R EADING NONFICTION

“Just as we teach children to use math manipulatives by giving them “free explore” what they are and how they work, giving them time to explore nonfiction provides them (and you) with experiences to build on when more explicit teaching begins.” p143

MOST NONFICTION BOOKS ARE ORGANIZED SO THAT IT IS EASY FOR READERS TO FIND INFORMATION.

M ODEL D IFFERENCES B ETWEEN F ICTION AND N ONFICTION

F ICTION : SETTING, CHARACTERS, A PROBLEM, SOME EVENTS THAT CONNECT TO THE PROBLEM, AND A RESOLUTION

N ONFICTION “J UST AS WITH NARRATIVE TEXT, TEACHING CHILDREN THAT EXPOSITORY TEXT HAS PREDICTABLE CHARACTERISTICS AND FEATURES THEY CAN COUNT ON BEFORE THEY READ ALLOWS THEM TO CONSTRUCT MEANING MORE EASILY AS THEY READ.” P145

W HAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN READING N ONFICTION Text Features

T ABLE OF C ONTENTS ENFORCE HOW I T TELLS US THE ORDER IN WHICH THE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND. Table of Contents Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter Chapter

G LOSSARY THE DICTIONARY OF IMPORTANT WORDS FOUND IN A BOOK. S TRESS T HE WORDS ARE ARRANGED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER.

I NDEX IS A LIST OF SUBJECTS. I T IS ARRANGED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER WITH PAGE NUMBERS. I T IS USUALLY FOUND IN THE BACK OF THE BOOK.

Titles and Subheadings Explain how these tell readers what you will be reading about.

Maps

Labels

Photographs These help with our Mental Images.

Captions Alabama State Capital in Montgomery

BOLDED WORDS and Highlighted words show the reader that it is important.

Nonfiction reading is reading to LEARN.

W HEN R EADING NONFICTION …. Slow down so you can think about information.

Reading nonfiction is like a slideshow where you have to stop and think after each slide.

STOP frequently and take notes.

“Students do not make predictions about the kinds of things they expect will happen. They make predictions about the kinds of things they expect to learn.”

Release Responsibility: Ask children to bring a nonfiction book they haven’t read and make predictions about what they expect to learn. Spread fiction AND nonfiction materials and with partners or in a group have them discuss, “Is this fiction or nonfiction? How do we know?” Create a large Class Venn Diagram that shows the two books’ differences and similarities. (ANCHOR CHART)