Nonfiction

=== [|My March Top Ten List: Nonfiction Reading Resources] === by [|Beth Newingham] on Thursday, March 24, 2011

Posted in: [|Books], [|Language Arts] , [|Lesson Ideas] , [|Reading] [|Share]

Last month I shared my favorite resources for teaching fiction reading, and this month I'm focusing on nonfiction. Students (and teachers) often choose to read fiction texts in the classroom, but it is crucial that we expose our students to nonfiction texts as often as possible. Nonfiction texts allow children to experience the wonder of the world. Facts come alive when books about animals, people, or objects are read to children. Nonfiction texts build on children's interests and increase vocabulary and background knowledge. When we help our students become proficient readers of nonfiction texts, we help them become successful at school and in the “real world.” Research shows that about 85% of what adults read on a daily basis is nonfiction. Teachers have a great responsibility in teaching students to tackle this genre.
 * READ ON ** to check out resources for teaching nonfiction reading concepts, including **posters**, links to great **Web sites** and ** articles **, **printables** , an exciting new way to make **current events** interactive, and much more!

**1. Using Text Features to Successfully Navigate Nonfiction Texts** Before I can teach students to gather information, determine importance, or find supporting details, I must first show them the tools that they will be using. Those tools are the predictable, common features of nonfiction texts. I created text feature posters to help my students recognize, name, and understand the purpose of the most common features. Below are nine of the 23 posters I created. // (Special thanks to Charla Lau, the reading specialist at my school, for the idea.) //

//Download a PDF slide show of all 23 of my __ [|Nonfiction Text Features] __ posters. Since it is a large file, right click on the link and choose "save target as."//

**2. Text Feature Scavenger Hunt** After students learn the different text features, I want them to start paying close attention to the text features they find in their own books. In the primary grades, students may simply do a scavenger hunt where they check off the features they find, but in the upper grades, they also need to be able to determine the purpose of each text feature and explain why it helps them read the text. Below are activities your students can use to accomplish these goals.

////Download the "__ [|Text Feature Scavenger Hunt] __" and "__ [|Using Text Features] __" recording sheets pictured above.// I've posted them as MS Word files so that you can adapt them for your grade level.//

**3. Teaching Students to Recognize Different Text Structures** Content textbooks are often above the reading level of the grade for which they're intended. If some students struggle with grade level texts, how can they comprehend history and science textbooks? One strategy that can aid students in breaking down informational text is understanding text structure. Research shows that an awareness of text structure facilitates a greater ability to recall important information in expository texts.

**Text Structure Posters:** Knowing the elements of text structure is an effective tool in understanding nonfiction. Each structure can be identified using “signal” words. Words such as “then,” “next,” and “afterward” are indicators of a sequencing pattern. When students learn the key words and can recognize the predictable patterns, they will be better equipped to scan the text and pinpoint the information they seek. Below are posters that I created to teach my students about the most common structures found in nonfiction texts. Download a PDF __ [|slide show of the text structure posters] __. //Since it is a large file, right click on the link and choose "save target as."//

** Professional Books & Lessons: ** Of course just introducing the text structures is not enough. Below are three great Scholastic professional books I have used. Click on the books for more information. You can also check out this great __ text structures SMART Board lesson __ created by Marcia Jones. It has tons of activities to help you teach your students about the different text structures. **4. Have Students Create Their Own Text Features and Text Structures Books** Some teachers at our school have students cut out examples of different text features from magazines and paste them into blank versions of the text feature posters in #1 of this post to make a book. //Scholastic News// is a great source of text features for a project like this. The "My Text Features Book" can be an ongoing project throughout the school year. Students may cut out one or two text features from each new edition of//Scholastic News// as they read it in class (or any other magazines or newspapers they have access to). Download a PDF slide show of the __ [|"My Text Features Book"] __ (shown below) in which I have included templates for 23 different nonfiction text feature pages that you can print and use with your own students. //Since it is a large file, right click on the link and choose "save target as."//

Students in older grades should start recognizing that the articles in magazines and newspapers typically follow one of the five text structures I described in #3 of this post. Students can cut out and paste entire articles onto each page of a "My Text Structures Book" to show examples of text structures. Download a PDF slide show of the " __ [|My Text Structures Book] __" (shown below) in which I have included templates for these text structures.

**5. Make Current Events an Interactive Experience!** With all that is currently happening in our country and around the world, I find it more important than ever to keep my students informed of current events. I use//__ 12938|scholastic%20news||S||8053011343|Scholastic News __// not only because the weekly editions are written at an appropriate level for my 3rd graders, but because they also include a new “whiteboard-ready” interactive option with the subscription. Check out the photos below to see how this new feature can spice up your teaching of current events.

//The digital edition can be displayed on your interactive whiteboard — a great option for sharing reading in primary classrooms//!

