Primary English: Knowledge and Understanding - Medwell Jane A. 2014

Looking at information books

TEACHERS’ STANDARDS

A teacher must:

3. Demonstrate good subject and curriculum knowledge

✵ have a secure knowledge of the relevant subject(s) and curriculum areas, foster and maintain pupils’ interest in the subject, and address misunderstandings

✵ demonstrate a critical understanding of developments in the subject and curriculum areas, and promote the value of scholarship

✵ demonstrate an understanding of and take responsibility for promoting high standards of literacy, articulacy and the correct use of standard English, whatever the teacher’s specialist subject.

4. Plan and teach well structured lessons

✵ impart knowledge and develop understanding through effective use of lesson time

✵ promote a love of learning and children’s intellectual curiosity

✵ contribute to the design and provision of an engaging curriculum within the relevant subject area(s).

8. Fulfil wider professional responsibilities

✵ take responsibility for improving teaching through appropriate professional development.

Curriculum context

National Curriculum programmes of study

This knowledge is designed to underpin the teaching of the Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 programmes of study for English, which state, for example, that pupils should be taught

in spoken language to:

✵ give well-structured descriptions, explanations and narratives for different purposes

in reading to:

✵ develop pleasure in reading, motivation to read, vocabulary and understanding by:

listening to and discussing a wide range of poems, stories and non-fiction at a level beyond that at which they can read independently Y1/2

listening to and discussing a wide range of non-fiction and reference books or textbooks Y3/4/5/6

reading books that are structured in different ways and reading for a range of purposes Y3/4/5/6

discussing the sequence of events in books and how items of information are related Y2

being encouraged to link what they read or hear to their own experiences Y1

✵ distinguish between statements of fact and opinion Y5/6

✵ retrieve, record and present information from non-fiction Y5/6

and in writing to:

✵ develop positive attitudes towards and stamina for writing by:

writing about real events Y2

writing for different purposes Y2

✵ plan their writing by:

identifying the audience for and purpose of the writing, selecting the appropriate form and using other similar writing as models for their own Y5/6

noting and developing initial ideas, drawing on reading and research where necessary Y5/6

✵ draft and write by:

in non-narrative material, using simple organisational devices [for example, headings and sub-headings] Y3/4

using further organisational and presentational devices to structure text and to guide the reader [for example, headings, bullet points, underlining] Y5/6.

Early Years Foundation Stage

The Early Learning Goals specify that, by the end of the Early Years Foundation Stage, children should:

✵ demonstrate understanding when talking with others about what they have read.

Introduction

Children’s early reading experiences have traditionally been in the area of fiction. Research has shown that over 80 per cent of reading time between ages 4 and 7, including reading instruction, has been spent on reading fiction. In the past, it was assumed that children would only be able to read non-fiction texts once they were proficient readers of fiction.

However, children’s reading experience outside school is rich with information print. Some of the first books ever given to children in the home (such as baby board books or picture alphabet books) are often simple catalogues of labelled items. These are information books. Even the youngest of children can often read and recognise packaging, adverts and shop signs. Most teachers recognise this environmental print as valuable reading experience, but may still neglect non-fiction books in the classroom as an early route to literacy.

Children may spend their early years immersed in poems, traditional tales, stories and reading scheme ’readers’. They start to learn about the conventions of character and plot. They learn that every story starts on page one, reads from top left down the page, and has a beginning, middle and end. By the time children are aged about 7, their reading diet suddenly changes. Almost overnight, it seems, they are expected to read and understand non-fiction books, textbooks, and specialist information books about science, geography or history.

It is now recognised that non-fiction books should be read and discussed by children from the earliest stages of reading:

✵ Their highly visual presentation can make them easier for the very young reader to access than fiction.

✵ They are ideal for shared or guided reading since they contain images from the child’s real experience, which are very suitable for discussion.

✵ They offer a better route to literacy for some readers (often boys) who prefer the real-world content.

✵ The range of topics available provides a greater choice for readers of all abilities and interests.

The benefits of teaching young children early non-fiction skills from school entry are considerable. It can provide a foundation for the skills that they will need throughout their school life, and for their adult lives (most of the reading we do as adults is information reading). It will unlock other subject areas like science, history and geography, which rely on the use of non-fiction books and the interpretation of such things as charts and graphs, timelines, diagrams and maps. It is also the case that children’s reading experiences directly influence their ability to write. Experience of different types of non-fiction in primary school can assist children’s ability to write for different audiences in an appropriate style later on.

