ISearch

Presentation
 My Search Questions
Topic: Informational Text
Rationale:
○ 69% of second graders tested below grade level on TLA
○ 80% of students tested below grade level on the literacy
strand of MAP
○ Students performed most poorly on measures of
understanding of informational text
◦ Specifically chart, graph, and diagram reading
How can we incorporate the
reading and analyzing of
scientific text into our
literacy instruction in a
developmentally and age
appropriate way to engage
students and give them
practice in working with
scientific text?
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My Search Process
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Common Core Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.5: Know and use various text

first features (e.g., captions, bold print, subheadings,
glossaries, indexes, electronic menus, icons) to locate
key facts or information in a text efficiently.

What kinds of activities are used to satisfy this standard?

second
Inquiry projects!

Where’s the research?

last Used google scholar and Vanderbilt Library to find peer
reviewed research on implementing inquiry projects in
early elementary school years.
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What have I learned?

And what will YOU
learn?
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Inquiry Projects are the key!

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a t iona ○ “Because our vision of
rm en
u t info ive wh inquiry-based science instruction
abo uct includes students’ observations
n ing st prod
r
“Lea s is mo ithin s r o oms and questions; their planning of
as
○ text eded w sed cl from h & explorations, experiments, and
u g c
emb iry-foc learnin (Malo research; and, not least, their
What do you inqu ged in al text 4)
” sharing of ideas and results with
a n 8
think? eng matio 3, p. 4
r
info sey, 20
1
others, it cannot move forward
absent communication with the
Hor teacher, classmates, and even the
outside world” (Howes et al.,
2008, p. 192)
s
t s ’ use
cie ntis aking, l ○ “When inquiry becomes a ‘central feature of classroom life,’
i o nal s ng, spe ationa
i Wells suggested, students’ inquiries drive their reading and
r o fess g, writ found Lim,
“P adin g are , sense-making of informational texts. It is clear to us how
e wes
○ of r listenin k” (Ho 90) the integration of informational texts in classrooms feeds
r 1
and eir wo 08, p. into and grows out of a community founded on inquiry. So,
h 0
to t pos, 2 for us, talking about informational text is all wrapped up in
Cam talking about inquiry” (Maloch & Horsey, 2013, p. 477)
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Engaging, motivating, and develop cognitive
We all know skills and academic language.
that inquiry
Can spur overall literacy development because
projects are fun. children are drawn into reading through their
But Becky, interest in these projects.
where’s the
research?! Students will need to collect information, analyze data,
craft presentations.
To create solutions and make Shared reading and shared writing
arguments
Summarize these findings

In this process, students learn the purposes, structures, and

features of informational texts.
(Howes et al., 2008; Maloch & Horsey, 2013; Sekeres, Coiro, Castek, Guzniczak, 2014)
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What does this

mean for us?
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Inquiry must Thoughtfully

Implications for 1 permeate the 2 choose texts
classroom
practice

What text features do we need

A teacher’s role to teach?
● Concepts of print (index, heading)
is paramount. ● Attend to the bolded word
● Where to find definitions
3 ●
●
Glossary
How to search for information
● How to navigate features and how to
decide what is useful
● Difference between illustrations and
pictures in informational text
(Howes et al., 2008; Maloch & Horsey, 2013; Sekeres, Coiro, Castek, Guzniczak, 2014)
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What does this

look like for us?
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Inquiry-based projects are defined as WHAT?!

A multifaceted activity that involves making observations; posing questions; examining
books and other sources of information to see what is already known; planning
investigations; reviewing what is already known in light of experimental evidence; using
tools to gather, analyze and interpret data; proposing answers, explanations, and
predictions; and communicating the results.

An example: Writing Nonfiction texts

(Kersten, 2017)

What do you think?

Does this activity reflect the definition? What would you change?
 References
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Howes, E., Lim, M., & Campos, J. (n.d.). Journeys into

inquiry‐based elementary science: Literacy practices,
questioning, and empirical study. Science Education, 93(2), 189–217.
https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.20297
Kersten, S. (2017). Becoming nonfiction authors: Engaging
in science inquiry. The Reading Teacher, 71(1)., 33-41.
https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1577
Maloch, B., & Horsey, M. (n.d.). Living Inquiry: Learning
From and About Informational Texts in a Second‐Grade Classroom. Reading Teacher, 66(6),
475–485. https://doi.org/10.1002/TRTR.1152
National Research Council. (1996). National Science
Education Standards. Washington, DC: National
Academy Press.
Sekeres, D.C., Coiro, J., Castek, J., & Guzniczak, L.A. (2014).
Wondering + online inquiry = learning. Phi Delta Kappan, 96(3), 44-48.
National Governors Association Center for Best Practices,
Council of Chief State Schools Officers. (2010). Common Core State Standards. Washington,
DC: National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State School
Officers.