Simple and Effective Literacy Activities: INFORMATIONAL TEXT PASSAGES

Simple and Effective Literacy Activities: INFORMATIONAL TEXT PASSAGES

This post is part of a series of FREE Simple and Effective Literacy Activities. To read more about my personal philosophy on how to help teach a love of all things literacy, head here.

WHAT ARE INFORMATIONAL TEXT PASSAGES?

Informational text passages are reading passages written with the intent of sharing non-fiction information. While other types of reading passages are meant to make the reader feel something or to activate the imagination, informational text is designed to impart factual information.

WHY IS PRACTICING TO READ INFORMATIONAL TEXT PASSAGES AN EFFECTIVE LITERACY ACTIVITY?

Because students will be reading this type of text for their entire lives, they need to know how to do it quickly and accurately and that takes practice. The more time spent on the direct focus of reading informational text passages, the better students will be able to quickly and accurately understand this type of reading passage.

WHO CAN BENEFIT FROM PRACTICING TO READ INFORMATIONAL TEXT PASSAGES?

All students need to work on this type of reading. Every student will be reading informational text passages for the rest of their reading lives. Whether it’s a non-fiction book, instructions for a new game, a history textbook in college or a new employee’s handbook, every student will need to know how to accurately and quickly read and comprehend this type of text.

HOW SIMPLE IS IT TO IMPLEMENT THE PRACTICE OF READING INFORMATIONAL TEXT PASSAGES?

So easy! Though many consider informational text to be boring compared to colorful and creative fictitious literature, there are lots of fun and simple ways to work on informational text.

To get started, print out the pages found in the INFORMATIONAL TEXT SAMPLE PACK. It includes five different pages you can print and use right now!

Just print it out and follow these simple steps. {Of course, the directions can also be found in the INFORMATIONAL TEXT SAMPLE PACK too!}

After using the INFORMATIONAL TEXT SAMPLE PACK, you will want to continue offering your students ways to practice reading informational text. Non-fiction books, newspaper articles and targeted websites are all excellent options. The more you have your student do with the text, the more improvement you will see.

Just reading will add to a student’s knowledge base and fluency.
Reading and discussing will also improve comprehension.
Reading, dissecting and discussing will also improve their ability to more effectively read additional informational text in the future.

To get the most out of reading books, articles and websites, you’ll want to print out or make a copy of the text. This will allow the student to dissect the text instead of just reading it.

Or, you can offer a daily printable page designed for this very purpose with the monthly Informational Text and Comprehension Checks. There is one page for every day of the month based on a holiday, important birthday or silly celebratory day. In addition to an interesting informational text reading passage, each page also includes five comprehension questions. And as with all resources from The WOLFe Pack, the monthly Informational Text and Comprehension Checks are high-quality and very well priced!

CAN INFORMATIONAL TEXT PASSAGES BE MODIFIED?

Of course! The best approach is to find reading passages that interest your child and are similar to their reading level. But, you can also modify what you have on-hand by pre-reading the text with your child and asking questions such as

What do you think this passage will be about?
What features do you see on this page {defined words, images, labels, etc}?
How do you think those features will help you as you read this passage?

And, then AFTER the student has read the passage, check for comprehension by asking questions about the text. And, have your student find and underline the answer in the text. This will help them connect the process of reading with the process of learning, which is the entire point of informational text!