Bringing Together Fictional and Informational Texts to Improve Comprehension

Abstract

Units of study that contain fictional and informational texts can improve students' comprehension by strengthening background knowledge, vocabulary, and motivation. Such units improve students' background knowledge when informational texts activate or build prior knowledge for fictional texts on the same topic, vocabulary when they provide opportunities to encounter the same word or group of conceptually related words in a variety of different texts, and motivation when they offer multiple entry points suited to individual preferences for fictional or informational texts. The two texts on the same topic offer multiple perspectives on a single subject—affective and objective points of view—that can broaden students' understanding when they are compared and contrasted by teachers aware of the possibilities and risks of intertextuality. Informational and fictional picture books read with longer informational books and novels enrich older students' engagement. They create scaffolds for readers at a variety of different levels and help build the contextual knowledge necessary for working with longer texts. Examples of upper grade units that contain fictional and informational picture books are included.