by Nature Sargent – Dallas South News Contributor

When parents ask me what their children should be reading on weekends, holidays and summer break, I always respond with expository text.  What is expository text?  It is text that provides information, designed to persuade, inform or explain.

We are surrounded with expository text daily.  As you drive to work in the morning the Department of Transportation has lit signs that inform you of road closures, detours, accidents and alternate routes.  Children must learn how to read for a purpose other than enjoyment in order to be successful.

Expository text is challenging because it requires a high level of abstract thinking ability.  Children must understand difficult ideas that are not always supported concretely in the classroom or life.  Students must take a given set of information and understand how and why it matters to their own situation and apply it accordingly.  Any of you who have ever attempted to assemble furniture of any sort can well understand the importance of comprehending directions.

Expository text is essential for all children because it builds vocabulary.  For my blue-collar and lower income parents this is essential!  In the book, Meaningful Differences, by Paul Brooks a study of 42 families showed a distinct pattern of differences in the amount of verbal attention children received from their mothers.  Better-educated, professional mothers spoke to their children the most and those mothers with a lesser education or who did not hold professional positions spoke to their children less frequently.

What was the difference? The difference was close to 1,500 words per hour.  Children in the lowest scoring households heard 600 words per hour, working class households 1,200 an hour and professional households 2,100 per hour.  Now, do the quick math in your head of how that affects a child over time, say 5 years.  How many words short are the lower income children when they arrive in kindergarten?

However, expository text with distinguishing features such as headings, subheadings, pictures, captions, diagrams, maps, footnotes, parenthesis, questions and labels lends itself automatically to vocabulary development.  If you are a parent that did not have an opportunity to pursue higher education or you are currently working in a skilled position versus professional, you can bridge the gap for your children with expository text.

Also, many state and national standardized tests rely heavily upon nonfiction selections.  The tests usually have more expository selections than short story and children who are unfamiliar with the text structure and features will struggle.   Also, they develop a wider understanding of word knowledge through nonfiction readings.  A common phrase in education is, “Children learn to read from kinder to second grade and they read to learn from third grade to graduation.”

What should you do?  Always start with what your child is interested in learning.  Then, give them opportunities to read books about that topic, from the earth and the animals that live here to all things scientific and mechanical.  There are books for every age group that support the inquisitive mind.

Specifically, I can recommend The Magic School Bus series.  Be sure to follow up with films and television series, especially for second language acquisition.  Bilingual learners benefit from pictures.  Connecting the Spanish word with the English word by way of a picture helps with that.

PBS and the Discovery Channel are great ways to inspire interest in expository text.  An example would be to watch Shark Week with your children and then spend a few weeks in the library reading everything you can find on sharks.

The US Department of Labor identified 5 Workplace Competencies back in 1991 which have expository text demands.  These are using Resources, Interpersonal Skills, Information, Systems, and Technology.  Each of these competencies require familiarity with a wide variety of text including but not limited to newspapers, advertisements, manuals, instructions, charts, tables, graphs, and reports.  What are you doing to prepare your children for the workplace environment?

I wish all of my beautiful teacher parents well and would very much enjoy hearing about your adventures in expository learning!

Nature Sargent is a graduate of Skyline High School, and currently teaches in the Dallas Independent School District.   She holds a bachelor’s degree in Family Studies and an EC-4 certification with the State of Texas.

Edited by Shawn Williams