Information Book Read-Alouds as Models for Second-Grade Authors.

The article discusses the method of reading aloud in second-grade classrooms in order to model the structure of information books. The authors discuss a study of a second-grade classroom in which students were assigned the project of writing information books after studying informational texts about weather. They suggest that an understanding of the genre of information texts is especially useful in the 21st-century classroom due to the rise of mass media and communications in everyday life. Aspects of students' informational compositions are discussed including descriptive attributes, comparisons, and the use of timeless present tense. The authors emphasize the reading teacher's role in instructing students regarding genre elements and patterns of information books.