A Wonderful Astonishing, Marvelous Look At

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A WonderfulAstonishing, Marvelous Look At

• Content Area Reading

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Three things to get you involved

• Movement/Music
• A Task
• Anticipation

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Music in the background.

• Movement I will group you and you will be
  working on the TASK
• There will be a reward at the end of our session.

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Task Each group will decide the correct
category for each book.

• Group roles
• 1. Book holder holds so that all in the group
  can see.
• 2. Writer fills in the chart
• 3. Speaker will tell us what your group
  decides.
• 4. Reader(s). Will orally read some pages to
  your group.

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Chart to be filled in. Category possibilities
Description, Sequence, Cause and Effect, Problem
and Solution, Compare and Contrast
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Content Area Literacy is

• the level of reading and writing skill necessary
  to read, comprehend, and react to appropriate
  instructional materials in a given subject area.

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Textbooks and nonfiction books contain valuable
information.
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Informational Text Structure

• There are at least 5 patterns used in
  informational text.
• Knowing how authors use these can help students
  better understand what they read in textbooks and
  informational books.
• Knowing about structures will improve students
  organization of factual writing.

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BUT!

• Not every book or textbook has one particular
  structure. Some have intricate combinations.
• Some do not have a clear structure.

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Two ways to deal with no overall structure or a
combination.

• Teacher provides structural information prior to
  asking children to read.

• Give them a graphic organizer you have designed
  to aid in understanding.

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Procedures

• Start with sentences.
• Move to paragraphs.
• Move to longer passages or sections of text.
• Attempt to identify entire book.
• Have students write with a particular structure.

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Five Patterns

• Description
• Sequence
• Cause and Effect
• Problem and Solution
• Compare and Contrast

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Description

• A topic is depicted by listing characteristics,
  features and examples.
• Bartlett(1978) says that this is the most often
  used textbook structure.
• Another name is fact-packing, which explains it
  rather well.

• CUE WORDS
• for instance,
• for example,
• also,
• most importantly.

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Example

• The tiger is a beautiful large cat. It is also
  the master of the Indian jungle. It stalks its
  prey in deadly silence. For half an hour or
  more, it carefully watches and then slowly,
  placing one foot softly in front of the other,
  closes in.

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Your Turn Yes or No?

• All bats are mammals. Bats sleep upside down in
  the daytime. Also, these animals make sounds to
  know where they are going as well as for other
  purposes. For example, bats find food by sending
  out soundwaves.

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More suggestions

• Prereading Do KWL
• Prereading Do I-chart
• During reading DRTA
• During reading Study guide with different
  levels of questions.
• During reading - Tab with post-its when find a
  CUE word
• Post reading - Discussion group, reaction guide.

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Entire book DRTADirected Reading Thinking
Activity

• Prereading KWL What do you know about whats
  under the sand?
• During Silent Reading attempt to determine if
  your predictions were correct. So read the next
  slide to yourselves.
• Post reading discuss with partner whether you
  remembered the items mentioned on next slide.

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Under the Ground

• The desert sun is burning hot. Many animals hide
  by day in cool burrows dug underground. They wait
  for the cool of night to come out and hunt. (Fox,
  Jerboa, Snake, Scorpion, Ants, Lizard)
• What can you find hiding under the sand at the
  seashore when the tide is out?
• (Clam, Lobworm, Cheatopteris, Sand-shrimp, Sea
  Cucumber, Prawn, Crab)
• Discuss what you remembered with your partner.

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Last practice on description Yes or No?

• A butterfly makes a lot of changes in its life.
  First the male and the female mate. Next the
  female lays eggs. The eggs stick to milkweed
  leaves for three days. Then the eggs hatch into
  little caterpillars. For five weeks, the
  caterpillar eats and grows. After shedding its
  skin several times the caterpillar forms a
  chrysalis. After two weeks, the butterfly
  hatches out of the chrysalis. Then it starts all
  over again when a butterfly finds a mate.

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Sequence

• Another name for this is time order.
• This type of structure shows sequential
  relationship(s) between events.
• History books use this a lot.

• Cue Words
• On this date
• Now
• Before
• first, second, then, last

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Example

• At the beginning of its day, the tiger actively
  seeks his prey. Not long after he has eaten, he
  will search for a quiet place in the sun to await
  his next meal. Finally, he has a restful night of
  sleep to hunt again the next day.

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Your Turn Yes or No?

• After about five weeks of growth, a tadpole
  begins to change. First, it starts to grow hind
  legs, which are soon followed with forelegs.  
  Next, bulges appear behind its head where its
  front legs are growing. Not long after this, its
  tail becomes smaller.  Lungs begin to develop,
  preparing the frog for its life on land. Eleven
  weeks after the egg was laid, a fully developed
  frog with lungs, legs, and no tail emerges from
  the water. This frog will live mostly on land,
  with occasional swims.

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Entire book

• Preread I chart (next slide)
• During reading post it notes
• Post reading small group discussion

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I Chart
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Cause and Effect

• This structure gives reasons for why things
  happen and explains results when particular
  actions occur.
• Science texts often have this.

