The Importance of Informational Text for Today’s Students
Over the past year, I have seen a struggle that hasn’t been so apparent before with the students that I’ve worked with. Students can’t read informational text. Well, they can read the text, but they can’t grab the important information from it. I was an English and Social Studies teacher at the middle and high school levels, and I always incorporated informational text because I knew that they struggled with it. Oh, they could read a book that really interested them and tell you ever fact from that book. When they read informational text in class, though, it was like pulling teeth to get them to discuss the information in the text. Why…because they weren’t comfortable with that type of text, they didn’t normally read that type of text, and it was more difficult for them. Now, I taught this to students over 20 years ago. Does today’s curriculum include informational text? I believe so. Is it happening in classes and students just aren’t grasping it? Very possible. How do we fix that? Keep reading.
I run a test prep company (U-Prep Test Prep…you can check it out right here!), and the biggest issue that students seem to have is dealing with informational text. Informational text is the main component of 3 tests on the ACT (ACT English, ACT Reading, and ACT Science) and 2 modules of the SAT (for the ERW Section). They need to know how to do this! Time management is an issue with this type of text for them. Comprehension is an issue. Don’t get me wrong, normally the literature passage for the ACT Reading test is easy for students (because they are reading mostly fiction in their English classes), but the informational text passages on the ACT Reading test often throws them for a loop because, once again, they are not used to this type of text. Sure, they have their textbook which is informational text, but are they really reading it? Do they need to read it for your class? I know that as a history teacher, I used the textbook as a resource, not as a required reading (primary documents were the required reading with an occasional reading from the textbook). This is typical for a lot of classes, so what do we need to do as educators?
I want you to think back to your college days. How many fictional books did you read? How many textbooks did you read? If you were like me, you read a lot of textbooks, but I was also taught how to use that information from those types of readings. It is really important that we continue to do that or start doing that again if we haven’t done it in a while. And here’s why…
Why Teaching Students to Read and Write Informational Text is Essential
Middle and high school students face a rapidly evolving world, rich in information but also teeming with challenges to discern fact from opinion and credibility from bias. Teaching students to effectively read and write informational text equips them with lifelong skills essential for academic success, critical thinking, and real-world application. Let’s explore why this is crucial and how educators can incorporate strategies to empower students.
Before we dive in, I wanted to share this resource with you—How to Teach Students to Write Informational Text by Jill Jackson. I’ve used this numerous times with teachers. The book is not just about writing informational text; it breaks down different types of informational text and how to use it in your class. You can check it out here on Amazon. (I do receive a small commission as an affiliate for Amazon if you purchase this book. Thanks!)
Why Informational Text Skills Matter More Than Ever
You’ve hit on an issue that resonates deeply with many educators. Students often shy away from informational text—not because they lack intelligence, but because they lack familiarity and practice. The growing reliance on informational text in standardized tests like the ACT and SAT further compounds the urgency. And as you pointed out, even if informational text is present in the curriculum, it isn’t always prioritized in ways that equip students to succeed.
Here’s why we must address this gap:
1. Standardized Tests Demand It:
Informational text forms the backbone of the ACT English, Reading, and Science tests, as well as key sections of the SAT. These assessments don’t just test reading comprehension—they assess students’ ability to interpret, synthesize, and evaluate informational content under tight time constraints.
2. College and Career Readiness Relies on It:
Whether students pursue higher education or enter the workforce, they’ll encounter informational text in textbooks, reports, memos, and manuals. If we don’t prepare them now, we leave them at a disadvantage.
3. Empowering Students with Critical Thinking Skills:
Beyond exams, engaging with informational text teaches students how to analyze arguments, weigh evidence, and make informed decisions—skills that are vital in a world overflowing with information.
4. Real-World Relevance
Informational texts—think news articles, essays, and research reports—are everywhere. By middle and high school, students should be adept at navigating these texts to prepare for future studies, careers, and civic responsibilities.