//Highlight important text, use shape tools to circle text features, and add “digital sticky notes” with student ideas. Tap the purple// W //next to important new words to reveal the definition.//

//Students can watch videos related to the text to find exciting additional information.//

//Teachers can access both current and previous editions at any time. Teacher editions, skills sheets, and even alternate versions of the cover story written at a lower reading level are also available.//

Watch a demo of __ //Scholastic News// Interactive! __

**6. Comprehension Strategies for Reading Nonfiction Texts** Author Laura Robb presents several classroom-proven strategies that enable students to construct meaning from nonfiction in her book //__ [|Teaching Reading in Social Studies, Science, and Math] __: Practical Ways to Weave Comprehension Strategies Into Your Content Area Teaching//. These include asking open-ended questions, skimming text, and making connections. You can use her lessons "__ Posing Questions __," "__ Skimming Text __," and "__ Connect & Apply __" to model each strategy. They will help you improve student reading and support learning in different content areas.

**7. Evaluating Internet Resources** While publishing companies work hard to create quality nonfiction texts for our students, the Internet is also a valuable tool — when used effectively, that is! My students are currently doing research on a country from which their ancestors came to America. While we have checked out lots of great books from the library, we have found that many of them are outdated. For the most current information about population, government, etc., students must use the Internet. However, it is more important than ever that students (and teachers) learn to evaluate Web sites. I love __ Kathy Schrock __'s "__ 5 Ws of Web Site Evaluation __" handout.

Brent Vasicek, the Scholastic classroom advisor for grades 3–5, also wrote a great post a couple of weeks ago titled "__ [|Danger on the Internet: A Lesson in Critical Thinking] __." In it he includes some great lessons to help students distinguish the “real” from the “fake.”

**8. Make Research Exciting and Memorable!** **International Festival** : As I mentioned, my students do country research each year. In addition to a traditional report, we host an international festival as a culminating activity. The festival allows students to share what they have learned about their country through a performance, fashion show, and taste-fest. To learn more about this memorable event, read my post from last year "__ Host an International Festival at Your School __!"

** African-American Wax Museum: ** Our 4th grade students do research on a notable African American during Black History Month. To make their research more purposeful, they do a presentation at the annual Hill School 4th Grade African-American Wax Museum. All classes take turns visiting the museum to listen as the wax figures come alive and talk about their lives and achievements. To learn more about this special event, read __ this post __ I wrote a few years ago.

// How do you make your research come alive? Perhaps you bring visitors to your classroom, take virtual field trips, or plan special events at your school. I’d love to hear how you make your nonfiction reading or research units come alive for your students! //

** 9. More Nonfiction Materials and Lesson Ideas ** My Top Teaching colleague __ Angela Bunyi __ wrote a great post titled "__ Taking a Look at Nonfiction Conventions __." In it she provides tons of resources and ideas for teaching the conventions of nonfiction, including great mini-lessons and anchor chart/bulletin board ideas. She includes lots of photos of projects in her classroom and printables to download.

**10. Nonfiction Reading Sources and Strategies** Brent Vasicek recently posted another great piece describing purposeful ways to weave nonfiction into your curriculum. He provides teachers with a list of sources to use for nonfiction texts and describes three creative nonfiction comprehension strategies: “Mind Mapping,” “In Three Words,” and “RCRRC: Read, Cover, Remember, Retell, Check.” Read his post "__ Nonfiction Reading Sources and Strategies __" to learn more!

Nonfiction Strategies Students need to be able to distinguish between 3 kinds of problems with unfamiliar words:

o Is the unfamiliar word one they have never seen before? These words are tricky because students struggle to know 1) whether they are pronouncing the word correctly 2) what the word actually means

o Is the word easy to pronounce but the meaning is unfamiliar? Students often assume because they can pronounce a word, they “know” a word, but students need to be aware that readers need to know the word both ways (pronunciation & meaning)

o Is the word one they have seen many times and understand the context in which it is usually seen, but cannot pronounce it? This is more common the more advanced readers are. Teachers need to help children monitor when new information is “bumping up against” current beliefs. Students need to be able to monitor and adjust their schema when presented with new information.

Strategies for dealing with multi-syllabic words:

o Break the word up for the student using fingers. Providing a small amount of support by helping students to see which parts of words are helpful when “chunking words” into smaller pieces can often be modeled a few times. Students quickly catch on to how to visually break words apart.

o Using a dry erase board (without the child watching), write down one “chunk” of a long word and ask the child to read that chunk. [It is important that the child does not watch you write the small chunk down because students can often deal with words when they see them written one letter at a time.] Your purpose is to have them look at a small chunk as one piece (which is why you need to write the chunk without the child watching). For example, the word fantastic would be written as fan, then tas then tic. Have the child read the first chunk (fan), then turn the board away from the child and add the second chunk on to the first (fantas). Then add the last part (fantastic). Older readers often struggle to deal with vowel sounds as a part of longer words. Two strategies are particularly helpful in working with students who struggle here.

o Solving words by analogy involves writing simple words that will help students to solve more complex words. If students are struggling with particular vowel sounds, start by writing simple words containing those sounds, building until the child can solve the more difficult word. Ex: You know an, now add cr-an – which is cran. You know very – this word works just like very – berry.

o For students who struggle to remember vowel rules, teaching students to try the vowel sound each way it can be made to see what makes sense is important. You tried ē, is there another sound e can make?