I text text_has_features_parent_workshop_f14 (1) (1)

Editor's Notes

• #2: iTEXT Informational Text Text Has Features Professional Learning Session Facilitator’s Note: Approximate time is 75 minutes. You can shorten time on activities to fit the time you have allocated. • Distribute: Pencils for each participant Handouts for each participant Let’s Find Out Thinking Guide Turning Titles and Subheadings into Questions Informational Text Features 3-2-1 Strategy Chart (optional) Text Features (optional) 10 Tips for Reading Nonfiction with Your Child (optional) Select six to eight different nonfiction informational text books (more if necessary) for each table. The goal is to have each participant select one book to use during the workshop. The Scholastic Discover More series works well for this presentation. If this workshop is held during the Book Fair, you may select these books from the Fair. Flip chart and markers (if facilitator feels they are needed) Note that you will ask participants to use their smartphones (if available) for one of the activities. Note for Slides 6 through 12 (Game Activity) – You will need to use a mouse (not a handheld remote clicker) to advance these slides. Welcome participants as they arrive for the session. Say: This workshop will be used to help both you and your child understand how to use several strategies to preview an informational text to promote better comprehension of the material found in the text. If you have come with a family member, you are now officially partners during this workshop. Several informational texts are on your table. I want you and your partner to choose a book to use throughout this workshop.
• #3: Read slide to participants.
• #4: Say: Informational text is an informative read, particularly when you want to know more about a topic. Although we will never give up reading fiction, most of our working day will require reading and interpreting informational text. Notice how important it is that our children learn to be more effective at reading informational text to help them become better test-takers and to get ready for both college and the workplace. The Common Core Standards call for a shift in the balance of fiction to nonfiction as children advance through school. According to the CCSS guidelines, by the end of fourth grade, students' reading should be half fiction and half informational. By the end of 12th grade, the balance should be 30 percent fiction and 70 percent nonfiction across all subject areas.
• #5: Say: Let’s look at the differences between fiction and nonfiction together. What do you notice as you compare fiction with informational text? Facilitator’s Note: Allow time for brief responses based on slide.
• #6: Say: Students are learning about our world and how it works as they read science and social studies materials. We want our children to get excited about reading all kinds of informational texts. It is important to choose an informational text to read aloud both to and with your child at home.
• #7: Important Facilitator Note #1: You must play the game using the $100 question (Weather) first then the $200 question (History.) If this sequential order is not followed it disengages the animation for the rest of the game. Important Facilitator Note #2: You must use a mouse(not a handheld remote clicker) to advance through slides 6 through 12 (Game Activity.) Say: I hope you have brought your smartphones with you today. We’ll be using them for this part of the workshop. You may look for answers on the Internet to help you with the next activity. Let’s find out where you can get information about the following topics.
• #8: Facilitator’s Note: Read slide; encourage parents and children to work together in pairs to find as many resources as possible in response to the query. Facilitator Note: Allow 1 minute for activity
• #9: Say: I’ve just noted a few sources of information; who would like to share sources you found to answer the statement? Facilitator Note: Solicit responses. Responses may also include: Weather books, Wikipedia, Internet Search, Encyclopedia
• #10: Say: Here’s our next one that I’d like you to try together. Find as many sources of information as possible. Some of you may be able to let your parents know about apps you can use as well. Facilitator’s Note: Allow one minute for activity.
• #11: Say: Here are two sources of information you can use. Who has another source we could use to learn more about George Washington? Facilitator Note: Solicit responses. Responses may include: Internet Search, Wikipedia, Encyclopedia
• #12: Say: Now I’d like you to try to list sources of information by using the Let’s Find Out handout on your tables. Facilitator’s Note: Read instructions directly from the slide. Say: You can also use your smartphones to find any sources. You’ll have two minutes to complete this. I’ll let you know when time is up and then I’d like you to share one of your answers with your tablemates. Facilitator’s Note: Allow two minutes for participants to write down the information. Then ask participants to share their responses based upon the boxes they selected. Allow two minutes for discussion. Say: What did you notice after looking over all the information boxes? Facilitator’s Note: The goal is for parents and students to recognize how many times during the day they are accessing information. They are actually reading more nonfiction than fiction.
• #13: Say: You are all winners in this room. Congratulations!