5. Writing to Read Better
Writing and reading are interconnected. When students practice crafting clear and well-structured informational text, they better understand how to dissect and analyze similar texts. Writing helps them recognize patterns, organization, and the author’s intent, which are transferable to their reading comprehension.
Bridging the Gap: Practical Strategies for Teachers
1. Make Informational Text Relatable
Start with high-interest topics that resonate with students’ experiences or current events. If they’re passionate about a topic—climate change, sports analytics, or social justice—they’re more likely to engage deeply with the text.
2. Model, Model, Model
Show students how to approach a piece of informational text:
• Begin by scanning headings, subheadings, and any visuals to predict the text’s purpose.
• Use think-aloud strategies to demonstrate how you identify key points and supporting evidence.
3. Build Writing Skills to Enhance Reading Comprehension
Students better understand structure and organization when they write their own informational texts. Have them create essays, reports, or blog posts that require evidence-based arguments and a clear structure. Peer-review sessions can further reinforce these skills.
4. Teach Text Features and Structures
• Familiarize students with features like glossaries, charts, and captions.
• Practice identifying common structures: cause/effect, problem/solution, and compare/contrast.
5. Scaffold Reading Skills
• Chunk the Text: Break down lengthy texts into manageable sections. Provide guiding questions to focus students’ attention.
• Annotate Together: Model how to underline key ideas, circle unfamiliar words, and write margin notes to summarize paragraphs.
• Use Graphic Organizers: Help students map out ideas, main arguments, supporting evidence, and counterarguments to visualize the structure of the text.
6. Teach the Elements of Informational Text
• Highlight text features like headings, subheadings, captions, and charts. Discuss how these features help navigate the text.
• Focus on common structures (cause/effect, problem/solution, compare/contrast) and practice identifying them in various texts.
7. Encourage Writing Informational Texts
• Start with Summaries: Teach students to extract the main idea and summarize it concisely.
• Build Evidence-Based Writing: Assign tasks where students must construct arguments using credible sources, mirroring the structure of high-quality informational text.
• Peer Review: Allow students to critique each other’s writing, discussing clarity, organization, and use of evidence.
Classroom Exercises to Build Mastery
Reverse Outlines
Provide students with an article and ask them to create an outline of its structure. What’s the main argument? How are supporting points organized?
2. Speed Annotation
Set a timer and have students annotate a short passage, identifying the main idea, key evidence, and unfamiliar vocabulary. Then discuss as a class.
3. Informational Text Debates
Assign students opposing viewpoints on a topic, supported by informational texts. This helps them practice pulling evidence from the text to back their arguments.
4. Compare Perspectives
Provide students with two articles on the same topic but with differing viewpoints. Ask them to identify the central claims, supporting evidence, and bias in each.
5. Reverse-Engineer the Text
Give students an informational article and have them outline its structure as if they were creating it. This helps them internalize effective organization.
6. Real-World Application
Ask students to create an informational flyer, report, or blog post on a topic of interest. Use tools like Canva or Google Docs to integrate tech skills.
7. Practice Test Scenarios
Regularly expose students to practice passages and questions from ACT/SAT or other standardized test prep materials. Teach them to read questions first to locate answers more efficiently.
Resources for Teaching Informational Text
1. Newsela: Offers leveled articles across subjects to make informational texts accessible to all reading levels.
2. Kahoot and Quizlet: Use these tools for quizzes on text features, vocabulary, and comprehension.
3. Google Docs for Collaborative Writing: Engage students in group projects to write and edit informational texts together.
4. U-Ed Collaborative’s Differentiation Activities: This resource offers tailored activities for building literacy at different skill levels .
5. AI Tools: Platforms like Grammarly or Turnitin’s Draft Coach can help students improve clarity and coherence in their writing .
