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Teach Text Features & Read Nonfiction
Elementary schoolers examine the components of reading nonfiction. They use think-alouds to help them complete reading the selected sections. They also identify text features as they read.
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Identifying Text Features of a Self-Written Fable
Make learning the parts of a book fun by having pupils construct their own glossary entries, table of contents, and title page. Beginning with a review of text features and a hunt for examples, kids use previously written fables to...
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Text Features of Fiction, Poetry, Drama: Story Matrix
How do novels differ from plays? Explore with your class the text features of fiction and drama by reading The Hidden One: Native American Legend and then performing a reader’s theater script based on the story. Class members create a...
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Using Social Studies in Five Shared Reading Lessons: Geography
After several short 15-minute mini-lessons, your learners will gain an understanding of the characteristics of a non-fiction text. Using the book Map It by Elspeth Leacock, your class will become acquainted with non-fiction terms such as...
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Identifying Features of Nonfiction Text
Learners explore nonfiction text. They identify the cover, title page, and table of contents of a nonfiction book. Pupils work in groups to create a chapter for a nonfiction class book about heroes.
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Discussing Non-Fiction Texts
Discuss non-fiction texts and fact and opinion. Learners discuss the features of non-fiction text, identify how to distinguish fact from opinion, and list ways to display information, including graphs, charts, and diagrams. While this is...
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Fictional Hereos
Students are introduced to the definition of a hero. As a class, they compare and contrast the difference between non-fictional and fictional hereos they have read about. They read a story, create a story map of one of the heroes and...
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Review Parts of a Book
Begin the year with a review of the parts of a book. Exercises in the unit plan ask emergent readers to identify the information on the cover of a book and on the title page, to explain the purpose of a table of contents, and to describe...
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Crater Creation
After looking at the back of a quarter featuring Oregon terrain, learners distinguish between fiction and non-fiction and identify the beginning, middle and end of a story. First, they listen to legends that describe the creation of...
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The Hare and the Water: A Tanzanian Folk Tale
"The Hare and the Water," a Tanzanian folk tale, lends a global perspective to literary analysis. Learners spend the first two days reading and storyboarding. On day three, they examine folk tale elements (worksheet included), and design...
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Charlotte's Web
Fourth graders focus on fluency by reading the book Charlotte's Web. For this reading strategies lesson, 4th graders partner read, do guided reading, and independent reading to increase fluency. Students use Venn Diagrams, discuss cause...
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Reading: Non-Fiction Format
In this reading non-fiction worksheet, students examine various texts and complete a graphic organizer filling in information about features, columns, paragraph length, font, pictures/illustrations, and purpose of text.
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Blending Fiction and Nonfiction to Improve Comprehension and Writing Skills
Pupils explore a content area by reading both fiction and nonfiction texts on the topic. They do more research online about the topic. After comparing the texts, they create their own written original work, using both narrative and...
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What's Special About Nonfiction?
Students examine the difference between nonfiction and fictional writing. They identify the characteristics of nonfiction literature and examine how a nonfiction textbook organizes information.
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Our Dinopals with WordArt
Elementary schoolers use the writing process steps to write a descriptive paragraph about a fictional dinosaur. Using a tech tool lesson, they create a graphic title for the paragraph. A nice blending of technology with "old-fashioned"...
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How to Write a Movie Review from a Pet's Perspective
When would two paws up denote a blockbuster film in your classroom? Only when young writers create movie reviews from a pet's perspective in this imaginative expository writing practice. This engaging topic begins with a class discussion...
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Using a Matrix to Compare, Contrast, and Analyze Connections
Students explore writing techniques by comparing fiction vs. non-fiction. In this literature analysis lesson, students read stories from Aesop's Fables and compare the themes and characters to stories from their own life. Students...
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Language Arts: Guided Reading with Fancy Dance
Students participate in a guided reading of Leslie Johnson's, Fancy Dance and discover how to sequence events. This lesson stresses word recognition, suffixes and prefixes, and sentence structure. Cross-curricular activities involve art,...
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Can you Summarize?
Students write summaries of non-fiction articles in this instructional activity. They read the article silently and then pick out the main points. Students list the main events as a whole class activity, and then they individually...
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Locate Information in Resources
Students listen to the Magic School House Plants a Seed. For this locating information lesson, students discuss the various presentations of information in the book. Students complete a worksheet of information.
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Nonfiction Book Report
In this Language Arts worksheet, students complete a chart and answer six questions about a nonfiction book. For example, students list three facts they found out from the book.
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Discovering the Oregon Trail
Students explore U.S. history by researching the Oregon Trail. In this American exploration lesson, students read the story On the Shore of the River and define the exact path early settlers took to find the state of Oregon. Students...
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Loose Tooth
Students read the book Loose Tooth by Magaret Yatsevitch Phinney. They discuss the activities that the character does on each day, connect the girl's experience with their own, and practice writing the days of the week with capital letters.
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Cleaning Day
Students read "Cleaning Day" by D. H. Figueredo. They predict what they would expect to see the father and child on the cover of the book doing, confirm their predictions after reading the story, and reflect on the relationship between...