Living Inquiry: Learning From and About Informational Texts in a Second-Grade Classroom

This article tells the story of one second grade teacher and the ways she integrated informational texts into her classroom. Reported by the classroom teacher and a researcher who studied her practice for a year, the manuscripts details the ways Michelle (the classroom teacher) embedded informational texts in her classroom primarily within the context of inquiry. The two authors first report on the ways Michelle integrated informational texts across the school day and school year, and then present in more detail one inquiry unit on habitats. The authors conclude by arguing that that learning about informational texts is most productive when embedded within inquiry-focused classrooms engaged in learning from informational texts.