Overuse of stories as the major reading experience in the primary years can make it hard to ’wean’ children off these fiction-based strategies later on. They may mistakenly try to apply these ’fiction rules’ to non-fiction:

✵ They will find it hard to use contents pages and ’skim through’, preferring to start at the beginning of a non-fiction book.

✵ Their unfamiliarity with non-fiction will hold them back when they move up the school and are required to read textbooks, history books, maps, etc.

✵ They will also find it hard to write in a non-fiction style, like writing a report, and will lapse into more familiar story-style writing.

✵ They will find it hard to find the books they need for research.

✵ They will have a tendency to simply copy out verbatim from books rather than put things in their own words.

A broad range of fiction and non-fiction books is essential for teaching children how to read, from the moment they enter school; but not just any books. In the same way as we need to be selective about the kinds of fiction that we make available for children, we need to be able to apply critical criteria to our selection of non-fiction texts.

Looking critically at information books

Non-fiction materials come in many different formats. Not only are there books and magazines, but newspapers, newsletters, almanacs, atlases, encyclopaedias, and documents that present factual information. There are a number of criteria by which we can judge the quality of non-fiction materials: they tend to be full of facts; they are accurate; they are written in concise form; they provide illustrative material; very often they contain specialised vocabulary and they are organised in particular ways. We will look more closely at each of these criteria.

Facts

Non-fiction, by definition, deals with — all kinds of facts — facts about today, facts about yesterday, and even facts about tomorrow. Books and materials vary immensely, of course, both in their selection and their treatment of these facts. Some non-fiction books, for example, especially those aimed at younger readers, choose to include very few facts. Some include facts which, it might be expected, young children already know. Compare, for example, the text on the first pages of two information books:

Book 1

Wood comes from trees. Trees grow all over the world. They grow in hot, damp lands of Africa, Asia and South America.

Book 2

The storm chaser

My name is Robert Davies-Jones. I work for the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) in the United States of America. I am a scientist. My job is to find out about storms so we can warn people about them. I am very interested in storms that cause tornadoes.

On Thursday 8th June 1995, I set out to chase a storm. This is what happened.

Fact Box

Tornadoes are huge windstorms. They can tear up trees, knock down houses, and kill people and animals. The United States of America is hit by more tornadoes than any other country in the world.

The first example contains very few facts that children of the target age (6/7 year olds) would not know, apart from the fact that trees grow in ’hot, damp lands’. This statement itself is a little misleading as, without reading on to the next page of this book, a reader could end up thinking that trees only grow in such places.

The second example, however, is much more fact-dense and sets out to engage its target readers (again 6/7 year olds) with the information it includes.

One of the criteria that you would want to apply to selecting information books for children is the degree to which the text gives sufficient facts to engage the reader’s interest. Books can go too far, however, and if the information they provide is too dense, they risk overloading and putting off their potential readers.

Accuracy

High-quality non-fiction material should be accurate. How can you tell that you can rely on the facts provided? Publishers of non-fiction materials want to assure readers that they can depend on these publications, so they tend to supply information about the author’s expertise and experience on the covers of books, in the introductory pages, in the preface, or throughout the materials.

Generally, you are much more likely to be able to trust the accuracy of non-fiction materials when:

✵ information is given about the author’s and illustrator’s expertise and experience;

✵ information is provided about the experts, if any, who were consulted during the writing of the materials;

✵ major references are cited in the text and in the bibliography;

✵ materials are up to date.

Even when such tests are passed, however, there is still a possible problem with accuracy in non-fiction books and this is connected with the issue of bias. The fact is that most of what we read, even those texts that deal with ’facts’, may actually be propaganda. This is simply because all texts are written by someone and that person is certain to be the member of a particular political, social, religious or racial group and therefore have to some extent that political, social, religious or racial world view. Therefore, what they write is not completely objective. This does not mean that such a writer is deliberately intending to mislead readers. We have to distinguish between deliberate and involuntary bias. Authors may simply not recognise the perspective from which their writing comes because they are too close to it.

