This book presents a myriad of instructional techniques and critical literacy strategies while serving as a professional resource for inservice and preservice primary-grade teachers as they include informational texts in their classrooms. In each of the nine chapters, there is a particular topic that guides the focus of the chapter. These themes include: a rationale for incorporating informational texts in the primary-grade classroom; a discussion of the unique features of informational texts; the selection of high quality informational materials for primary readers; critical literacy; prereading, during reading, and post reading strategies; the writing of informational texts; and inquiry projects for the primary classroom. This book also contains a preface; an introduction; and an afterword, in which the controversy regarding the Common Core State Standards is discussed. Unique features of each chapter are specific standards reflecting the Common Core State Standards; strategies for all students to be successful with the Standards; transcriptions of lessons from primary-grade classrooms; examples of pupils' work as they interact with informational materials; and a "Give It a Try" section, where a lesson plan or a pedagogical suggestion is presented for the reader to try out in his/her own classroom.

PrefaceAcknowledgmentsIntroductionChapter 1: Making a Case for Informational Texts in the Primary Grades Chapter 2: Introducing the Informational Text Genre and Its Features to Students Chapter 3: Choices: Finding High Quality Informational Texts Appropriate for Primary ReadersChapter 4: Creating Space for Critical Literacy in the Primary ClassroomChapter 5: Pre-reading Strategies for Interactions with Informational TextsChapter 6: During-Reading Strategies for Interactions with Informational TextsChapter 7: After-Reading Strategies for Interactions with Informational TextsChapter 8: Writing Informational Texts Chapter 9: Inquiry Projects in the Primary ClassroomAfterwordAppendix AAppendix BAppendix CAppendix DAppendix E