• #14: Say: Here are some important steps you need to learn so you can successfully read informational text. Why do you think it is important to consider what you know about a topic before you start reading? Facilitator’s Note: Allow time for brief responses. Say: You also should consider why you want to read about a topic. Those reasons usually start as questions. The more questions you ask yourself, the more information you will acquire as you answer those questions while reading. Questions drive learning. Think about tests in which you read a paragraph and answer questions about its content. Don’t forget to read the passage at least twice to make sure you have found the exact answer to the question.
• #15: Say: I want you and your partner to look at the informational text you have chosen. Also look at the Thinking Guide handout on your table. Talk over the book’s topic of the book with your partner, and write down three things you already think you know about it. Then write down three things you would like to know about your topic before you read your book. Facilitator’s Note: Allow three to five minutes for this exercise. Say: You should do something like this every time you read a chapter from your science or social studies books. It gets your brain thinking about the topic even before you begin reading, preparing you to learn new information about a topic. Talk to another partner pair to share what you already know about the topics of the books you are using today. Facilitator’s Note: Allow two minutes for discussion.
• #16: Facilitator Note: This slide shows 15 text features. When you hit enter, the animation will fade 9 of the features out leaving 6 larger text features. During this presentation we are focusing on six of the features. The script below will tell you when to fade those features out. Say: You use text features to help you read informational text. A feature is an important part of something. Think about facial features. Each one of your facial feature performs a different function; the same applies to text features. Each feature is important to help you understand the text you will be reading, but they all help you locate different kinds of information. Authors include text features to help you better understand what you are reading. Text features provides additional information that may not be written in the text itself. Text features can be found in textbooks, magazine articles, newspapers, reports, web pages, and other forms of informational text. Say: Here we are showing you many of the text features. Today we are going to focus on six of the features. Facilitator Instruction: Hit enter to fade 9 of the features. Say: We will cover these features in detail; The Table of Contents, Titles and Headings, Bold or Italicized Print, the Glossary, Maps and finally Timelines.
• #17: Say: Let’s start with a table of contents, an important text feature. How can a table of contents help you read this book about the body? A table of contents lists the major parts of a book along with page numbers, and it outlines the main topics points so you can easily locate information in the book. Many times you can turn chapter names or subheadings in the table of contents into questions you can use to help you learn more about the text you are reading. Try turning one of these listings into a question. Use questions words: who, what, where, when, why, or how. Facilitator’s Note: Ask participants to formulate some questions based on the tables of contents in their books. Say: How can you use these questions to help you learn more about the text? Facilitator’s Note: Solicit responses. Say: When your student is studying for a test, use table of content headings as main questions you can ask him. You could make a list of questions for each chapter you are reading by just using the table of contents. That will help him think about the main ideas within each chapter.
• #18: Say: We talked about turning titles and headings into questions that you can ask and answer yourself after reading a chapter or page in your informational text. Titles and chapter headings tell you what a page or chapter will be about, show you the main ideas found in each section or page, and let you know what you are about to read. Also notice the captions on these pages that help you better understand what the pictures are all about. When you turn a title or heading into a questions, what words would you use to start your question? Facilitator’s Note: The desired responses are “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” “how,” and “why.” Have students review these, and write them down on chart paper for them.
• #19: Say: Let’s practice turning titles into questions. Facilitator Note: Read the instructions for this activity from the slide. Allow three minutes for this activity. Say: Can someone turn a title into a question and then tell me the answer to the question? Facilitator Note: Ask two to three additional participants to tell you the titles they chose and the resulting questions and answers. Allow two minutes for this activity. Say: Do you think that these questions could come up on a test? The questions also help you better understand the text because they prompt you to look for the answers as you read.
• #20: Facilitator Note: If time permits, have partner pairs share questions and answers with one another or choose a partner pair willing to share responses with the entire group. Allow 2 minutes for the sharing if time permits.
• #21: Facilitator Note: Animation on the click will highlight (in yellow) the sentence with the bold word fossils. Say: Here’s a good example of bold print found in the text. If the book contains a glossary, you would find the definition of this bold printed word listed there. Pay attention to any word that is in bold print in your text. Every time you see bold print, that word is most likely going to be on the test. If you don’t have a glossary in your book, how can you find the definition to the bold printed word? Facilitator’s Note: Solicit responses. Talk about various dictionaries – hardbound, online dictionaries, and dictionary apps.
