Analyzing Genre: Informational Text

Address to the Nation on the Explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger

Analyzing Genre: Informational Text

8.11(B)

8.10(B)(i)

8.6(G)

8.6(E)

8.10(C)

8.8(A)

8.6(B)

8.1(D)

Standards

Language Objective

I will write responses to prompts, enhancing my ability to use appropriate academic language and vocabulary for discussing genre in informational texts.

Learning Intention

I will understand how recognizing the genre of informational texts helps us comprehend their purpose and audience more effectively.

Success Criteria

• I can identify the main claim and supporting evidence in an argumentative text.
• I can analyze the effectiveness of argumentative text structure.
• I can construct an argumentative text using appropriate structure

How do informational text features help us learn about new subjects?Write your thoughts in the chat!

Informational texts

Informational texts provide the reader with knowledge about a certain subject, individual, or event. Informational texts can be written in a variety of formats, such as articles and biographies. Articles are essays written about subjects or individuals that often appear in newspapers and magazines. A biography is a text written about a person by someone else. Other examples of informational texts include memoirs, speeches, and essays. Memoirs are texts written by a person about their own life and experiences. We must remember that in informational texts, the author’s main task is to deliver facts. In an informational text, there are many text features an author can use to show facts. Examples of informational text features include graphs, specialized vocabulary, facts, statistics, interviews, and journal entries. These elements keep readers interested in the author’s subject while also showing the most important pieces of information. *Watch StudySync Video

What are the features of an informational text?

Why read informational texts? We read informational text to gain knowledge and understanding about a certain subject or person. Unlike fiction or poetry, informational writing helps us understand the world around us through facts and experts. Writers of informational texts use many elements to share information. Text features are elements used to convey information to the reader and include graphs, specialized vocabulary, facts, statistics, interviews, and journal entries.

Text features inform readers in a variety of ways

-visual displays of information. Graphic features can be a photograph, a chart, or any other kind of image that helps the reader understand the information. Authors of informational texts use graphic features to engage the reader and make complicated facts easier to see.

Graphic Features

-words and phrases that help us understand complex or unfamiliar subjects. Specialized vocabulary is almost always accompanied by a definition and explanation so that the reader does not get confused. Authors use specialized vocabulary in informational texts to show their expertise and also to give the most accurate possible description of a subject.

Specialized Vocabulary

-investigation or study of a subject that expand a person’s knowledge and understanding of that subject. All authors of informational texts must perform research on their subjects in order to write. Readers relies on authors to complete thorough research on a subject so that the text is trustworthy.

Research

In this unit, you’ll read the following informational texts that may contain some of these features:

Other text features that you may encounter within informational texts include:

• Facts -pieces of indisputable information. Authors of informational texts rely on facts to give their writing authority, and readers refer to the facts contained in informational texts to gain knowledge on a subject. Facts are the basic unit of informational texts.
• Statistics -pieces of numerical information that help readers make inferences about something. Statistics present information about quantities that are too big to count by explaining how they relate to a larger group. Statistics are used to describe many subjects, such as population, chemical makeup, or even how many people in a certain group watched a T.V. show.

As you read the informational texts in this unit, use your knowledge of genre characteristics to

• use definitions provided in the text to understand specialized vocabulary or look up words and phrases you have never seen before.
• locate where the presence of statistics and graphic features help you understand the subject.
• think about what new information you learned after reading the text.

Thank You!

Got an idea?

Let the communication flow!

With Genially templates, you can include visual resources to wow your audience. You can also highlight a particular sentence or piece of information so that it sticks in your audience’s minds, or even embed external content to surprise them: Whatever you like! Do you need more reasons to create dynamic content? No problem! 90% of the information we assimilate is received through sight and, what’s more, we retain 42% more information when the content moves.

• Generate experiences with your content.
• It’s got the Wow effect. Very Wow.
• Make sure your audience remembers the message.

Got an idea?

Let the communication flow!

With Genially templates, you can include visual resources to wow your audience. You can also highlight a particular sentence or piece of information so that it sticks in your audience’s minds, or even embed external content to surprise them: Whatever you like! Do you need more reasons to create dynamic content? No problem! 90% of the information we assimilate is received through sight and, what’s more, we retain 42% more information when the content moves.

• Generate experiences with your content.
• It’s got the Wow effect. Very Wow.
• Make sure your audience remembers the message.

Got an idea?

Let the communication flow!

With Genially templates, you can include visual resources to wow your audience. You can also highlight a particular sentence or piece of information so that it sticks in your audience’s minds, or even embed external content to surprise them: Whatever you like! Do you need more reasons to create dynamic content? No problem! 90% of the information we assimilate is received through sight and, what’s more, we retain 42% more information when the content moves.

• Generate experiences with your content.
• It’s got the Wow effect. Very Wow.
• Make sure your audience remembers the message.

Got an idea?

Let the communication flow!

With Genially templates, you can include visual resources to wow your audience. You can also highlight a particular sentence or piece of information so that it sticks in your audience’s minds, or even embed external content to surprise them: Whatever you like! Do you need more reasons to create dynamic content? No problem! 90% of the information we assimilate is received through sight and, what’s more, we retain 42% more information when the content moves.

• Generate experiences with your content.
• It’s got the Wow effect. Very Wow.
• Make sure your audience remembers the message.

Got an idea?

Let the communication flow!

With Genially templates, you can include visual resources to wow your audience. You can also highlight a particular sentence or piece of information so that it sticks in your audience’s minds, or even embed external content to surprise them: Whatever you like! Do you need more reasons to create dynamic content? No problem! 90% of the information we assimilate is received through sight and, what’s more, we retain 42% more information when the content moves.

• Generate experiences with your content.
• It’s got the Wow effect. Very Wow.
• Make sure your audience remembers the message.

Got an idea?

Let the communication flow!

With Genially templates, you can include visual resources to wow your audience. You can also highlight a particular sentence or piece of information so that it sticks in your audience’s minds, or even embed external content to surprise them: Whatever you like! Do you need more reasons to create dynamic content? No problem! 90% of the information we assimilate is received through sight and, what’s more, we retain 42% more information when the content moves.

• Generate experiences with your content.
• It’s got the Wow effect. Very Wow.
• Make sure your audience remembers the message.