Determining Importance in Non-Fiction Mini-Lessons

import ant f rom unimport ant inf ormat ion in st ories. Do not assume t hat just because children know how t o read and underst and f ict ion, t hat t hey can read and underst and inf ormat ional books, t oo. In t hese mini-lessons, you will explicit ly t each t hem t he dif f erence.<br><br> Week 1: Fict ion vs. Nonf ict ion Day 1 Lay out a sea of nonf ict ion books about snakes, dolphins, gemst ones, sharks, kit t ens, puppies, wolves, t he ocean, shipwrecks, t he human body, f lowers, space, eart hquakes, ast ronaut s, cowboys, ballerinas, dinosaurs, soccer, Tiger Woods, volcanoes, bugs, and big t rucks f or f ree explorat ion and f or somet hing t o build on when explicit t eaching begins. Capit alize on t heir quest ions, and have t hem record t hem on index cards.<br><br> Eit her use individuals Wonder Boxes, or Wonder Envelopes or a class Wonder Jar. You may model how you cskim d t hrough t he books t o generat e a f ew quest ions of your own. c Why are some t wist ers small and ot her 9s big? d cHow do wolves cat ch elk? d cWhy is t he sky blue? d cWhy do dogs have wet noses? d Wrap up t his lesson by explaining t hat one of t he main dif f erences bet ween f ict ion and non-f ict ion, is t hat non-f ict ion books give us inf ormat ion t hat is t rue.<br><br> Day 2 Using t he t ext , Grandf at her 9s Journey by Allen Say, ask cWhat t ype of t ext do you predict t his is? d (Fict ion) cKnowing t hat it 9s f ict ion, how might you expect t he st ory t o be organized? d List en f or: beginning, middle, end, set t ing, charact ers, a problem, event s connect ed t o t he problem, and a resolut ion. Ask children t o make some predict ions about what t he st ory is going t o be about . cJust as wit h narrat ive t ext , exposit ory t ext has predict able charact erist ics and f eat ures you can count on bef ore you read which allows you t o const ruct meaning more easily as you read. d Now hold up, Bugs!<br><br> Bugs! Bugs! by Jennif er Dussling.<br><br> cWhat do you not ice about t his t ext ? d Compliment t hem on not icing t hat t his kind of t ext is organized dif f erent ly t hat f ict ion. Tell t hem cyou won 9t f ind charact ers, problems, or resolut ions eit her. Inst ead, t hese kinds of books 4you already know t hem as nonf ict ion 4are organized around specif ic t opics and main ideas, and t hey t ry t o t each you somet hing.<br><br> Nonf ict ion writ ing gives you inf ormat ion t hat is t rue. Let 9s read it and see what we can learn& d Day 3 Talk wit h children about how t hey can use what t hey know about t his t ype of t ext t o make predict ions about it s cont ent 4what t he t ext might t each t hem. Use prior knowledge of f ict ion st ory f eat ures and f ict ion cont ent t o t each children t o make expect at ions of nonf ict ion t ext s as well.<br><br> cWhen readers read nonf ict ion, t hey make predict ions about t he t ext , t oo. But t hey don 9t make predict ions about t he kinds of t hings t hey will expect t o happen, t hey make predict ions about t he kinds of kinds t hings t hey expect t o learn. Use a book about spiders t o t each children t hat when reading nonf ict ion t hey will act ivat e t heir schema and background knowledge t o make predict ions about what t hey 9ll learn in nonf ict ion t ext and what t hey know about t he t ype of t ext t hey are about t o read.<br><br> Day 4 Using t wo or t hree ot her nonf ict ion t ext s, make predict ions about each st ory will t each you based on your schema and what you know already, and what 9s in your ment al f iles about t hat t opic. cI 9m predict ing t hat t his st ory will be about dif f erent t ypes of bat s in t he world, and t hat maybe I 9ll learn where t hey live, what t hey eat , t heir lif e cycles, and even which ones are dangerous t o humans. c Feat ures t o point out would be t he t it le, t he phot ographs on t he cover, t he t able of cont ent s, t he headings, t he index, explaining how t hese f eat ures help me make predict ions about t he t ext .<br><br> Do t he same wit h one ot her book. Day 5 Ask t he st udent s t o help you make predict ions. Release responsibilit y by: " Asking children t o bring a nonf ict ion book t hey haven 9t read t o t he rug, E2E, K2K wit h a part ner, make predict ions about what t hey expect t o learn " Spreading f ict ion and nonf ict ion mat erials out on t he rug, wit h a part ner, get t wo or t hree ask t hemselves, cIs t his f ict ion or nonf ict ion and how do we know? d " Asking children t o bring a nonf ict ion book and a f ict ion book t o t he rug, get int o pairs and creat e a Venn Diagram t hat shows t he t wo books 9 dif f erences and similarit ies.<br><br> We t hen creat e one large diagram t hat combines everyone 9s t hinking. Week 2: Convent ions Not ebooks Day 6 Begin t he lesson by sharing an int erest ing art icle f rom Nat ional Geographic or a book about sharks. Think aloud and share inner voice comment s as you read.<br><br> Af t er reading t he int erest ing f act s, verbalize comment s such as cWow! d&. cThat 9s amazing!