The seventh informational text standard builds on the fifth one that we broke down last week. In that standard, we looked at all the different types of text features and text structrues that help our students gather important information from a nonfiction text. Now, we will look at how to teach them to use illustrations in informational texts.
Tips for Teaching How to Use Illustrations in Informational Texts
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The first thing we need to do is to break down the standard at the different grade levels. It is really helpful to know what your students are expected to do in the grade level before yours and the grade level after yours. This allows you to differentiate your lessons and meet the needs of all your students.
First Grade
Important Skills to Teach:
- How to use illustrations in informational texts to gather information
- How to use details from an informational text to tell about its key ideas
I Can Statements:
- I can use illustrations to gather important information in an informational text.
- I can use details to describe the key ideas in an informational text.
Download a week of 1st grade lesson plans to teach this standard.
Download a digital slideshow to assign for distance learning or as a center activity.
Second Grade
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.2.7 – Explain how specific images (e.g., a diagram showing how a machine works) contribute to and clarify a text.
Important Skills to Teach:
- What types of images, like charts and diagrams, might be found in an informational text
- How images help us understand an informational text
I Can Statements:
- I can identify images, like charts and diagrams, in an informational text.
- I can use images to help me understand an informational text.
Download a week of 2nd grade lesson plans to teach this standard.
Download a digital slideshow to assign for distance learning or as a center activity.
Third Grade
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.7 – Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur).
Important Skills to Teach:
- What types of illustrations, like maps and photographs, are found in informational texts
- How to gather information from the illustrations in an informational text
- How to use the words in an informational text to understand where, when, why, and how events occur
I Can Statements:
- I can identify illustrations, like maps and photographs, in an informational text.
- I can use illustrations to gather information from an informational text.
- I can use the words in an informational text to understand where, when, why, and how events occur.
Download a week of 3rd grade lesson plans to teach this standard.
Download a digital slideshow to assign for distance learning or as a center activity.
Fourth Grade
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.7 – Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears.
Important Skills to Teach:
- What types of images present visual and quantitative information in informational texts (charts, graphs, diagrams, and time lines)
- What types of images present visual and oral information online (animations and interactive elements on Web pages)
- How to use the information from these images to understand the text
I Can Statements:
- I can identify sources of visual and quantitative information, like charts, graphs, diagrams, and time lines.
- I can identify sources of visual and oral information online, like animations and interactive elements on Web pages.
- I can use images in informational books and online to better understand an informational text.
Download a week of 4th grade lesson plans to teach this standard.
Download a digital slideshow to assign for distance learning or as a center activity.
Fifth Grade
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.5.7 – Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently.
Important Skills to Teach
- How to gather information from the words and images in an informational text
- How to use text features to locate the answer to a question quickly
- How to integrate information from multiple print or digital sources to gather important information
I Can Statements:
- I can use the words and images in an informational text to find important information.
- I can use the text features, like the table of contents and subheadings, to find the answers to questions and to solve problems.
- I can use more than one informational text or digital source to gather important information.
Download a week of lesson plans to teach this standard.
Download a digital slideshow to assign for distance learning or as a center activity.
Suggested Books
You want to find books with a lot of different types of images and illustrations for this standard. Look for charts, diagrams, maps, graphs, and time lines. The National Geographic books have a lot of different text features and images. They work well for integrating information from the text and from the images.
National Geographic Readers: Weather
The Earth and The Role of Water
Tips for Teaching Illustrations in Informational Texts
- Use a chart to integrate information. Have your students draw a chart with two sides. For first through fourth grade, the first sections should say “Information From the Text” and the second section should say “Information From the Illustrations”. As the students read their books, they should gather information from all parts of the text and write it in the correct column. Then, they can put together the information from the words and images in the text. For fifth grade, the students can use the two sections for two different books about the same topic. They can see which information overlaps and which information is only in one source.
- Play “Race to Find the Answer”. The main purpose of this standard is to help your students quickly find the information they need in an informational text. Put together a set of questions from an informational text that has a lot of images. It should also have other text features, like headings, subheadings, bold words, that can help students find the information they need. Ask the students a question, and have them race to find the answer. They should raise their hands as they find the answer. Be sure to include questions that are answered in the charts, tables, graphs, or captions.
- Design Your Own Illustrations. Help your students understand how illustrations help us understand the information in an informational text by having them create their own. After reading an informational text that has numbers or a description of the parts of something, have your students design their own charts, graphs, or diagrams.
Other Helpful Resources
If you have students who are struggling with this standard, strategy groups and one-on-one conferences are a great way to differentiate and help all your students master it. These assessments will show you which students have mastered the standards and which students need extra practice.
1st Grade Common Core Literature Standard Assessments
1st Grade Common Core Informational Texts Standard Assessments
2nd Grade Common Core Literature Standard Assessments
2nd Grade Common Core Informational Texts Standard Assessments
3rd Grade Common Core Literature Standard Assessments
3rd Grade Common Core Informational Texts Standard Assessments
4th Grade Common Core Literature Standard Assessments
4th Grade Common Core Informational Texts Standard Assessments
5th Grade Common Core Literature Standard Assessments
5th Grade Common Core Informational Texts Standard Assessments
Get all the lesson plans you need to teach every Common Core Reading Standard for your grade level.
1st Grade Common Core Standards Bundle
2nd Grade Common Core Standards Bundle
3rd Grade Common Core Standards Bundle
4th Grade Common Core Standards Bundle
5th Grade Common Core Standards Bundle
For more tips on teaching the reading standards, join the Rock the Reading Workshop Facebook Group.
What Do You Think?
What are your best tips for teaching your students to use illustrations in informational texts?
Let us know in the comments.
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