ABSTRACT
The misunderstanding increased in 2010 when the Common Core State Standards defined informational text in a much broader way, including all narrative and expository nonfiction books (the librarian definition) plus reference books, instructions, forms, maps, persuasive essays, and so on. Because the term "informational book/informational text" doesn't have a standard, universal definition, for the sake of precision the authors avoid using it as much as possible in our teaching lives and in this book. However, because many schools have an "informational writing" unit in their curriculum, they do use that term when they discuss instructional strategies related to that unit of study. Narrative nonfiction tells a story or conveys an experience, whereas expository nonfiction explains, describes, or informs in a clear, accessible fashion.
