The information book genre: Its role in integrated science literacy research and practice

Abstract

S There has been a call for approaches that connect science learning with literacy, yet the use of, and research on, children's literature information books in science instruction has been quite limited. Because the discipline of science involves distinctive generic linguistic registers, what information books should be integrated in science curriculum is a significant concern. Thus, in order to explore the role of the information book genre for use in science instruction in the primary grades, this article reports on a social‐semiotic analysis of a corpus of picture information books written by children's literature authors to explicate the characteristic aspects of this genre, namely, the recurring linguistic patterns of typical texts of the genre. However, as social acts, genre is also very generative and dynamic, giving rise to atypical instances of the genre. Many texts in the corpus that were analyzed represent these atypical or hybrid forms, which include some of the elements or features found in typical texts, but also realize linguistic resources from other genres. Thus, this article gives an account of the range of both typical and atypical texts and discusses future research issues regarding the use of information books in integrated science literacy instruction. Si bien ha existido una convocatoria de propuestas que conecten el aprendizaje de la ciencia y la alfabetización, el uso y la investigación de los libros de enseñanza de la ciencia para niños han sido algo limitados. Dado que la disciplina científica implica registros de distintos géneros lingüísticos, qué libros de ciencia deberían integrarse en el currículo de ciencia es una preocupación significativa. Por lo tanto, a fin de explorar el papel del género informativo en la enseñanza de la ciencia en los primeros grados, este artículo informa acerca del análisis socio‐semiótico de un corpus de libros informativos de ilustraciones escritos por autores de literatura infantil. Se trata de explicar los aspectos característicos de este género, en particular, los patrones lingüísticos recurrentes de los textos típicos del género. Sin embargo, así como los actos sociales, el género también es muy generativo y dinámico y da lugar a instancias atípicas. Muchos de los textos del corpus analizado representan estas formas atípicas o híbridas, que incluyen algunos elementos o rasgos propios de los textos típicos, pero además usan recursos lingüísticos de otros géneros. Por lo tanto, este artículo da cuenta del rango de textos tanto típicos como atípicos y discute futuros temas de investigación vinculados al uso de libros informativos en la enseñanza integrada de la alfabetización y el aprendizaje de la ciencia. Ständig bestand ein Ruf nach Anpassungen, um naturwissenschaftliches Lernen mit den Schreib‐ und Lesefertigkeiten zu verbinden, dennoch blieb die Verwendung und die wissenschaftliche Untersuchung von Informationsbüchern der Kinderliteratur im naturwissenschaftlichen Unterricht sehr begrenzt. Da der naturwissenschaftliche Fachbereich linguisti...

Urban primary‐grade children think and talk science: Curricular and instructional practices that nurture participation and argumentation

“…All about Solids, Liquids, and Gases (Zoehfeld, 1998), Air Is All Around You (Branley, 1986), and Down Comes the Rain (Branley, 1983). These books are part of the "Rookie Read-About Science" and "Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science" series, and have accurate science content and typical scientific language (Pappas, 2006).…”

Learning to read scientific text: Do elementary school commercial reading programs help?

“…For example, it would be beneficial if they could read media reports of science, notices of counterindications to drug therapies, proposals for environmental protection associated with a neighborhood development, and the like. There is also an assumption on the part of many teachers that learning to read takes place in primary and elementary school (Abell & Roth, 1992;Brickhouse, 1990;Heselden & Staples, 2002;Pappas, 2006). Such a belief lies at the root of a legendary, and perhaps fictional, high school teacher's statement: "I assign reading; I don't teach it."…”

“…As a response to what eventually came to be seen as an overemphasis on literature, there have been repeated calls for inclusion of more informational text in children's reading instruction (e.g., Christie, 1987;Duke, 2000;Pappas, 1991Pappas, , 2006. The range of literature frequently provided has consisted mainly of fictional narrative texts (Moss, Leone, & Dipillo, 1997), and this predominance of narrative in the early elementary grades has been challenged by calls for varied experiences with other text types, particularly expository or informational (Duke & Bennett-Armistead, 2003;Duthie, 1994;Yopp & Yopp, 2000).…”

The Relationship between the Use of Academic Text Talk and the Comprehension of Scientific Academic Language for Diverse Second Graders

“…In her analysis of informational text, Pappas (2006) states that many children have few opportunities to discuss scientific thinking in out-of school contexts, and emphasizes that unless children learn the distinctive language of science, they cannot truly learn science. In the area of science literacy, many parents do not emphasize science literacy because few parents actually experienced activity-based science inquiry in their early schooling or have satisfactory knowledge of basic science concepts (Shymansky, Hand, & Yore, 2000).…”

“…In the last decade, there has been an increase in the availability of appealing informational text and studies involving elementary students' interaction with information text , Moss, 2004, Pappas, 2006, Donovan & Smolkin, 2011. Still, there is much to be learned.…”