What are Teacher Reviewers Saying About Reading Informational Texts?

Recently, we received feedback on Reading Informational Texts: Non-Fiction Passages and Exercises Based on the Common Core State Standards from teachers on the Prestwick House National Curriculum Advisory Board.

Instead of you spending hours doing research to find the perfect non-fiction passages, Reading Informational Texts provides you with exactly what Common Core State Standards (CCSS) require — challenging selections to give your students vital practice with non-fiction works.

Each student workbook provides rigorous, direct student instruction and contains an anthology of 12 passages chosen using the CCSS designated methods - including difficult-to-find and well known historical, legal, and scientific works. To help your students get the most out of what they are reading, passages are outfitted with helpful margin notes, a defined vocabulary list, and short background materials.

Using Reading Informational Texts, you will guide your students through a close reading of each work, challenge them with short answer and essay questions, and ultimately help them gain the skills necessary to read and understand any work of nonfiction.

Read quotations from teachers below, check out a free lesson, or find out more at PrestwickHouse.com!

"The text is excellent at naming its terms and defining those terms. The authors have done well at anticipating what a teacher may be thinking while reading and answer it. For example, the part about 'this may be at a higher level than students are used to reading' is quite appropriate."

- Nancy Stansberry

"The information provided explaining the rationale for the included texts is lucid and well-organized. I particularly liked the questions and suggested answers as laid out in the teacher's guide itself. Sophisticated analysis coupled with a way to approach such complex texts with students. Traditional literature text books do not generally include these types of pieces (from court cases on to Patrick Henry). A real need to expose students to such rich, historical texts exists. Students need to read challenging texts! It's also essential for them to read essential historical texts. I so enjoyed reading them!"

- Leticia C. Geldart

"The included Lexile Measure and Flesch-Kincaid ratings are fantastic resources for the logical order as well as differentiation."

- Chris Mikulskis

"The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are in the forefront of educational discussions right now. Educators in many if not all states, mine included, are in the process of deciding how to implement the CCSS. For English teachers like myself and schools like mine, it is a matter or incorporating more informational texts into our curriculum, which is now fiction-heavy."

"This is a timely book with a wealth of information on choosing appropriate informational texts, the standards that each reading selestion covers, and both the qualitative and quantitative applications for each text. Resources such as these are exactly what teachers need in order to provide the kinds of experiences with informational text that the Common Core State Standards require."

"I would certainly use the 11-12 grade level book in my AP English class and recommend it to the AP History teacher in my school. In adddition, I would recommend it to all English teachers for use at the appropriate grade level. The text demands that students read carefully and with conviction, analyzing rhetorical techniques (ex. tone, form, author's purpose)as well as content. These are the highest level skills, required of AP-level students and required of successful students in colleges and universities."

- Sharon King-Hanley

"I would use this product. The excerpts are challenging, but as it states in the introduction (which I loved!), 'there has been a downward trend in the complexity of the texts students have been required to read in school.' These pieces certainly raise the bar and require students to utilize various levels of thinking."

"The text is extremely well organized. The annotations are fabulous! The chosen pieces of informational text are varied and interesting. The scaffolding offers teachers opportunities to guide their students through the material in a way that is less daunting. All components tie directly to the Common Core Standards, which is excellent."

- Julie Petitbon