Analyzing Informational Texts: What Happened and Why

Khan Academy

This engaging educational video introduces students to strategies for reading and understanding informational texts. Using a friendly, conversational tone, the narrator simplifies the complex task of text analysis into two fundamental questions: "What is happening?" and "Why is it happening?" The video aims to build metacognitive skills by modeling the thought process of a skilled reader engaging with non-fiction material. The content anchors its lesson in a specific scientific example: the rapid growth of Moso bamboo. By walking viewers through a short passage about this unique plant, the video demonstrates how to locate specific text evidence to answer the core questions. It highlights key details like the density of bamboo forests and the plant's energy storage systems to explain the phenomenon of its rapid growth, effectively teaching cause-and-effect relationships. For educators, this video serves as an excellent hook for units on non-fiction reading comprehension, science literacy, or expository writing. It provides a shared language ("The Two Questions") that teachers can reference throughout the year when asking students to analyze textbooks, articles, or historical accounts. The cross-curricular connection between English Language Arts (ELA) and Science makes it particularly versatile for integrated lesson plans.