• #22: Say: Glossaries are great tools. You won’t find one in every book, but when you do, make good use of it. You may want to go to the glossary first to look over those new words. They will help you learn what is going to be in the text you will be reading. A glossary will give you a list of key terms in alphabetical order. Sometimes a glossary will even help you learn how to pronounce an unknown word. Let’s look at this glossary. What does the word “petrified” mean? Can you use it in a sentence? Facilitator’s Note: Solicit responses based upon the glossary definition. Say: Help your child become test ready by going over these words at home. Never copy the definition given from the glossary; instead, read the definition and then put it into your own words. If you just copy definitions, you will not remember what a word means, but you are more likely to remember a word when you define it in a way you understand.
• #23: Say: Maps are used to help us see the basic shape of the land and other features. Maps help us understand where an event took place and how far away that place is in relation to where we are. In this case, not only do we see the map but we also see various pictures of the place featured in the text. What country are we looking at? Facilitator’s Note: The correct response is Egypt. Say: Look over maps and charts before you read the text to help you understand where the event you will be reading about takes place. When you can visualize that place, it will help you remember what the text is telling you.
• #24: Say: A timeline will help your child understand how an event started, when events took place, and the context of events in relation to one another. If the book he is reading does not have a timeline, help him make one of his own. Many times important events are linked to dates that will appear on a test. A timeline helps you get organized to remember the who, what, when, where, why, and how of an event. You only need to write one or two lines to help you construct a timeline of events.
• #25: Facilitator Note: Read the instructions. Make sure every table has the Text Features handout. Be an active facilitator and ensure partner pairs are going through the handout together and checking off features found in their selected book. Allow two to three minutes for this activity.
• #26: Facilitator Note: Have partner pairs share with their tablemates one fact they learned as they were looking through the text features. Bring the group back together after one minute, and ask for volunteers to share one or two facts they have shared with their group. Ask what text feature they were looking at when they chose their fact. Allow a total of 2-3 minutes for this activity.
• #27: Facilitator Note: Give partner pairs time to discuss what they learned and write down three things they found out about their topic. If time permits, have them share what they learned with the audience. Say: It’s always important to write down what you have learned about a topic. When you write something down, you are using a different part of your brain, further enforcing learning. Please take home the Text Features sheet, and use it whenever you read informational text to help you remember to access these important features so you can better understand what you are reading.
• #28: Facilitator Note: Have partner pairs share what they learned with tablemates. Ask students and their family members if they were surprised they learned so much just by looking at the text features when previewing their book. Allow 3-5 minutes for this pair/share. Say: Encourage students always to take the time to preview the chapter or book before reading it to begin to acquire both knowledge and interest about the topic.
• #29: Say: Students need to monitor their reading. All of us at have daydreamed while reading a particularly complex text. Students, learn how to self-monitor your reading by asking yourselves these kinds of questions about the text. We also don’t reread the text enough. It is always important to go back and read slowly. Write down questions you have about the text by using bold words, titles, headings, chapter headings, and so on. Go back and read again to help you find the answers to the questions you developed while previewing the book or chapter.
• #30: Say: Make your own text features. Write out your own glossary. Use a dictionary, or Google the word and then write the definition in your own words. Create your own timeline of events. Make your own table of contents to help you locate information about a topic when you are rereading. Creating your own text features helps you organize your information so that you will be better able to read the text and understand the content.
• #31: Say: This is called finding multiple sources of information. Your teacher will often ask you to provide a bibliography when you are working on a project or a paper. The reason she is asking you to do this is so you can find many different books or articles on the subject to learn how authors may present information in different ways. Also, using multiple sources of information can help you identify mistakes an author has made.
• #32: Facilitator’s Note: You can hide this slide if you decide not to use these additional handouts. Say: Here are additional tools you can use to help guide the learning and comprehension of your students: The 3-2-1 Strategy Chart This is a tool that asks the student about any informational text book they have read: 3 things they have discovered 2 interesting things they found 1 question they still have Text Feature Notes Students can use this tool to discover additional text features in a book and their purpose. 10 Tips for Reading Nonfiction This is a friendly tip sheet (10) for reading nonfiction with the family. This highlights many of the strategies we have covered today.
• #33: Say: Thank you for attending our workshop. Informational text is an important part of the daily reading we do every day. I hope you use the information you learned today to help you when you read informational texts.