Your Literacy Standards Companion, Grades K-2. Jim Burke
daily reading logs for them to indicate, often by color coding, whether their books are fiction, informational, or poetry. Note that we include three of the four primary genre categories, since these represent the range of texts students are likely to read throughout the week. We do not include drama because most students’ independent reading does not include that category. When grade 2 students are engaged in a specific genre study (e.g., informational texts), their logs may reflect whether the book they read on a particular day is an expository, biographical, procedural, or other subgenre of informational text (see samples of student logs in the online resources at resources.corwin.com/literacycompanionk-2).
To have students recognize the difference between stories and books that give information:
Compare a literary (fiction) text and an informational (nonfiction) text that on the surface appear to be about the same topic. At first glance, for example, both may seem to be about wolves, but upon closer examination the nonfiction (expository) text describes what wolves are like, the nature of their packs, how they are related to dogs, and so on. The literary text, on the other hand, is actually about a wolf named Willy who runs away from his pack because he doesn’t feel appreciated.
Make two charts and title them “What Authors of Stories Do” and “What Authors of Informational Texts Do” when they write. Add to each list as you read aloud and share texts with students. You might list on the story chart that authors “make up the story” and “often include magic.” On the informational text chart you might write that authors “give true information” and “sometimes include a glossary.”
When conferring with students, have them select a literary text and an informational text from their book bag or basket. Ask them to explain the differences between the two. (Make sure that students have a healthy balance of literary and informational texts in their independent book bag or basket.)
Give a committee of students the opportunity to determine whether new books you receive for your classroom library are literary or informational. Ask them to explain and discuss their decisions with the rest of the class.
Help students recognize that there is a category of picture books—blended books—that combine elements of literary and informational texts. While the overall structure of a blended book may follow a typical story line, the author also includes a significant amount of content knowledge about the topic. Gather examples of blended books in a separate basket and label it “Blended Picture Books.”
To help students describe the overall structure of stories:
When reading stories, use a variety of story structure graphic organizers to help students understand how stories are organized (see examples at resources.corwin.com/literacycompanionk-2). To achieve this goal, it’s also helpful to show students how other genres are organized in contrast—procedural and expository texts, for example.
Make copies of graphic organizers for students to use occasionally and as needed when reading in small groups and independently. However, be very careful not to overdo their use.
To help students use various informational text features:
As students read and write, call attention to informational text features (e.g., tables of contents, headings, pictures/captions, and scale drawings) and the purpose each serves. Encourage students to use such features as they write nonfiction. Photocopy pages of student writing in which students have used text features and have students paste their examples into a large blank book, which can be either handmade or purchased online. Title the book “Our Nonfiction Text Feature Book” and add to it throughout the year.
Invite students to sort informational text features into two categories according to the jobs they do—those that help readers “access information” and those that “extend information.” For example, tables of contents, headings, and indexes help readers access or find information; captions, illustrations, glossaries, scale drawings, and charts help to elaborate and extend information that is presented in the text (words).
Help students recognize that the use of bold print means something different in literature than it means in informational texts. In informational texts, bold print indicates that the word (concept, idea) is important and directs readers to pay close attention to its meaning as described in the text, the graphics, and the glossary. In literature, bold is used to indicate the intensity with which something is experienced or for emphasis.
To help your English language learners, try this:
Work with students in a small group before or after a whole-class lesson or demonstration. Meeting with them prior to the lesson will give them an edge on understanding what you’re demonstrating; meeting after the lesson will give them time to discuss and process more thoroughly.
Working with small groups of students, select texts whose structure is simple and unambiguous. Provide a graphic organizer on large chart paper to help students discuss and record information as they read. Also, focus on text features such as bold words, pictures, and graphs that can clue the students in to how the text is organized.
Developmental Debrief:
Regardless of the standard with which you’re working, regularly assess your students to determine what they actually need additional help with. In this instance, assess means to “sit alongside” learners to determine what they know and need to learn, and most often involves observing them as they read and write. Therefore, even though Reading Standard 5 for grade 2 implies that students will have already learned what’s recommended under the kindergarten and grade 1 standards, you will need to determine whether or not this is the case. Likewise, students in grade 1 may already demonstrate an understanding of a particular grade 1 standard, so you needn’t teach it. Always do what is most appropriate for your students.
Notes
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Grades K–2 Common Core Reading Standard 5: Academic Vocabulary: Key Words and Phrases
Analyze the structure of a specific paragraph or group of sentences: This involves considering how information in general and sentences in particular are arranged within a paragraph, particularly as the structure relates to the author’s purpose. Also crucial is the sequence or arrangement of the sentences within a paragraph, especially as they express cause and effect or otherwise serve to develop an idea.
Analyze the structure of texts: This refers to how authors organize their ideas and their texts as a whole. Through structural patterns—at the sentence, paragraph, and whole-text level—authors emphasize certain ideas and create such effects as tension, mystery, and humor.
Electronic menu and icons: These are the drop-down menus on computer applications and programs or icons on digital devices that users activate to get information.
Range of text types: The Common Core State Standards divide texts into literature and informational texts. The subcategories under literature are stories, drama, and poetry. Stories include children’s adventure stories, folktales, legends, fables, fantasy, realistic fiction, and myth. Drama includes staged dialogue and brief familiar scenes. Poetry