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Benefits of Using Hot Topics

Info Text Lessons in Class

According to a Gallup analysis of data from the U.S. Department of Education, “About 130 million adults in the U.S. have low literacy skills. This means more than half of Americans between the ages of 16 and 74 (54%) read below the equivalent of a sixth-grade level.” Whether you are an English teacher or not, if you work with students in class, you know there is a desperate need for improved reading skills among our students. As an English teacher, my students read a lot, and they read as many types of texts as possible. It seems that the majority of students these days tend to report that they enjoy reading nonfiction or informational texts more than fiction. That said, over the years I’ve been developing informational text lessons based on hot topics (current events) that students can dig into and *maybe* even enjoy! There are so many benefits of using hot topics info text lessons in class (any class), and that’s what I’m sharing in this blog post – benefits for students and teachers!

BENEFIT OF USING INFO TEXTS IN CLASS #1: VOCABULARY WORD ACQUISITION


A while back, my mom was reading a book with my (at that time) 7-year-old niece, and my niece came across an unfamiliar word. She stopped to ask my mom what it meant. (I absolutely love that she does that!) My mom turned to her phone to have her “Google” it, but her phone’s battery was dead (Thankfully :). No worries, though, because my mom had a dictionary at her house. When she showed it to my niece, my niece said, “What’s this?” My mom, a veteran high school English teacher-turned principal, was shocked. She explained what a dictionary is. They looked up the word, and my niece thought getting to do that was so “cool.” 


There are so many takeaways from this story. First, if my niece hadn’t been reading in the first place, she wouldn’t have encountered a new word. Secondly, she stopped to ask what it meant. Students need to be aware of new words, and they need to stop and look at new words and their meanings that pop up inside of texts they read. Nonfiction articles are excellent for this because they are short and often the words that show up in these types of texts are words students might see again and again. Lastly, is the scary thought of how dependent we are on technology. At the time my niece was 7, and she hadn’t seen or heard of a dictionary. That may be because she was too young, but could it be because technology is slowly phasing it out? It’s not a bad thing to search the Internet for a word or concept; we want students to use their resources. But-thinking of a world with no books makes me shudder. Either way, words live inside of texts and should be explored authentically and organically. Tons of research shows that when students acquire words authentically rather than from lists, there is more likelihood of them being able to remember the word and use it later since they saw it and learned it in context.


One hands-on activity I do is a “Word Window” foldable for recording words during reading. Just take a sheet of notebook paper and fold it so there are 4 squares – no cutting or pasting needed. The students read the article and find four words they don’t know. I don’t give them the words. They write one word in each square and then look up the definitions in the dictionary. I encourage them to translate the definition into their own words and then go back to the article to see if what they wrote makes sense. Now they have a clearer understanding of the word, as if they have looked through a window, symbolically speaking. All of my Hot Topics Info Text Lessons come with “Word Work,” a sheet with pre-selected words from the article.

BENEFIT OF USING INFO TEXTS IN CLASS #2: INFORMING STUDENTS AND GETTING THEIR ATTENTION WITH RELEVANT MATERIAL


In Part 1 of Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, a timeless commentary on society and anti-intellectualism, Captain Beatty rants, “Cram them full of noncombustible data, chock them so […] full of ‘facts’ they feel stuffed, but absolutely ‘brilliant’ with information. Then they’ll feel they’re thinking, they’ll get a sense of motion without moving.” This is where the majority of our students are today. With non-stop videos from Tik Tok and an abundance of armchair experts posting on Youtube daily, “information” is everywhere. I often wonder, though, how censored — and correct — is that info? It doesn’t seem that way, but it also doesn’t seem varied (unbiased) or rigorous to digest. It is imperative that we present students with unbiased varied literature that allows (teaches) them to gather and truly dissect and digest information. The hot topics approach grabs their attention with topics they care about, but the texts I choose (in my no prep, hot topics lessons) are also relevant to their lives — topics about which they need to be adequately and correctly informed.


BENEFIT OF USING INFO TEXTS IN CLASS #3: SPARKING CRITICAL THINKING


The faculty at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga define critical thinking as “a set of information and beliefs, generating and processing skills, and the habit of using those skills to guide behavior.” When students are reading, I want them demonstrating those behaviors. How do we get students do that? One way is to have them engage with a text multiple times, and I like to do that by having them read once while thinking like a reader, and then again, by having them think like writer. This allow students to see the text from multiple angles – angles with which they would be required to engage at some point or another.


Beyond the sets of premade questions, students can explore deeper layers by asking their own questions. These aren’t just any questions; they are questions that go beyond the surface – beyond the black and white – questions that raise more questions. 


A couple of question stems to get students started might be:


  • Why did the author say…
  • I wonder how it might be different if…
  • How is this idea different than…
  • How is this idea the same as…
  • What is the underlying issue of…
  • What could be another solution…
  • Could there be other causes or effects…
  • How did the author know…


You also grab pre-made task cards with question stems that work with any text you find!



BENEFIT OF USING INFO TEXTS IN CLASS #4: INVITING STUDENT VOICES


The articles I choose are all hot topics. Sometimes, both sides are presented, but other times, they lean one way. In either case, I have students prepare to take a side in writing. When there’s time, I host a debate. This is also an excellent time to review prepare claims, counterclaims, and rebuttals. (See how I teach that in this free video.) Debating is an excellent way to practice speaking, listening, and citing evidence. Read more about Hosting Successful Class Discussions at this post. The important part to remember is that these debates will be textually informed and welcoming to both sides.


BENEFIT OF USING INFO TEXTS IN CLASS #5: COVERING NUMEROUS STANDARDS


  • Summarizing – Identifying the central idea and its development throughout is a critical step of fully understanding a text. I teach students to use the Somebody – Wanted– But – So – Then method of summarizing. Once students have this strategy down, they can begin to see how it functions on a fundamental level to arriving at a central idea. 
  • Writing Prompts – I always look for ways for students to write about what they read. All of my Hot Topics Lessons include at least one prompt, if not multiple in various modes.
  • Research – Many nonfiction texts or informational text articles you might find lend themselves really well for further investigation. If you don’t have time to conduct research in class, consider using the research tasks included with my Hot Topics Lessons with your advanced learners for differentiation.


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