Curated OER
Check it Out...Nonfiction Can Be Fun!
Organizing information gathered for a research topic can be a challenge. Read aloud notes you have collected on a topic and use suggestions offer by the class to categorize and sort this information. Partners then follow this pattern,...
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An Introduction to Nonfiction
Examine the elements of nonfiction writings in this lesson. Learners list common features of nonfiction and compare nonfiction and fiction books on the same topic. Create a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the two genres.
McGraw Hill
Phonics Teachers Resource Book
Looking to improve your classes literacy program? Then look no further. This comprehensive collection of resources includes worksheets and activities covering everything from r-controlled vowels and consonant digraphs, to the different...
Curated OER
Fiction and Nonfiction
Your emerging readers know not to judge a book by its cover, but they can categorize these titles into either fiction or nonfiction. There are four book covers pictured here, and scholars record the titles under the corresponding text...
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Mixed Bags: Fiction and Nonfiction
The second in a series of three lessons from Scholastic comparing and contrasting fiction and nonfiction, this activity requires learners to read, write, and compare two books independently. After briefly reviewing the features of...
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Evaluating Nonfiction Texts
Students evaluate nonfiction text. In this evaluating nonfiction lesson students read two pieces of nonfiction text and respond with a short free-writing piece. Students discuss the content and focus on the accuracy.
Curated OER
Narrative Writing vs. Explanatory Writing
The class discusses the different purposes an author has for writing. The focus of the discussion is on writing to tell a true story and writing to give information about a specific topic. There are writing purpose sorting cards embedded...
Curated OER
Putting the Truth in Writing
Pupils define "nonfiction" and describe what they view as the best pieces of nonfiction writing. They determine criteria to evaluate whether or not a piece of nonfiction writing is good, and list categories of nonfiction writing.
Great Schools
A Questionnaire: What Do You Like to Read?
What do your fifth graders know about types of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry? Find out as they fill out this questionnaire that requires them to list authors and texts that exemplify each genre. Not only will you be able to assess what...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Clouds (Bauer)
What type of cloud is that? Explore meteorological vocabulary using Marion Bauer's book, Clouds (although these strategies could be used for any fiction or nonfiction text). Pre-teach the new words before reading the story aloud....
Curated OER
Student Opinion: What Are You Afraid Of?
A great resource for informational texts as well as writing topics, the New York Times website provides writing prompts about various news articles through The Learning Network. This particular worksheet provides a very short reading...
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Global News: The Changing Face of Reading
A current and engaging informational text with some superb scaffolding activities, this six paragraph article discusses the release of the iPad from Apple, eBooks, and the history of reading and writing materials. After reading the...
Curated OER
Diary of a Dinosaur: Making Writing Lessons Meaningful
Writing about dinosaurs unleashed one student's desire to keep a journal, and led to an exploration of a variety of subjects.
Curated OER
Genre Lesson: Autobiography
Start kids thinking about point of view and autobiographies by telling them a short story about your morning (first person), and then asking a volunteer to re-tell the story to you (second person). There are tips to help you tie this...
Curated OER
Non Fiction Posters
A set of very useful posters (in PDF) describing different types of non-fiction texts is here for you. While there isn't an activity, per se, in these worksheets, they could be used as a handy reference for learners who are engaging in...
Curated OER
Nonfiction Text Features
Identify features of a nonfiction article in this language arts lesson. Middle schoolers apply comprehension strategies as they read the parts of the article, and analyze the author's key points. Additionally, they examine information in...
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Narrative Writing
Students complete activities to learn narrative writing. In this narrative writing lesson students are given writing prompts in order to better understand how to write in a narrative format.
Curated OER
Idea-Noun Definition: Source Searching
A great idea for showing language arts pupils the universality of themes, even in the real world! Have class members choose an idea-noun (peace, justice, war, love, etc.) at the beginning of the year or semester. They complete weekly...
Curated OER
School-Home Links: Fiction and Nonfiction
In this book genre worksheet, learners read the titles of four different books and then write F for fiction or NF for nonfiction on the lines below the books. Parents or guardians must sign the worksheet.
Curated OER
Introducing Biographies-Getting to Know You
Students study biographies as a nonfiction genre while examining a variety of examples. Next, they access and complete an online tutorial about biographies. They choose one person that interests them to conduct further research using a...
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Character Scrapbook Teacher's Guide
Students analyze a book's characters and create a scrapbook to print and save. In this on line interactive characterization lesson plan, students identify character traits and gain a deeper understanding of a book's characters.
Curated OER
Heartsongs Poetry by Mattie Stepanek
Use Mattie Stepanek’s Heartsongs book of poetry to inspire young poets to write about their own lives, experiences, and feelings. After reading the introduction to Mattie’s book, in which he talks about himself and his reasons for...
Curated OER
Finding Nonfiction Features
Students review the differences between a fiction and non-fiction book. In groups, they use different non-fiction books to identify the eleven features that distinguish it from a fiction book. To end the lesson, they create a chart...
Curated OER
Reading And Responding: Lesson 15 Nonfiction
Eighth graders examine a nonfiction selection in a teacher led lesson. They examine the author's purpose for writing the selection and identify the difference between fact and opinion. The compare and contrast expository and narrative...