teaching annotating of an informational article

Most of the time, we stick with the same informational article, but sometimes we use two or three of them, depending on the standard’s requirements (some are comparisons between texts).Ī great place to look for excellent student content is Newsela. We stay on this standard until students have had at least three opportunities to practice writing informative paragraphs about this standard.įor example, I take students step-by-step through the standard and what is required of them to show mastery of this standard. To see how I plan this, read my post: The Secret to Teaching Writing Literary Analysis. Therefore, I always focus on one reading standard at a time. Once we understand the author’s perspective, then we get into the focus standard. What is the author’s topic, purpose and intended audience? What format did the writers use?Īs a writer, I’m always thinking about my topic, my purpose and my audience, especially when I’m writing something informative. So, even though we may not be focused on the standard of author’s purpose or point of view yet, I still have students discuss this. How do writers introduce their topics? How do they explain? What text structures do they use? What examples to back up their claims? Teacher Tip 2 for Writing Informational Text: Examples My students were primed and ready to read about a photographer whose child labor photos changed the world 100 years ago. Next, I had them share their writings in small groups, followed by a whole-group discussion on the fairness of this child labor. Then, I asked students to write in their journals about their thoughts and ideas about the photographs. I asked students to study the children’s faces, their surroundings and what the children are making.

We had a small discussion about that, and then without saying anything else, I passed out photos of present day children making the athletic shoes my students wear every day. I asked them what types or brands of athletic shoes they liked to wear. I knew students would wonder why they should read about this black and white photographs from almost 100 years ago because it was a topic that seemed to have NOTHING to do with them. His photographs helped to change child labor laws in this country, changing the way the United States made products forever. Yes, use clickbait, but be subtle about it.įor example, one required text for my 8th grade ELA course was about a 1920s photographer made famous by his pictures of children working in the textile mills.

So, one way you can get kids to read and write about a particular topic is to get them interested and invested in the topic first. Get them talking, and you can get them writing and reading. One thing students love to do is talk about their opinions about a particular topic. There’s a reason why clickbait works so well in social media. Teacher Tip 1 for Writing Informational Text: Use clickbait

Teaching annotating of an informational article