Fiction or Nonfiction?
October31
Mrs. Harrison’s Blog (what students see)
Grade/Teacher:
- Media Skills, Kindergarten through 3rd Grade, Week 9
Unit/Theme:
- Fiction/Nonfiction/Thanksgiving
Standards (AASL):
- Learners use skills, resources and tools to read, view and listen for information presented in any format (e.g., textual, visual, media, digital) in order to make inferences and gather meaning. (1.1.6)
- Students will use clues from the book (spine label, cover illustrations, title, etc.) to determine if a book is nonfiction or fiction.
Language Objective(s):
- Students will use the terms, fiction and nonfiction, correctly.
Key Vocabulary:
- Review: spine label
- New: fiction, nonfiction
Materials:
- Goodman, S.E. (1999). Pilgrims of Plymouth. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society.
(My copy and 974.4/GOO) - Pilkey, D. (1990). ‘Twas the night before Thanksgiving. New York: Scholastic.
(My copy and HOL/E/PIL) - Moore, C.D. and Wegman, W. (2000). The night before Christmas. New York: Hyperion.
(My copy and HOL/E/MOO) Available free with a Kindle subscription through Amazon.
Preparation:
- Links to background
- Links to past learning
- Strategies incorporated
Scaffolding:
- Modeling
- Guided practice
Group Options:
- Whole class
Integration of Processes:
- Reading
- Speaking
- Listening
Application:
- Meaningful
- Linked to objectives
- Promotes engagement
Assessment:
- Group
Transition:
- Review where a spine label is found and what it’s for.
Anticipatory Set:
- Write the words “fiction” and “nonfiction” on the board, explain their definitions.
Instruction/Check for Understanding:
- Show the cover of the book “Twas the night before Thanksgiving” and review elements of the cover (title, author, etc.). Point out the spine label and genre stickers.
- What predictions can they make about the book by using the information that’s on the front cover and spine? Is it fiction or nonfiction?
- Have Wegman’s version of the Clement Moore poem available to talk about patterns. If students know Moore’s poem, what can they predict about Pilkey’s book?
- Read “Twas the night before Thanksgiving.” Afterwards, review predictions and gauge accuracies.
- Show cover the front cover and spine label of the book “The Pilgrims of Plymouth.” Can students predict whether the books is fiction or nonfiction? How are the illustrations different from the first book?
Closure/Summary:
- Review the difference between fiction and nonfiction.
- Ask students why it’s important to know the difference when they come to the media center to choose books.
Preview for Next Week:
- Tell students we will read more Thanksgiving books next week.