Parents,
In reading class we are exploring informational text, how it is put together, how to read it well, and how to summarize it. These skills are essential for further work in Middle School. We will also use them as we draft our own informational text this quarter.
Students,
Here are links to the Wonderopolis website. You will work in a group to thoroughly read the article and then present what you have learned to the class. Do these make you think of things that you would like to research and write about?
Notice how the authors invite you into the learning with an interesting question, how they provide some background information (in some cases, with a bit of history included), how they include explanations about how things work or how they happen.
Pay special attention, too, to the way the authors provide lots of details in their descriptions. Informational text, especially in science, is often filled with cause/effect explanations (how goosebumps form, how microwaves heat food, how popcorn pops, how our bodies sweat) and good, clear descriptions that are filled with carefully chosen details (what sweat is, what a cat’s tongue looks like up close, what are the parts of toothpaste.)
