Reading Informational Text

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Why it works

A large share of reading, especially to learn, is informational, yet students often get far less instruction in reading nonfiction than narrative. Research shows that informational text has distinct structures (cause and effect, compare and contrast, problem and solution, sequence, description) and features (headings, graphics, captions, bold terms) that, when taught explicitly, help students navigate and comprehend nonfiction. Teaching text structures and features, and how to use them, improves comprehension of the texts students most need to learn from.

The research: Research on informational text structures and comprehension.

The run-of-show

Choose your slot. The agenda, timings, and length update to match.

The core activity: teach informational text structures and features

Teachers leave with a plan to teach the structure and features of one nonfiction text.

Pick an informational text.
Identify its structure (cause/effect, compare, sequence, etc.) and features (headings, graphics).
Teach students to recognize and use the structure and features.
Plan how this supports comprehension of texts they learn from.

Teach the structures and features of nonfictionInformational text is organized differently from stories. Teach students to recognize its structures and use its features to comprehend what they read to learn.

Facilitator notes

Teach informational text structures, and teach using features.
It differs from narrative.
It supports learning from text.

Reading nonfiction like a story loses the structureInformational text has structures and features that stories do not. Teach students to recognize and use them to comprehend.

Adapt it

Elementary: text features, simple structures, nonfiction read-alouds.
Secondary: text structures, features, content-area nonfiction.
All settings: teach structures and features explicitly.

Participant handout

One page for every teacher. Print it, or save it as a PDF.

K12 Academics · Professional Learning

Informational Text: structures and features

Learning from text: teach nonfiction structures and features so students can navigate and comprehend.

The informational text:
Its structure and features:
How I teach students to recognize and use them:
How this supports comprehension:
Where students skip features they should use:

Make it stick

Structures and features:

Teach structures and features.
Help students learn from text.
Bring a nonfiction lesson that improved comprehension to the next PLC.

Common questions

Isn't reading nonfiction the same as reading stories?

No. Informational text has different structures (cause/effect, compare/contrast, sequence) and features (headings, graphics, bold terms). Teaching these explicitly helps students navigate and comprehend nonfiction.

Why focus on text structure?

Recognizing how a text is organized helps students understand and remember it. Teaching the common informational structures gives students a map for comprehension.

My students skip the graphics and headings.

Those features carry meaning. Teach students to use headings, graphics, captions, and bold terms as tools for comprehension, not decorations to skip.