Utilizing Informational Texts in Teaching Science in Elementary Education

Abstract

Informational texts can be efficient resources for stimulating curiosity and interest in science and contributing to the development of positive scientific attitudes. When students read, they participate in essential scientific and literacy processes, for instance, predicting, generating questions, summarizing understandings, and using data to draw conclusions (Yopp & Yopp, 2006). The 2010 Common Core State Standards emphasized the importance of informational text use in primary education. The Standards also set out a vision of what it means to be a literate person in the 21st century as a natural outcome of preparing for college and career readiness. Through reading texts in history, social studies, science, and other disciplines, students develop a theoretical base in these fields, which also gives them a framework for critical reading in all content areas. This foundation is acquired by students when the curriculum is intentionally and coherently designed to establish a rich knowledge of content. Also, informational reading helps students achieve the habit of reading independently, which is important to their future success (CCSS, 2010). Prior to the Common Core State Standards emphasis on the use of informational texts, Duke (2000) found that children in first grade classrooms spent only 3.6 minutes per day engaged in written language activities with informational texts. Moss (2005) argued that at the primary level a minimum of one third of reading instruction time should be spent on informational texts and at the upper elementary level the amount of time spent reading such texts should rise to around 40% in the fourth grade, 50% in the fifth grade and 60%–65% in the sixth grade.