This post was contributed by Kathy Barclay, Ed.D.
I’ve always been kind of a “bottom line” type of person. When confronted with new research, new mandates, or in this case, new standards, I tend to look for the bottom line. Unlike previous standards, the new standards that have swept our nation since 2010 include an emphasis on informational text. The bottom line? This unparalleled attention to and demand for the reading of nonfiction literature in the lower grades requires reconsideration of the way we spend our instructional time.
Discussing and comprehending complex text is a central expectation of the new standards, but exactly how to accomplish this is left to the discretion of educators. With that in mind, in this post, I’ll share five goals for bringing more complex text into the K–2 classroom. These goals lean heavily on a couple of longstanding instructional practices: read-alouds and guided reading/small group reading experiences. What’s new is an emphasis on using the same informational text with all students in order to ensure that all students have exposure to grade-level concepts and materials and to the same academic language and content. We can accomplish this by providing skills-based, small group instruction designed to scaffold students’ reading of grade-appropriate complex text.
This scaffolded informational text experience is, of course, not to be the only small group reading experience taking place in the K–2 classroom. Meeting the new standards requires a multiple-texts approach to reading instruction: (1) rich read-aloud experiences in both fiction and nonfiction literature; (2) use of cumulatively decodable text to build foundation skills; and (3) scaffolded small group instruction in grade-appropriate complex text of which informational text is a key component. It is this latter text experience on which the following goals focus.
Goal 1: Expose Children to More Complex Texts
Providing students with appropriately challenging texts and teacher-guided instruction is the key to maintaining or developing a growth trajectory line to grade-level proficiency. More simply stated, students learn more when they attempt to read more challenging text with the support of a teacher who is mediating their reading (Shanahan, 2013). We all learn best when we are presented with a challenge that we will be able to do with support. Good nonfiction text is highly motivating for children, and their interest in the topic can assist in propelling their reading growth forward.
Goal 2: Pay More Attention to Oral Language
Oral language skills and vocabulary underlie comprehension. To comprehend text, children need to develop automaticity in word recognition while developing language comprehension, including vocabulary and schema, or topic-specific background knowledge. Researchers have long recognized that reading informational text and listening to it read aloud help build children’s knowledge of the world. Not only do students’ syntax and vocabulary flourish but children also build schemas for later disciplinary learning.
Goal 3: Be More Intentional
According to Epstein (2007), “Intentional teaching means teachers act with specific outcomes or goals in mind for children’s development and learning” (p. 1). With this in mind, we must be sure we understand the “big ideas” of each content area and our role in helping young children develop a firm foundation for later disciplinary learning. Being surrounded with high-quality nonfiction texts, engaging in a rich exchange of ideas and information with the teacher and other students, and participating in teacher-directed and student-initiated learning opportunities helps students gain important disciplinary knowledge.
Goal 4: Differentiate Instruction
To ensure that all Grade 1 and 2 students have access to grade-level text, we have to consider specific instructional techniques that integrate the foundation skills within nonfiction text. To prepare for using a particular text with a group of students, teachers must consider those primary students who are
- not yet proficient in decoding.
- decoding but not yet reading fluently.
- reading fluently from grade-level and/or above grade-level text.
Our emphasis with below-level readers is on helping them meet the demands of reading more challenging text. This enables them to reap the benefits of the academic language and concepts within that text, while at the same time working to develop their decoding skills and stamina to read on grade level. With on-level readers who are decoding but not yet reading fluently, our emphasis is on helping them consolidate all the foundation skills so that they are reading fluently—that is, with accuracy, at an appropriate rate, and with appropriate expression. Finally, with those students who are reading fluently from on-level and/or above-level text, our emphasis is on continued development of fluency as well as application of higher-level comprehension strategies, including how to use self-questioning and summarizing to ensure they understand what they read.
Goal 5: Explicitly Teach From the Text
We need to know the text inside and out and to identify the big ideas we want our children to leave with…and to remember for a long time. While we will need to modify our teaching to meet the needs of each group of learners, the big ideas we want children to come away with after each informational text reading must guide our vocabulary and comprehension instruction. Through careful planning, we can keep the text’s rich content, vocabulary, and ideas central in the lesson.
The Bottom Line?
Children flourish when we expose them to and help them to read high-quality, authentic informational texts written at their grade level, and we can accomplish this through small group, scaffolded instruction. Implementation of these five goals can help us meet the new standards for informational literature. Through intentional instruction that acknowledges the critical role of oral language, of complex text, and of differentiating instruction in learning and teaching reading, we can equip children with skills and strategies for reading in general and reading to learn.
References:
Epstein, J. (2007). The intentional teacher: Choosing the best strategies for young children’s learning. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Shanahan, T. (2013, April 23). Learning from challenging text. Paper presented at Plain Talk About Reading Institute, Center for Development and Learning, New Orleans, LA.
About the Post Contributor:
Kathy Barclay, Ed.D., is professor emeritus of reading at Western Illinois University and professional development manager of reading for the Superkids Reading Program at Zaner-Bloser. She is co-author of The Everything Guide to Informational Texts, K–2: Best Texts, Best Practices (Corwin, 2014), from which the above information was drawn.