& cI never knew t hat ! d& cAnd get t his&. d&. cI didn 9t know t hat eit her. d The point of t his lesson is t o list en t o your inner voice (and out er voice) &t hese words signal you 9re learning somet hing new.<br><br> Let st udent s t ry it as t hey want t o discover t heir inner voice, t oo. Record t he words t hat help t hem recognize t hey 9re learning somet hing new on chart paper. Opt ional: Record new learning on st icky not es as NL an t hen just writ er t he most import ant part .<br><br> Day 7 Today you will begin Convent ion Not ebooks (CN). For t he next 15 days, you will f ocus on a dif f erent f eat ure of nonf ict ion t ext . By f ocusing on t eaching t he f eat ures, t he children will det ermine import ance and const ruct meaning by paying close at t ent ion t o f eat ures such as phot ographs, diagrams, capt ions, and comparisons.<br><br> Each day you will explicit ly t each t hem what nonf ict ion convent ions are, what kinds of inf ormat ion t hese convent ions give us, and how t hey help us det ermine what is import ant in a t ext . CN will have 12 pieces of blank whit e paper and you can use t he provided cover on cardst ock or st udent s may creat e t heir own cover wit h handprint ed t it le wit h const ruct ion paper f ront and back cover. Today st udent s will get CN and add t it le.<br><br> Begin wit h Comparisons. Search your nonf ict ion library f or 5 or 6 books t hat make comparisons, f lag t he pages wit h st icky not es, locat e t he comparisons and read t he surrounding t ext aloud. But not icing and naming nonf ict ion convent ions are not enough, also t hink aloud about how t hey help us as readers, t hink aloud about t he purpose of each one.<br><br> Children can eit her f ind examples f rom t he classroom library or creat e comparisons of t heir own, and record one in t heir CN. For t he example of each f eat ure, st udent s should record in t he CN, writ e t he t it le of t he book where t he example is f ound, and t he page number . Daily, share children 9s learning in small groups and record on a t wo column anchor chart headed cWhat do we know about nonf ict ion convent ions? d Day 7 (cont . 9d) Comparisons 3 Help t he reader underst and t he size of one t hing by comparing it t o t he size of somet hing f amiliar (a scissor is as big as a child 9s hand, p.<br><br> 153) Day 8 Labels 3 Help t he reader ident if y a pict ure or phot ograph and/ or it s part s Day 9 Phot ographs 3 Help t he reader underst and exact ly what somet hing looks like Day 10 Capt ions 3 Help t he reader bet t er underst and a pict ure or phot ograph Week 3: Convent ion Not ebooks (cont . 9d) Day 11 Cut aways 3 Help t he reader underst and somet hing by looking at it f rom t he inside or f rom a dif f erent , somet imes 3-D, perspect ive Day 12 Maps 3 Help t he reader underst and where t hings are in t he world Day 13 Types of Print 3 Help t he reader by signaling, cLook at me! I 9m import ant ! d Day 14 Text Bubbles 3 Help t he reader see what 9s import ant by appearing in a box or bubble. Day 15 Close-ups 3 Help t he reader see det ails in somet hing small Week 4: Convent ion Not ebooks (cont . 9d) Day 16 Tables of Cont ent s 3 Help t he reader ident if y key t opics in t he book in t he order t hey are present ed Day 17 Index 3 An alphabet ical list of almost everyt hing covered in t he t ext , wit h page numbers Day 18 Glossary 3 Helps t he reader def ine words cont ained in t he t ext Day 19 Pronunciat ion Parent heses 3 Helps t he reader pronounce dif f icult words t hat help wit h underst anding of t he cont ext of t he word.<br><br> Day 20 Graphs 3 Help t he reader see t he import ant inf ormat ion in a more visually pict oral way inst ead of reading t he inf ormat ion in a paragraph f ormat . Convent ion not ebooks not only build background inf ormat ion f or t ext f eat ures t hat children encount er in t heir reading, but t hey also can be used as resources when t hey synt hesize inf ormat ion in order t o research quest ions. The not ebooks help children t hink t hrough which convent ions would showcase t heir inf ormat ion best .<br><br> Week 5: Locat ing Specif ic Inf ormat ion Day 21 Throughout t his st udy of quest ioning and nonf ict ion, ask children t o compile Wonder Cards in t heir own Wonder Box or t he class Wonder Jar. Every week, pull one out and model f or st udent s how you would search f or t he answer. Model what we do when we want t o f ind out specif ic inf ormat ion.<br><br> Show t hem how t o t hink aloud about cert ain quest ions: " What do I already know about t he t opic? " What t ype of book or ot her source will help me best ? " Where will I f ind t he inf ormat ion?<br><br> " How is t he inf ormat ion organized in t he source? How will I go about locat ing what I need? Then, af t er I 9ve looked t hrough t he sources of inf ormat ion: " What did I learn?<br><br> How can I synt hesize my learning f or myself and ot hers?

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