Bias in texts is, therefore, virtually universal. One of the aims of teachers should be to enable children to get beneath the surface of a text and become aware of the perspective from which it is written. To do this, teachers need to be critical readers themselves and to recognise the features in texts that indicate partiality. What are these features?

REFLECTIVE TASK

Examine these two passages, each of which describes the Battle of the Little Big Horn. As you read, make notes about what you know of the point of view of the authors of each passage. How are these points of view communicated?

Passage 1

It rapidly became clear that General Custer had been out-manoeuvred by a superior tactician. As the horses surged around his dwindling group of men, he must finally have realised he was not invincible after all. Sitting Bull had lured him into a trap in the same way that countless bands of native Americans had been lured in the past by white bounty hunters. And revenge was about to be exacted.

One by one the cavalrymen were brought down. Although outnumbered, their weapons were superior and an increasing number of horses began to speed away riderless from the battle. Many a family would grieve that night when those horses returned to their teepees. But the odds gradually began to tell. When Custer himself fell, beyond the protection of his hard-pressed men at last, it was only a matter of time.

Passage 2

Massacre at the Little Big Horn

No one can recall the countless deeds of heroism done that day: men dying to try to save their doomed comrades from the ravening hordes surrounding them. Custer himself was saved twice from arrows to his back by brave men who put themselves in the way.

Yet all this selflessness was to come eventually to naught. There were simply too many howling red attackers to resist. The Sioux had been waiting and building their strength and were now extracting their blood-thirsty revenge on the white men. Nobody would survive that day and the name of George Armstrong Custer would enter the annals of heroes who died defending their countries and their men.

The two extracts differ in their implied stories of how Custer and his men came to be involved in this battle. In one text, they have apparently been lured into a trap by a superior general; in the second, they are ’defending their country’, a much more noble explanation of their involvement. The extracts also differ in their accounts of who was being killed in the battle. In the second text, there is no mention at all of Sioux casualties, whereas in the first this is dwelt on in an almost lyrical way. It seems clear that the first text was written by a writer sympathising with the Sioux viewpoint of this battle, whereas the second text takes the viewpoint of Custer and his men.

These perspectives are indicated in several ways:

✵ details included or omitted — e.g. white bounty hunters and grieving Sioux families versus Custer being saved from arrows to his back. The superior weapons of Custer’s men are mentioned only in the first extract.

✵ quality of description — e.g. in the first extract, Custer is ’out-manoeuvred’, his men are ’brought down’, Sioux horses ’speed away riderless’; in the second, Custer’s men perform ’countless deeds of heroism’ and are selfless, whereas the Sioux are ’ravening hordes’ and ’blood-thirsty’.

These two features of selection of events and vocabulary choice are those in which bias in texts is most commonly seen.

Conciseness

Individual facts are units of information. Their power rests not only in their content but also in their clear, generally brief form. It is such concise writing that grips the reader’s mind and imagination. Readers need models of succinct composition in order to develop skill in expository writing. Fiction can help them to write narration; non-fiction can help them write exposition.

Specialised vocabulary

Non-fiction often requires a special vocabulary. To appreciate any topic fully, terms must be understood. Special terms are defined in non-fiction materials in different ways. They may be defined:

✵ as they are introduced — in some books, for instance, new terms are printed in italics and defined as soon as they are introduced;

✵ as part of captions or as additions to labels outside the main narrative;

✵ in a special glossary at the back of the book.

No matter how they are presented, new terms need to be defined and made clear to readers. This sometimes means that they need to be clarified by visual representation.

Illustration

When text is not enough to present information clearly, drawings, photographs, headings, highlighting, colour, and even paper engineering (foldouts, tabs and flaps) may be used.

Non-fiction materials provide opportunities to teach readers how to ’read’ illustrative materials in order to glean all of the information that they offer. Sometimes, it is the strong appeal of remarkable illustrations that invite children to sit and stare and think about the books in their hands.

RESEARCH SUMMARY

David Lewis, in his study of the breadth of reading in three Key Stage 2 classes (Lewis, 1992), found that collaborative reading, that is children sharing books with their friends, was only found when the text was non-fiction. It appeared to be the illustrations in a book that particularly prompted such sharing.

