The Everything Guide to Informational Texts, K-2

Best Texts, Best Practices
Kathy H. Barclay - Western Illinois University, USA
Laura D. Stewart - Rowland Reading Foundation
Deborah M. Lee - Western Illinois University, USA
Corwin Literacy
The Everything Guide to Informational Texts, K-2
March 2014 | 296 pages | Corwin
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ISBN: 9781452283050
Available from January 0001
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ISBN: 9781452283104
Available from January 0001

Description

“Do monarch butterflies have a nose?” a kindergartener inquires.

“Does it rain on the moon?” a first-grader wonders.

“Does a white shark really produce 30 million teeth?”asks a second grader.

These incisive, critical quests for additional knowledge about the world are precisely what children do when the Common Core State Standards for informational texts go right in K-2. And with The Everything Guide to Informational Texts, the Common Core will go right in K-2.

Authors Kathy Barclay and Laura Stewart have written the book that teachers like you have been pleading for—a resource that delivers the “what I need to know Monday through Friday” to engage kids in a significant amount of informational text reading experiences. 

No filler, no lofty ideals about college and career readiness, but instead, the information on how to find lesson-worthy texts and create developmentally appropriate instructional plans that truly help young readers comprehend grade-level texts.

What you’ll love most:

  • The how-to’s on selecting stellar informational texts
  • High-impact comprehension strategies for nonfiction
  • Suggestions on providing sufficient challenge in guided reading, read alouds, and other practices
  • Model text lessons and lesson plan templates across each grade
  • An annotated list of 449 informational texts for read alouds, guided reading, and independent reading

It’s time to bring in to our classrooms all the high-quality informational texts that are available. It’s time to demonstrate to students how to read them, and to allow the authors of these children’s texts to take readers into rich, complex ideas they can handle with our support. If ever there were a book to quell our concern about how Common Core expectations will play out in grades K-2, this is it.

Contents

Foreword by Timothy Shanahan

Foreword by Timothy Shanahan

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

Publisher's Acknowledgments

  • Chapter 1. New Standards, Timeless Goals: How Informational Texts Can Help Make Every Child a Reader
  • A Crash Course on the Common Core
  • The College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading
  • Naming the Skills Involved in Reading Nonfiction and Fiction
  • Where Do We Go From Here?
  • Chapter 2. Bringing Informational Texts Into Your Teaching
  • Goal 1: Expose Children to More Complex Texts
  • Goal 2: Pay More Attention to Oral Language
  • Goal 3: Be More Intentional
  • Goal 4: Differentiate Instruction
  • Goal 5: Explicitly Teach From the Text
  • Chapter 3. The How-To's of Selecting Stellar Texts
  • The New Nonfiction
  • Evaluating Format and Visual Appeal
  • Evaluating Accuracy and Authenticity
  • Evaluating Writing Style and Appropriateness for Young Children
  • Evaluating Potential Content and Curricular Connections
  • Chapter 4. The Top Ten: Focus on These High-Impact Comprehension Strategies
  • Teaching High-Impact Skills and Strategies for Comprehending Informational Text
  • Chapter 5. Demystifying What Makes Lessons Effective: The Lesson Plan Template
  • The Overarching Goal of Informational Text Lessons: Rigorous Text Experiences for All Students
  • The Four Lesson Steps
  • Chapter 6. Informational Text Read-Aloud Lessons in Kindergarten
  • The Common Core Standards for Informational Text Read-Alouds
  • Using the Lesson Plan Template for the Read-Aloud
  • Miss Webb's Kindergarten Class: A Sample Informational Text Read-Aloud Lesson
  • Chapter 7. Informational Text Lessons in First Grade
  • What's Different About First Grade?
  • Mrs. Stocker's First Graders: A Sample Informational Text Guided Reading Lesson
  • Chapter 8. Informational Text Lessons in Second Grade
  • What About Students Who Are Not Reading With Grade-Level Proficiency?
  • Mr. Morris's Second Graders: A Model Informational Text Guided Reading Lesson
  • Chapter 9. Embedding Informational Texts in Units of Study
  • An Interdisciplinary Focus
  • Planning Units of Study: Who Does What?
  • Selecting High-Quality Informational Literature for Units of Study
  • Concluding Thoughts

