What were you reading before you turned your eye onto this article? Chances are it could be categorized into informational text reading.
With the shift to Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards also came a heightened focus on informational text reading, writing, and analysis. And, why shouldn’t it be.
Learning is a journey we are on for our entire lives and in this journey we come to many milestones in life such as a wedding, buying a house, having your first child, buying a car, etc . . . and it is our first experience. So we need to learn about how to handle these events . . . which brings us to informational text .
Most of the learning we do in our adult lives is through analyzing informational texts to acquire skills. This learning and ability to process complex information did not come from one teacher but it comes from many teachers throughout our educational careers.
Today we are focusing more concisely on bringing these skills out in all content areas including reading, writing, and science. These skills include getting our students to:
- build a strong base of background knowledge in their chosen field
- read, write and speak from evidence found in text
- construct arguments and critique others’ reasoning to engage in reasonable debate using evidence to back a position
Of course there are more specific skills that we can tackle in our respective content areas to support students in solidifying skills to become productive adults. The work asked of us from these newer standards is pushing for just such opportunities.
In order to support you in making these connections and getting more comfortable with what these classrooms might be like, there are two upcoming opportunities at Kent ISD: SciCon and MIELA Network.
SCICON 2018
SciCon is focused on implementing instructional strategies using the Michigan Science Standards. We are excited to have engineering and design strands this year, as well as an elementary, secondary, and literacy breakouts. This is a mini-science conference on Wednesday, May 9, from 8:00 am -3:30 pm, with six SCECHs available, pending approval. The day begins at Celebration Cinema for Dream Big: Engineering Our World, followed by break-out science and engineering sessions at Kent ISD.
More information can be found on our website kentisdscicon.weebly.com and you can click here to register today!
MiELA Network Institutes 2018
This year the MiELA Network has a focus across all grade levels on informational text. There will be elementary connections to K-5 science standards and exposure to science focused read aloud and vocabulary activities, as well as, secondary connections focused on comprehension and fluency with increasingly complex texts, evidence based reading and writing in a student centered environment.
Leave a Reply