Monday, October 24, 2011

Functional Text

Functional text helps people do regular things everyday.  What are some examples of functional text?

-Directions
-Maps
-Captions
-Emails/Letters
-Receipts
-Traffic signs/Regular signs
-Labels (food, products, clothing tags)
-Advertisements
-Bank statements
-Checks
-Technical directions (putting together products)

I used to think that functional text was intimidating to teach, and some forms of functional text are harder to teach than others.  Most forms of functional text are easy to teach to 7th graders though.  They have a good background knowledge of the world around them, and a lot of my students were more street savvy than classroom savvy.  

Functional text is just that:  It's about the reading the world around you and understanding the rules of society and life.  

Incorporating all text, informative, persuasive and functional throughout the school year is much better than jamming it in right before the test.  I would suggest either picking a day once a week (for example if your school has a short day/early release day) or every other week, you can easily incorporate functional, informative and persuasive text into your school year.  Better yet, get with the teachers that are on your team, the teachers that teach math, science, and social studies, and give them strategies on how to teach this type of reading in their classrooms. 

Good luck, and coming soon will be a giveaway of one of my favorite books!

3 comments:

  1. I have a question for you. This is me writing moreso as the student. I remember really loving reading growing up. My mom would take us to the library and we'd pick out books and read them all day everyday. When I got to jr high and high school, my "love" for reading significantly decreased. Did you ever experience this with your students? And how do you combat that as a reading teacher? I've finally bounced back to really loving reading again after college ended and I had time to read books that I wanted to read, but for about 7 years, I really did not like it. Getting me to do it was like pulling teeth :P

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  2. Do you remember what caused it to decrease? Maybe there weren't any books that held your interest? Or maybe it was because academic reading was more involved and time-consuming? I honestly don't remember reading a ton in Jr. High and High School either. The best way to get someone involved in wanting to read is to find a book that will fit their personality. If you know someone personally, you find a book that they would like... and hopefully, it isn't too high level. Right now I am going through a "I'm bored with everything I read" stage. I just need a really good book that I have not read before... Hope that helps.

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  3. Well I don't think I had any issues reading what I wanted to read, but it felt like because I was "required" to read this and that, I had little time to read what I wanted to read. Do you know what I mean? I read a few things in HS that I enjoyed (I really liked To Kill a Mockingbird, Macbeth, & Poisonwood Bible, but other than that I hated everything), but everything else was tainted by what I was *required* to read, not by what I wanted to read.

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