Appendix A. Checklist for Evaluating Informational Literature

Appendix A. Checklist for Evaluating Informational Literature

Appendix B. Common Core State Standards (CCSS) Checklists

  • Kindergarten CCSS Checklist
  • First Grade CCSS Checklist
  • Second Grade CCSS Checklist

Appendix C. Lesson Plan Template

Appendix C. Lesson Plan Template

Appendix D. Topical List of Informational Literature

Appendix D. Topical List of Informational Literature

Appendix E. Annotated Bibliography of Children's Books

Appendix E. Annotated Bibliography of Children's Books

References

References

Index

Index

Resources

Description

“Do monarch butterflies have a nose?” a kindergartener inquires.

“Does it rain on the moon?” a first-grader wonders.

“Does a white shark really produce 30 million teeth?”asks a second grader.

These incisive, critical quests for additional knowledge about the world are precisely what children do when the Common Core State Standards for informational texts go right in K-2. And with The Everything Guide to Informational Texts, the Common Core will go right in K-2.

Authors Kathy Barclay and Laura Stewart have written the book that teachers like you have been pleading for—a resource that delivers the “what I need to know Monday through Friday” to engage kids in a significant amount of informational text reading experiences. 

No filler, no lofty ideals about college and career readiness, but instead, the information on how to find lesson-worthy texts and create developmentally appropriate instructional plans that truly help young readers comprehend grade-level texts.

What you’ll love most:

  • The how-to’s on selecting stellar informational texts
  • High-impact comprehension strategies for nonfiction
  • Suggestions on providing sufficient challenge in guided reading, read alouds, and other practices
  • Model text lessons and lesson plan templates across each grade
  • An annotated list of 449 informational texts for read alouds, guided reading, and independent reading

It’s time to bring in to our classrooms all the high-quality informational texts that are available. It’s time to demonstrate to students how to read them, and to allow the authors of these children’s texts to take readers into rich, complex ideas they can handle with our support. If ever there were a book to quell our concern about how Common Core expectations will play out in grades K-2, this is it.

Contents

Foreword by Timothy Shanahan

Foreword by Timothy Shanahan

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments

Publisher's Acknowledgments

  • Chapter 1. New Standards, Timeless Goals: How Informational Texts Can Help Make Every Child a Reader
  • A Crash Course on the Common Core
  • The College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading
  • Naming the Skills Involved in Reading Nonfiction and Fiction
  • Where Do We Go From Here?
  • Chapter 2. Bringing Informational Texts Into Your Teaching
  • Goal 1: Expose Children to More Complex Texts
  • Goal 2: Pay More Attention to Oral Language
  • Goal 3: Be More Intentional
  • Goal 4: Differentiate Instruction
  • Goal 5: Explicitly Teach From the Text
  • Chapter 3. The How-To's of Selecting Stellar Texts
  • The New Nonfiction
  • Evaluating Format and Visual Appeal
  • Evaluating Accuracy and Authenticity
  • Evaluating Writing Style and Appropriateness for Young Children
  • Evaluating Potential Content and Curricular Connections
  • Chapter 4. The Top Ten: Focus on These High-Impact Comprehension Strategies
  • Teaching High-Impact Skills and Strategies for Comprehending Informational Text
  • Chapter 5. Demystifying What Makes Lessons Effective: The Lesson Plan Template
  • The Overarching Goal of Informational Text Lessons: Rigorous Text Experiences for All Students
  • The Four Lesson Steps
  • Chapter 6. Informational Text Read-Aloud Lessons in Kindergarten
  • The Common Core Standards for Informational Text Read-Alouds
  • Using the Lesson Plan Template for the Read-Aloud
  • Miss Webb's Kindergarten Class: A Sample Informational Text Read-Aloud Lesson
  • Chapter 7. Informational Text Lessons in First Grade
  • What's Different About First Grade?
  • Mrs. Stocker's First Graders: A Sample Informational Text Guided Reading Lesson
  • Chapter 8. Informational Text Lessons in Second Grade
  • What About Students Who Are Not Reading With Grade-Level Proficiency?
  • Mr. Morris's Second Graders: A Model Informational Text Guided Reading Lesson
  • Chapter 9. Embedding Informational Texts in Units of Study
  • An Interdisciplinary Focus
  • Planning Units of Study: Who Does What?
  • Selecting High-Quality Informational Literature for Units of Study
  • Concluding Thoughts

