Searching For and Using Information:

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Students in all academic

arenas are required to find

answers to various problems,

big and small. The most

effective way to accomplish

these problem solving

dilemmas are to search for

and use information gather

from various sources to make

logical conclusion or

presentations. Site Map

Students learn to interact with

the texts they read for various

reasons. These reason include:

gathering information about an

unknown topic (research), learn

about a character in a selection

(plot, character analysis), and to

gain clarity which works to

increase their comprehension

(understand steps or processes).

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Searching For and Using Information:Skip Intro

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Searching For and Using Information:

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“It is important that beginning readers learn… how to search for and use different kinds of information with the goal of using all sources of information together.”-Gay Su Pinnell and Irene C. Fountas

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Increasing Comprehension

Text Clues

Reference sources

Research Method

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Increasing Comprehension

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“Readers search for the information they need to gather from a text. They know they must have enough information to expend their knowledge of the content.” This can be achieved by having the readers focus on word meanings, visual information which includes the sequence words, and using multiple sources to locate information to aide in increasing student comprehension.

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Meaning

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Because each language has a collection of words specific to its

culture, readers must be able to interpret the vocabulary used.

Words can have several meaning making it difficult to

comprehend the text. Teaching word origins and how to use

context clues provides the reader with a starting point for

decoding unfamiliar words

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Visual Information

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Early readers interact with text through words that are part of the selection. This ability to gather information or create a story line can be achieved by looking for letter sequence, parts of a particular word, recognizing text features, accessing background knowledge or through the emotions and responses that make the characters meaningful.

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Use Multiple Sources

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Searching for and using the kind of

information that is needed to solve

problems in the most effective ways to

come up with a solution. This can be

done by checking references and

sources for accuracy, and by thinking

simultaneously about how all sources fit

together.

Text Features

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Textbooks and nonfiction books often contain special features which

can be used to help the reading understand and organize the

information being presented. Text featured makes it easier for the

reader to locate needed information with ease.

Headings Bold wording

Graphics (pictures,

graphs, charts)

Index Glossary

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Heading, subheading and Bold Text

Heading:

Used to help readers find

out what the selection is

going to be about. The

heading can also help the

reader figure out the main

idea of a selection.

Bold Text:

These large dark print

words leads the reader to

important or new

vocabulary words to aide

in understanding the

information being

presented.

Subheading:

A small division of a

chapter, essay, or article

that provided more

specific information

about a topic.

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Graphics

These graphs, charts,

diagrams, maps, photographs

or tables are used to further

explain the information that

has be presented. This

information provided a visual

representation of the text

included in the selection.

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Index and GlossaryThe index of a nonfiction book is used to guide the reader to specific

information by looking up keywords. The index is found in the back of the

book. The glossary is also found in the back or at the end of a nonfiction text.

The glossary is specific to the text being read . It provides the reader with the

definitions of words important in comprehension of the text.

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Reference Source Print and Online

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Reference sources are the print and electronic source used to gather information about

a variety of topics in one location. Encyclopedia, dictionary, almanac, atlas, thesaurus are

examples of reference sources commonly used to answer questions or learn more about

a concept.

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Encyclopedia

A collection of articles or entries that

summarize a larger body of information.

These articles often include illustrations,

diagrams, or photographs on the topic

or person being discussed. This

information can be general or specific

based on the topic or content area.

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Dictionary

This word book is an alphabetical

collection of words, their

pronunciations, origin, and part of

speech. The words may be specific to

a particular populations’ language or a

translation of languages.

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Almanac

This collection of list, forecast, moon phases , planting

recommendation, and yearly highlights provided the reader with a

wide variety of information based on their occurrence during the year.

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Internet Based Resources

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Research Models

Increase Comprehension

Text Features

Reference Sources

Activities to increase reading comprehension

Fluency Vocabulary Comprehension

Choice Literacy

Teaching comprehension

Informational Text

Text Feature PowerPoint

Online Encyclopedia

Online Dictionary

Online Almanac

Big6

Research Model

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Searching for and Using Information

Introduction

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Introduction 2 Increasing Comprehension

Reference Sources

Research ModelsText Features

Word Meanings Multiple SourcesVisual Information

Headingbold text Graphics Index/Glossary

Encyclopedia Dictionary Almanac