Using Informational Writing to Deepen Understanding of Informational Text
Teaching students how to write informational texts is a powerful way to improve their ability to read and understand this genre. Writing requires students to actively engage with structure, tone, and purpose, providing a firsthand experience of what makes informational text effective. This dual approach—learning by writing and reading—helps students better grasp the nuances of informational text and strengthens their critical thinking skills.
How Informational Writing Supports Reading Comprehension
1. Understanding Structure Through Writing
When students write their own informational texts, they experience the importance of a clear structure. They learn to:
• Introduce a topic with a compelling thesis or purpose statement.
• Organize ideas logically with headings, subheadings, and transitional phrases.
• Use supporting evidence effectively to back up their points.
This experience directly translates to their reading. When faced with informational text, students begin to identify these same organizational patterns and anticipate where to find key points.
2. Recognizing Authorial Intent and Tone
Informational writing teaches students to consider their audience and purpose. Is the goal to persuade, inform, or explain? When students write with a specific audience in mind, they better understand how authors make choices about tone, word choice, and emphasis.
3. Developing Analytical Skills
Writing informational text forces students to analyze sources, evaluate evidence, and synthesize information into coherent arguments. This practice helps them deconstruct complex informational texts during reading, identifying arguments, counterarguments, and biases.
Teaching Students to Deconstruct Informational Text
Deconstructing informational text is an essential skill that students can practice alongside writing. Here’s how writing activities enhance their ability to break down texts effectively:
1. Compare Writing and Reading Experiences
• After writing their own informational pieces, have students analyze a professionally written text on a similar topic.
• Discuss similarities and differences in structure, style, and the use of evidence.
• Encourage students to evaluate what makes the professional text effective and how they might improve their own work.
2. Annotate Like a Writer
• Provide students with an informational article and ask them to annotate it from a writer’s perspective.
• Encourage them to identify elements like thesis statements, topic sentences, supporting details, and the use of text features (charts, diagrams, captions).
• This practice helps students see texts as models they can emulate.
3. Reverse-Engineer the Text
• Have students create an outline of an article, noting its introduction, body sections, and conclusion.
• They can then use this outline as a blueprint for their own writing, further solidifying their understanding of structure.
Practical Writing Activities That Double as Reading Lessons
Create “How-To” Guides
Ask students to write step-by-step guides for a simple process (e.g., how to bake a cake or assemble a bookshelf). Then, analyze informational articles with similar step-by-step structures, like science experiments or instructional manuals.
Research and Write
Assign students to research a topic and write an informational essay or report. Afterward, provide them with an article on the same topic. Discuss:
• How their work compares in clarity and organization.
• How the professional piece uses evidence and elaborates on ideas.
Collaborative Writing and Peer Review
Have students work in groups to write an informational piece, then review and critique another group’s work. This peer-review process encourages them to think critically about what makes informational writing clear and effective.
How Writing Improves Deconstruction Skills
By practicing informational writing, students build a toolkit of strategies that make them more adept readers:
• They recognize structural patterns (e.g., introduction-body-conclusion) and apply this awareness when analyzing texts.
• They anticipate organizational choices (e.g., the use of headings or transition words), making it easier to locate information quickly.
• They identify strengths and weaknesses in writing, such as the clarity of a thesis or the quality of evidence.
Bringing It All Together
Informational writing and reading are two sides of the same coin. Teaching students to write well-structured, evidence-based informational texts equips them to approach informational reading with confidence and insight. Through this reciprocal process, students learn not only to understand the text before them but also to create meaningful texts of their own. In doing so, they gain skills that extend far beyond the classroom, preparing them for academic success, informed citizenship, and lifelong learning.
Empowering Students Through Informational Literacy
Teaching informational text skills is not just an academic exercise; it’s about preparing students for a future where they can navigate information with confidence, express ideas clearly, and make informed decisions. By integrating reading and writing practices, and leveraging resources to differentiate instruction, educators can help students master these essential skills—setting them up for success in school and beyond.
How are you incorporating informational text into your classroom? Share your favorite strategies in the comments below!
