Wanted: More Informational Text!

With the sweep of Common Core State Standards, there has been plenty of talk about an increase in the amount of informational text that teachers should be exposing students to. One of the major misunderstanding that I see is the assumption that informational text just means more non-fiction. According to Scholastic, a big difference between the two.  What do you think?

As teachers are searching for more resources and not just books, I have started the hunt. 
Of course, I have to give credit where credit is due and say that some of my fellow colleagues have shared some of these resources. Thank you!

Here are a few resources that I've started to look into. 

Feel free to share any other resources that you have come across! I would love to
 share the and of course, I will give where credit is due.

• Tween Tribune: www.tweentribune.com
• current event articles for kids
• Newspapers for kids: www.teachkidsnews.com
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  Timely, relevant news articles for kids, educators in the classroom and parents at home. >>

• Time for Kids: www.timeforkids.com
• online articles for students on all different topics
• options to participate in voting polls and surveys
• Library of Congress: 
• primary source documents, photographs, ads, etc.
• Great resource for Social Studies

I used Time for Kids in a 4th grade classroom as I was modeling a lesson.  The article was about the recent ban of large, sugary drinks in New York. I dropped the article into Edmodo (a safe networking tool for teachers and students--much like facebook) where all students could access the article link.  Paper copies are fine! I did use paper copies of the article for highlighting purposes. The students read the article and took a position on whether they agreed or disagreed with the government being able to decide what we can eat and drink. In a Common Core world where evidence is important when defending an argument, the kids did an awesome job with providing evidence from the text to defend their choice. It led to great discussion. You almost would have thought there was a debate of politicians going on if you walked in the classroom! I don't give credit to myself at all. I give credit to a great article choice :) The kids just couldn't believe that New York had made that decision for their citizens. The kids were involved and could relate to the article and it was very kid-friendly.  Best comment of the lesson: "So Ms. Ellis, you mean to tell me that if I drive all the way to New York right now, I can't buy me a large sweet tea? That just won't work for my life!" Ha! My thoughts exactly!

Don't forget to share any resources that you have come across!

Happy Blogging!