Week Four- Informational Text

As a physical education teacher, I’ve learned how important it is to incorporate a variety of different genres and informational texts that are developmentally or cognitively appropriate for the types of readers I have in the class. It is essential that I teach all of my students how to read for comprehension through different learning modalities. “To become readers who can master the complex texts necessary for college and workplace success, students need to read a lot” (Miller & Moss, pg. 24, 2013). I strive to incorporate time within the week for my students to visit the school’s library for research purposes. I want my students to be skilled in locating resources through traditional print and online/digital print. It is important that my students are well versed in the different genres. When it comes to book reports, I have my students research important facts using technology, and then choose from a different number of online formats to create an informational guide or info-graph to present to their peers. I always find time to listen to my students’ opinions as well as their thoughts regarding the different types of genres that they have read outside of class. “If we want children to become life-long readers, we need to give them materials that interest them, and to do so means including informational texts, historical fiction, poetry, magazines, graphic novels, and other genre” (Miller & Moss, pg. 27, 2013). I’ve learned that some of my struggling readers will have trouble understanding the difference between fiction and nonfiction books, and it is my responsible to show them what fiction and nonfiction books are. It is more than just showing students how to read, it is showing students how to read for mastery. During reading instruction, I will work with individual struggling students and conduct miscue analysis, then create a plan of action to strengthen my students’ phonemic awareness, vocabulary, comprehension, accuracy, and fluency.