Explanation of the Chart:
The first
figure shows the five basic patterns of informational texts: sequence or time
order, listing or description, compare and contrast, cause-effect, and
problem-solution pattern. Students are having a hard time to recognize these
patterns because some authors combine patterns and some organizational patterns
maybe spread over several paragraphs.
To address
the problem, I put an arrow to the second figure that shows the strategies for
helping students read informational text independently. The strategies can be Using
Read-Alouds with Grade-Level Text, Content-Free Questions, Text Coding, Discussion
Cards, Topic-Detail-Main Idea Strategy, Think-Aloud Strategy, and Question-Answer
Relationships.
Students
must not only understand the informational texts, but they also have to memorize
what they read to discuss it and pass the test. This leads to figure three that
shows the strategies on how to transform these texts into a form that can
easily be remembered (visual diagrams). When students construct a diagram, they
can actively process the information. They will be able to recognize the
important information. The use of main idea grid and idea mapping is a great
way to transform informational texts.
Personal Reflection:
This week, I taught my students about the types of sentence
according to purpose. For my grade school students, I taught them the basic
elements of narrative texts. On the other hand, my high school students were
assigned to study some descriptive, narrative, persuasive and expository texts.
I can see that they need to work more with the informational or expository
texts.
I can say that all of my students know how to read but few of
them can really make sense of what they’ve read. When a child knows how to read,
we call them literate. For me, content literacy is better. It is
important that they have the ability to read and comprehend at the same time.
Narrative texts, which can be fiction or non-fiction, are
used in language subjects like English and Filipino. In contrast, subjects like
Science and Social Studies use informational and expository texts. After
reading those texts, the teachers expect the students to answer some assignment
or participate in the class discussion. Students are really having a hard time
in that kind of method.
Knowing the strategies for helping students read
informational text is essential not only for the language teachers but also for
the teachers in other content areas. It should always be student-centered so
that they can use it on their own.
Now that I understand the Informational Text, Grade-Level
Competence and the Common Core Standards in reading. My dream to be a textbook
author still goes on. I will be an author who will make these informational
text “easy to digest” by the students.