Appendix A. Checklist for Evaluating Informational Literature

Appendix A. Checklist for Evaluating Informational Literature

Appendix B. Common Core State Standards (CCSS) Checklists

  • Kindergarten CCSS Checklist
  • First Grade CCSS Checklist
  • Second Grade CCSS Checklist

Appendix C. Lesson Plan Template

Appendix C. Lesson Plan Template

Appendix D. Topical List of Informational Literature

Appendix D. Topical List of Informational Literature

Appendix E. Annotated Bibliography of Children's Books

Appendix E. Annotated Bibliography of Children's Books

References

References

Index

Index

Resources

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The Everything Guide to Informational Texts, K-2

Best Texts, Best Practices

Kathy H. Barclay , Laura D. Stewart , Deborah M. Lee
Cancel Print

March 2014 | 296 pages | Corwin

Format Published Date ISBN Price
Paperback 01/02/2026 9781452283104 $40.95
Lifetime 01/02/2026 9781452283050 $37.00

“Do monarch butterflies have a nose?” a kindergartener inquires.

“Does it rain on the moon?” a first-grader wonders.

“Does a white shark really produce 30 million teeth?”asks a second grader.

These incisive, critical quests for additional knowledge about the world are precisely what children do when the Common Core State Standards for informational texts go right in K-2. And with The Everything Guide to Informational Texts, the Common Core will go right in K-2.

Authors Kathy Barclay and Laura Stewart have written the book that teachers like you have been pleading for—a resource that delivers the “what I need to know Monday through Friday” to engage kids in a significant amount of informational text reading experiences. 

No filler, no lofty ideals about college and career readiness, but instead, the information on how to find lesson-worthy texts and create developmentally appropriate instructional plans that truly help young readers comprehend grade-level texts.

What you’ll love most:

  • The how-to’s on selecting stellar informational texts
  • High-impact comprehension strategies for nonfiction
  • Suggestions on providing sufficient challenge in guided reading, read alouds, and other practices
  • Model text lessons and lesson plan templates across each grade
  • An annotated list of 449 informational texts for read alouds, guided reading, and independent reading

It’s time to bring in to our classrooms all the high-quality informational texts that are available. It’s time to demonstrate to students how to read them, and to allow the authors of these children’s texts to take readers into rich, complex ideas they can handle with our support. If ever there were a book to quell our concern about how Common Core expectations will play out in grades K-2, this is it.


Table Of Contents:

  • Foreword by Timothy Shanahan
  • Acknowledgments
  • Publisher's Acknowledgments
  • Chapter 1. New Standards, Timeless Goals: How Informational Texts Can Help Make Every Child a Reader
  • A Crash Course on the Common Core
  • The College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Reading
  • Naming the Skills Involved in Reading Nonfiction and Fiction
  • Where Do We Go From Here?
  • Chapter 2. Bringing Informational Texts Into Your Teaching
  • Goal 1: Expose Children to More Complex Texts
  • Goal 2: Pay More Attention to Oral Language
  • Goal 3: Be More Intentional
  • Goal 4: Differentiate Instruction
  • Goal 5: Explicitly Teach From the Text
  • Chapter 3. The How-To's of Selecting Stellar Texts
  • The New Nonfiction
  • Evaluating Format and Visual Appeal
  • Evaluating Accuracy and Authenticity
  • Evaluating Writing Style and Appropriateness for Young Children
  • Evaluating Potential Content and Curricular Connections
  • Chapter 4. The Top Ten: Focus on These High-Impact Comprehension Strategies
  • Teaching High-Impact Skills and Strategies for Comprehending Informational Text
  • Chapter 5. Demystifying What Makes Lessons Effective: The Lesson Plan Template
  • The Overarching Goal of Informational Text Lessons: Rigorous Text Experiences for All Students
  • The Four Lesson Steps
  • Chapter 6. Informational Text Read-Aloud Lessons in Kindergarten
  • The Common Core Standards for Informational Text Read-Alouds
  • Using the Lesson Plan Template for the Read-Aloud
  • Miss Webb's Kindergarten Class: A Sample Informational Text Read-Aloud Lesson
  • Chapter 7. Informational Text Lessons in First Grade
  • What's Different About First Grade?
  • Mrs. Stocker's First Graders: A Sample Informational Text Guided Reading Lesson
  • Chapter 8. Informational Text Lessons in Second Grade
  • What About Students Who Are Not Reading With Grade-Level Proficiency?
  • Mr. Morris's Second Graders: A Model Informational Text Guided Reading Lesson
  • Chapter 9. Embedding Informational Texts in Units of Study
  • An Interdisciplinary Focus
  • Planning Units of Study: Who Does What?
  • Selecting High-Quality Informational Literature for Units of Study
  • Concluding Thoughts
  • Appendix A. Checklist for Evaluating Informational Literature
  • Appendix B. Common Core State Standards (CCSS) Checklists
  • Kindergarten CCSS Checklist
  • First Grade CCSS Checklist
  • Second Grade CCSS Checklist
  • Appendix C. Lesson Plan Template
  • Appendix D. Topical List of Informational Literature
  • Appendix E. Annotated Bibliography of Children's Books
  • References
  • Index

Recent Product Reviews:

“There was a time when a book like this would have set out to try to persuade teachers. But, that’s not the issue anymore. . . . Teachers everywhere are asking themselves, ‘How do I teach with informational texts?’ Kathy Barclay and Laura Stewart provide a rich collection of practical answers to that question. Their book can--through its practical lessons, advice, and guidance--show teachers how to make informational text a joyful reality in the lives of our youngest scholars.”
Timothy Shanahan, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Illinois at Chicago
“Kathy Barclay and Laura Stewart have done a marvelous job of providing teachers with specific suggestions for making the most of informational texts--from choosing the right texts for students, to practical and effective instructional strategies that will help students engage in close reading of these important texts, to an actual lesson format for teaching informational texts. Teaching informational texts can be a challenge for primary grade teachers. The Everything Guide to Informational Texts will help teachers and students meet that challenge!”
Timothy Rasinski, Ph.D., Kent State University, Kent State University
“The book is well written, well organized, and teacher friendly. It addresses a topic--the use of informational text with younger students--that has not been sufficiently addressed in guidelines associated with the CCSS. It contains valuable lists of children’s nonfiction texts, annotated and organized by grade level. The suggested lesson format is illustrated concretely with sample lesson plans based on high-quality informational texts.”
Louisa Moats, Ed.D., Contributing Writer of the Common Core State Standards
“For K-2 teachers eager to select and teach from ‘informational texts of substance,’ Barclay and Stewart offer much guidance. With keen insight, they also direct our pedagogical attention to the oft-overlooked, but tremendously powerful, text complexity essentials--oral language development, read aloud, and shared reading.”
Jan Miller Burkins, Author of Preventing Misguided Reading

Recommendations