• CUE WORDS
• So
• Since
• Because
• Therefore
• Consequently
• As a result

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Cause and Effect Example

• Do you know what causes volcanoes? The plates of
  the earths surface rub together and make hot
  liquid rock underneath the plates. The hot rock
  pushes up between the plates. Sometimes it makes
  a big explosion and the lava comes out onto the
  earth.

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Your Turn Yes or no?

• We observed the tiger from our vehicles as it
  stalked a herd of deer. As result of the slight
  noise from our camera, the tiger turned and knew
  we were there. However, this didnt stop it.
  The deer were initially unaware of its presence,
  but because of the shifting winds, they caught
  the tigers scent which was more than enough to
  frighten them away.

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Entire Book

• Preread discuss title and known information
• During reading list the reasons for flowers
  that you hear as I read.
• Post reading share and compare lists.

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Problem - Solution

• One factor will cite a problem and another factor
  is the answer to the problem.
• It is similar to cause and effect.
• Science texts use this.

• CUE WORDS
• Problem ispuzzle is solved
• Question.answer

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Example

• One problem to be resolved in tiger watching is
  transportation. How is it possible for observers
  to get close enough to a tiger without scaring it
  away or being attacked? Nature has helped solve
  this problem by making the tiger and the elephant
  friends. It is possible for an elephant carrying
  several people to get very near a tiger without
  even being noticed.

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Yes or No?

• One problem with the modern Olympics is that it
  has become very expensive to operate. The city
  that hosts the games often loses a lot of money.
  All the facilities that must be built are used
  for only 2 weeks. In 1984, Los Angeles solved
  this problem by charging a fee for companies who
  want to be official sponsors of the games.

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Entire book

• Preread Anticipation guide(next slide)
• During reading check to see if your predictions
  are correct, based on the text. (slide after
  anticipation guide)
• Post reading reaction guide(next slide)

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Anticipation/Reaction Guide
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Ben Franklin

• Ben believed that lightning was nothing more nor
  less than pure electricity. So he set out to
  prove it.
• First he made a silk kite with a wire on top to
  attract some lightning. Next, he added a kite
  string, tied a key to the bottom, and knotted a
  silk ribbon below the key.
• Ben and his son William stood out of the rain
  inside the doorway of a shed on the side of a
  field. To keep from getting shocked, Ben held on
  to the dry silk ribbon. Then he flew his kite
  straight up toward a big rain cloud.

• For the longest time, nothing happened. Just as
  they were about to give up, the hair on that wet
  kite string began to rise up. Ben put his knuckle
  near the key and YIKES!!! Out jumped a spark of
  genuine electricity.
• Real lightning had traveled all the way down that
  kite string!
• (Of course, we now know that if the storm had
  been stronger, the great inventor would have been
  toast.)

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Compare and Contrast

• Compare discusses similarities
• Contrast discusses differences.

• Cue Words
• However
• But
• as well as
• on the other hand
• likewise.

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Example

• Mars is most like Earth than any other planet in
  the solar system. The characteristics that make
  Mars most like Earth are the seasons, the length
  of day, and the tilt of the planets' axes. The
  characteristics that make Mars most unlike Earth
  are the temperatures, the atmosphere, the ozone
  layer, and the gravitational field.

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Your turn

• The modern Olympics is very unlike the ancient
  Olympic games. Individual events are different.
  While there were no swimming races in ancient
  games, there were chariot races. There were no
  female contestants at all. Of course, ancient
  and modern Olympics are also alike in many ways.
  Some events, such as the javelin and discus
  throws are the same. And according to the
  ancient Greek writers, there were many cases of
  cheating, nationalism, and professionalism in
  their Olympics, too.

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Venn Diagrams
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Entire Book

• Preread chart (next slide) explained and what
  to look for
• During reading look for items to put in chart
  (slide after chart)
• Post reading discuss and fill in items on a
  group chart

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Compare and Contrast
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Damselflies and Dragonflies

• Dragonlies are usually bigger and heavier than
  damselflies. Also, a dragonflys hind wings are
  bigger than its forewings. Damselflies have two
  sets of wings that are both the same size.

• Both insects begin life underwater, hatching from
  eggs.
• As soon as they are adults, they take to the
  air and begin hunting for flying insects.

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Teacher Actions

• Explain the structures. Use think alouds and do
  guided practice. See the Readers Handbook.
• Explain how a structure is used before students
  see any textbook.
• Use passages from their textbooks to clarifiy.

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More suggestions

• Use nonfiction read alouds and point out
  nonfiction features.
• Ask kids to predict and infer from headings or
  titles.
• Use a talking partner. Teacher reads and when
  he/she stops, children turn to partner and share
  something.
• Compare and contrast fiction and nonfiction on
  same topic.

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L A S T B O O K

• A combination
• Prereading I would do a Think-Aloud
• During Reading - You will have a talking partner.
  I will stop as I go along and you will talk to
  your partner as to which of the structures I have
  shown you.
• After reading discuss what to do with this type
  of book.

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Writing connection

• Students have a journal for a particular subject
  area.
• Quickwrite. After class, work with a part of the
  textbook, tell students to write down what they
  remember from the class. Or they write down
  something they would like to discuss in next
  class.
• Possible sentences
• Write items based on the graphic organizers.

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Questions