Organisation

It is fairly obvious that non-fiction books are organised differently from fiction books. Index pages, for example, make it possible for a reader to quickly find particular items in a non-fiction book, rather than adopting the typical fiction reading strategy of starting at the beginning and working through to the end.

What has really only been considered comparatively recently is the fact that non-fiction books themselves differ in terms of their organisation. A key concept here is that of text ’genre’. This term can be used in several ways, which can make it rather confusing, and the term ’text types’ is often preferred. The thinking behind the way in which these terms are used to refer to non-fiction books is as follows:

✵ Non-fiction books and texts are written for a range of different purposes. Some are written to retell a sequence of events. Biographies are one familiar example of this. Others are written to give instructions, such as in recipe books. We have identified seven major purposes of non-fiction texts and books (see below).

✵ Depending on its purpose, a non-fiction book will be written in a distinctive form. Biographies and recipe books are structured very differently because they have different purposes.

✵ Non-fiction books are generally distinguished in form by:

1. Their structure — A biography, for example, will generally take the form of a series of chapters, each containing descriptions of a series of events, usually in chronological order. A recipe book, on the other hand, will usually be divided into much shorter sections, each of which contains a heading (e.g. Rich chocolate cake), a list of ingredients and a series of steps to guide the reader in making the dish.

2. Their vocabulary and grammar — A biography will refer to particular people and will be written in the past tense. A recipe book does not refer to people (other than perhaps a general ’you’) and uses the imperative present tense (prepare the bowl, mix the ingredients).

3. Their connectives — Both biographies and recipe books generally use connectives related to time (After that he; Next get), whereas other types of texts use more logical connectives (because, on account of, in spite of).

The seven major information book genres are:

1. Recounts

2. Records

3. Reference texts

4. Persuasive texts

5. Discussions

6. Reports

7. Instructions

Each genre has particular structural and language features and these are described below under the three headings of purpose, structure and language features. Under each genre, we indicate a typical type of book that exemplifies that genre.

Recounts

The purpose of a recount is to retell, in narrative form, a sequence of events with the purpose of either informing or entertaining an audience (or with both purposes).

A recount usually consists of:

✵ a ’scene setting’ opening (orientation);

✵ a recount of the events as they occurred (events);

✵ a closing statement (reorientation).

Recounts are usually written:

✵ in the past tense;

✵ in chronological order, using connectives of time;

✵ focusing on individual or group participants;

✵ using ’doing/action’ verbs.

Examples of recounts are biographies, autobiographies and newspaper reports. (Please note that the term ’report’ is used rather differently later.)

Records

The purpose of a record is to record events, and the writer’s feelings about those events, as they occur.

Records usually contain:

✵ accounts of a sequence of events;

✵ events ordered according to a clearly signalled system (usually dates);

✵ some commentary on each event as it is described (optional).

Records are usually written:

✵ in the past tense (with present tense for commentaries);

✵ in chronological order, using temporal connectives;

✵ focusing on an individual participant (the writer);

✵ using ’doing/action’ verbs (with thinking/feeling verbs for commentaries).

Examples of records are diaries and log-books.

Reference texts

The purpose of a reference text is to present information in an ordered, easily retrievable way.

Reference texts usually contain:

✵ a number of short pieces of information about a large number of things, events or people;

✵ a clear system of organisation, e.g. alphabetical order or progressive questions leading to information location.

Reference texts are usually written:

✵ in the present tense;

✵ with logical connectives predominating;

✵ focusing on generic participants (dinosaurs rather than a particular dinosaur).

Examples of reference texts are encyclopaedias and identification guides.

Persuasive texts

The purpose of a persuasive text is to put forward an argument in favour of a particular point of view.

A piece of persuasive writing usually consists of:

✵ an opening statement/thesis (often in the form of position/preview);

✵ the arguments (often in the form of point + elaboration);

✵ a summary and restatement of the opening position (reiteration).

Persuasive text is usually written:

✵ in the simple present tense;

✵ focusing mainly on generic human participants;

✵ using mostly logical rather than temporal connectives.

Examples of persuasive texts are pamphlets and leaflets supporting a particular viewpoint.

Discussions

The purpose of a discussion is to present arguments and information from differing viewpoints before reaching a conclusion based on the evidence.

