The text sets created by INFOhio contain quality text that is complex and is appropriate for the reader and task. Each text is chosen with one or more learning learning standards and audience in mind. In addition, educators should consider learner data and the district or building curriculum.
INFOhio has created a Teacher Guide to help educators use the sample sets. The guide includes a template to build you own text set, as well as supports the use of INFOhio's text sets.
Quality text from INFOhio can be a key element in building text sets to support your students, providing scaffolds to reach more complex texts. The steps that follow will help educators with the process of developing this literacy tool.
Identify the Standard or Topic to Address
Ohio's Learning Standards explain the knowledge and skills that PreK-12 students should have. The standards serve as performance measures for Ohio's schools, and they ensure success in college, career, and life.
When complex text is present, support students by using text sets. Using these scaffolding tools in any content area will help students gain the background knowledge and vocabulary needed for comprehension and building meaning. No matter the grade, using text sets in science, social studies, related arts, or workforce and tech development will empower students to approach higher-level texts with confidence. According to Daniel Willingham, knowledge builds the learner's capacity for more knowledge.
The anchor text more than likely will determine the standard or topic for the text set. Whether you start with the text or the standard, be sure your focus is specific enough to avoid overwhelming or confusing readers.
For example, in the Third Grade Text Set: Soil and Soil Scientists, the standard and texts focus not just on soil, but on its characteristics and the sampling and testing used to study them.
Notice that the template includes a space for guiding questions. This is helpful in selecting your texts as well as considering the reader and task. Consider any additional or specific knowledge you might want students to acquire or materials and topics that will engage and excite learners.
Identify Quality Text
In the following module, you will learn more about how to find the right text for your text sets using INFOhio's quality digital resources.
As we said earlier, there are four texts in the Quad Text Set Framework. The graphic below helps educators identify the differences in these texts.
Texts 1, 2, and 3 are the steps readers take to reach text 4, the anchor text. Each of the first three texts should be at grade level or lower, an infographic or chart, or a video that introduces readers to the background knowledge and vocabulary of text 4, the higher-level text. If the target text is longer, educators may want to consider interspersing one or two of the other texts to help motivate readers. Children's Literacy Initiative offers the novelThe Birchbark House as an example of a target text. It suggests that students watch a video first, read some chapters, and follow up with a folktale and short article about the subject matter of the novel.
In the 9-12 Grade Text Set: The Federalist Papers below, the texts are chosen and listed in a specific order. These key steps build knowledge and vocabulary and other subskills from Scarborough's Rope for language comprehension.
Determine the Activities Needed to Build Comprehension Skills
The INFOhio Text Set Teacher Guide includes a helpful table of contents. Click the link to scroll down to suggested activities that support the development of skills needed for language comprehension.
Educators can modify most of the activities to meet the needs of students at all grade levels. For example, the Inquiry Chart linked in Before, During, and After Activities helps students brainstorm questions based on the topic and use the questions to guide their reading comprehension. Similarly, the Vocabulary Vault chart is appropriate for students of all ages.
Some of the activities listed are ready for students to use, with templates and directions. The two mentioned above fall in this category. Activities such as Choosing Words to Teach and Choosing Vocabulary Words in the vocabulary section are guides for educators, with strategies to help them prepare for instruction.
Finally, some activities support the language-structure skills needed for language comprehension. Expanding Sentences and the Complex Text Sentence Scaffold both break down the language used in a text, helping learners make sense of its phrases and sentences.
Be sure to explore the activities and find the best ones to meet the needs of the reader and the task.
For more support with this model, be sure to read the following Teach With INFOhio blog posts:
INFOhio Text Sets for Grades 6-12
INFOhio Text Sets: Tips to Get Started
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For more information about Fetch, please visit the Fetch information page or contact INFOhio support at https://support.infohio.org.
