Yet research shows that informational text presents greater burdens to reading comprehension over narrative text. …Students must be able to read complex informational texts in these fields with independence and confidence because the vast majority of reading in college and workforce training programs will be sophisticated nonfiction. This aligns with the Common Core State Standards Initiative’s College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading which states: Reading is critical to building knowledge in history/social studies as well as in science and technical subjects. In recognition of this, the EFF Performance Continuum and the Curriculum Framework for the Read With Understanding standard emphasizes the importance of students reading a wide variety of different kinds of materials for varying purposes, particularly in real-world contexts. As adults at home, at work, or in our communities, we are constantly faced with informational text that we need to read with understanding. For most of us, informational text forms the majority of the necessary reading and writing we do in a day. Informational (or expository) text is the text we use to learn about something. How much ‘informational text’ do you think your students read? How much do they NEED to do in order to reach their learning and career goals?

How much ‘informational text’ do you read in a day? (as opposed to narrative/fiction reading)? Consider ALL the reading you do – including all the ‘incidental’ and ‘necessary’ reading (like billboards, headlines, package directions, blogs, e-mail at work, etc.)

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