A discussion usually consists of:

✵ a statement of the issue + a preview of the main arguments;

✵ arguments for + supporting evidence;

✵ arguments against + supporting evidence;

✵ a recommendation given as a summary and conclusion.

(The arguments for and against can be presented in a variety of orders.)

Discussions are usually written:

✵ in the simple present tense;

✵ using generic human (or non-human) participants rather than personal pronouns (except in the thesis/conclusion);

✵ using logical connectives.

Examples of discussion are issue books.

Reports

The purpose of a report is to describe and/or explain particular phenomena.

A report usually consists of:

✵ an opening, general classification;

✵ a more technical classification (optional);

✵ a description of the phenomena, which includes some or all of its qualities, parts and their functions, habits/behaviour or uses;

✵ a series of logical steps to explain phenomena.

Reports are usually written:

✵ in the present tense;

✵ using non-chronological connectives;

✵ focusing on groups of things (generic participants);

✵ using ’being’ and ’having’ verbs, with some action verbs.

Examples of reports are explanations, scientific accounts and descriptions. Because these are ordered non-chronologically, they are often referred to as ’non-chronological reports’, to distinguish them from newspaper reports, which are in fact recounts.

Instructions

The purpose of a set of instructions is to guide the carrying out of a set of actions.

An instructional book will normally consist of a series of instruction texts, each of which usually contains:

✵ a statement of what is to be achieved;

✵ a list of materials/equipment needed to achieve the goal;

✵ a series of sequenced steps to achieve the goal;

✵ often there is a diagram or illustration.

Instructions are usually written:

✵ in the simple present tense or imperative tense;

✵ in chronological order;

✵ focusing on generalised human agents rather than individuals;

✵ using mainly doing/action clauses.

Examples of instructions are recipe books and the instruction leaflets that come with games.

There are some important caveats to make when presenting the above descriptions. These relate to book genres; that is, particular types of books. This overlaps largely with the concept of text genres that teachers have become familiar with, but there are some important differences:

✵ Books, of whatever main genre, will almost always contain some sections of text of a different genre. Thus, in an autobiography, which we classify overall as recount genre, the author may well include some elements of report, explanation or even persuasion. In a book about volcanoes which, because its purpose is largely to give information about these natural phenomena, will probably be report genre, the author may also include some explanation genre text telling how a volcano is formed.

✵ Books therefore hardly ever contain text exclusively of one genre. Most books are, in fact, hybrids in terms of the text genres they contain.

✵ One important text genre often targeted for teaching is explanation. It is rare, in fact, to find books that contain exclusively explanation, so this is not listed in the seven book genres above. Explanation text is perhaps most often found in report books.

A SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS

In the past, it was assumed that children would only be able to read non-fiction texts once they were proficient in reading fiction.

It is now recognised that children should read and discuss non-fiction books from the earliest stages of reading.

The criteria for looking critically at information books include evaluating their use of facts, accuracy, conciseness, how they present specialised vocabulary, their use of illustration, and how they are organised.

There are seven major information book genres/text types: recounts, records, reference texts, persuasive texts, discussions, reports and instructions.

M-LEVEL EXTENSION

Information books will, of course, be used by teachers and children in many areas of the primary curriculum. It would be useful for you to make a comparison of the types of texts characteristically used in the major curriculum areas. Begin with one area, say history, and examine some of the information books you have available in that area. Can you spot examples of the seven main non-fiction text types as described above? (You should easily find examples of most of these text types, but might struggle to find examples of instructions.)

Now repeat this process with another area, say science. Are the characteristic text types the same? (Here you would expect to find some examples of instructions, but maybe not as much persuasive writing.)

What are some of the implications of this diversity of range for your teaching about text structures?

If, as seems likely, this teaching needs to be carried out across the curriculum, where the texts occur naturally, what implications does this have for how you organise your literacy teaching?

FURTHER READING

DfE (2013) Teachers’ Standards. London: DfE. (www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/208682/Teachers__Standards_2013.pdf)

Lewis, M. and Wray, D. (1995) Developing Children’s Non-Fiction Writing. Leamington Spa: Scholastic. As well as a thorough explanation of non-fiction text types, this book contains a rationale for an approach to teaching the writing of these.

Littlefair, A. (1991) Reading All Types of Writing. Buckingham: Open University Press. An early, but still useful, description of text genre and register.