Nonfiction Archives

How to Teach Text Features in NonFiction

When you think of reading, charts and graphs probably aren’t the first things to come to mind. But when reading nonfiction texts, these elements play a role in understanding the text. Many times I’ve asked students to read a caption or refer to information from a chart, only to get a blank stare back. This just tells me how important it is to directly teach text features in nonfiction. What are nonfiction text features? Text features are the elements of an informational text not found within the main body of the text. This includes elements that come before and after the text (such as the table of contents or glossary) and the elements surrounding the text (such as labels and graphs). To help students understand the importance of text features, I like to give them a few examples. In one example, I will have them read directions to another

The 5 Best Fiction and Nonfiction Book Pairings for Older Students

Do you use fiction and nonfiction book pairings for older students? Book pairings are great to use with students of all ages because it helps students understand the characteristics of each type of writing and may just encourage students to read both fiction and nonfiction books. A book pairing simply means that a fiction AND nonfiction book on the same topic can be read together for a lesson to compare and contrast. Check out this recent blog post all about the 5 best fiction and nonfiction book pairings for younger students. Today let’s talk about the 5 best fiction and nonfiction book pairings for older students. When I say older students, I’m talking about typically 4th-7th graders. Book pairings between fiction and nonfiction books are especially important for older elementary and middle school students because by this age, you really want to encourage students to read both types of

The 5 Best Fiction and Nonfiction Book Pairings for Younger Students

Do you use fiction and nonfiction book pairings with your students? Book pairings are great to use with students of all ages because it helps students understand the characteristics of each type of writing and may just encourage students to read both fiction and nonfiction books. A book pairing simply means that a fiction AND nonfiction book on the same topic can be read together for a lesson to compare and contrast. Fiction and nonfiction book pairings are important for younger students because it begins to develop their understanding of the difference between the two genres. Make sure you use books that are shorter in length with students in grades K-2 so that you have plenty of time to re-read the books if needed and discuss them in detail during the lesson. Here’s how to create a book pairing: Pick a topic (Check out this book list on similar

Using eBooks to Teach Nonfiction Text Features

When I first started as a librarian, I tended to read only fiction books to my students. I never read nonfiction growing up and I do not remember any emphasis on reading nonfiction in my college classes. Luckily, this did not last too long and I soon learned just how much myself and my students enjoyed nonfiction and informational text. This is also about the time I noticed a large increase in narrative nonfiction as well. I began explicitly teaching nonfiction text features to my classes. I had no problem coming up with lessons and activities to use with my 2nd – 5th graders, but I struggled with first grade. I only had 40 minutes with each class and since they came in at the end of the day their attention span was rather limited. So I came up with an idea that worked perfectly and wanted to share

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How to Teach Text Features in NonFiction

The 5 Best Fiction and Nonfiction Book Pairings for Older Students

The 5 Best Fiction and Nonfiction Book Pairings for Younger Students

Using eBooks to Teach Nonfiction Text Features

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