, steps, etc.


I then used my "THIEVES" technique to preview the next chapter in their science textbook, which they would be starting later that day. We got into groups and I gave each group a card and they completed their task, finding titles, or visuals, etc...then shared with the whole class. It took about 25 minutes, but I felt we really had a good understanding of what we were about to start learning, and the children we very motivated and ready to get started when science time rolled around.

We are starting a writing project on different plants/animals native to Georgia, and I can't wait to see my students use what they have learned about informational texts in their own writing!

Edited to add: I forgot to post the link to the blog post that explains "thieves" in depth and gives a freebie! Here it is!