Why Writing Nonfiction Matters

• Children have real questions about their world and an interest in finding answers.

• Research indicates 86% of texts read by adults are nonfiction (newspapers, magazines, directions, menus, etc.) (Vanezky 1982; Duke 1999; Parkes 2000).

• Standardized tests across America are now comprised of anywhere from 50%-85% informational text.(Calkins et.al. 1998; Hoyt 2002)

Purposes/Types of Nonfiction Writing

To describe…

To explain…

To teach…

To persuade…

To retell…

To relate with others…

science and social studies reports, labels, captions, poetry, letters, definitions, news articles, etc.

reports, letters, labels, captions, personal narratives, news articles, etc.

rules, recipes, directions, experiments, games, letters, labels, captions, etc.

debates, editorials, reviews, advertisements, reports, poetry, letters, etc.

reports, biographies, letters, scripts, journals, etc.

letters, cards, questionnaires, interviews, poetry, etc.

(Stead 2002)

The Reading Link

o As with fiction, mentor texts are important and students need familiarity with a variety of nonfiction as readers that they can model their own efforts after.

oOpportunities in read-aloud, guided reading, independent reading, Accelerated Reader, etc.

Our students need to learn…

• fact-finding• cause-effect relationships• comparing & contrasting• identifying author bias• text-text connections• text-self connections• text-world connections• asking questions• how to locate information

To…With…ByTo...Read Alouds, Demonstrations

With…Class Study, Shared Reading and Writing

By…Individual Study

Locating Information Nonfiction Text Features

• Table of Contents• Index• Glossary• Bibliography

• Labels• Captions• Graphics

•Books•Videos•Home•Internet•Experts

Possible Anchor Charts• Where can we look for information?

• What makes a good report on _________

• Steps in Writing Nonfiction

• Charts for What We Know, What We Wonder, New Facts, Misconceptions, etc.

Using Mentor Text• Leading up to research, give students lots of

experience with nonfiction similar to that which you expect.

• Try text inquiry—What do you notice? Maybe paired with “What makes a good report on_____” chart

• Point out features you may be focusing on, like a grabbing beginning/strong lead, and later do an activity like a book pass to help students identify multiple examples of how this strategy is using in nonfiction text.

Helping Students Organize Their Thinking

• Informal outlining/bullet points

• Concept mapping (kidspiration,etc.)

• Note-taking strategies (short phrases, own words, important ideas, make up codes)

• Fact-Question-Response, KWL, Q/A, Topic/Detail, Who-What-Where-When-Why-How

*To-With-By is the key to success!

Publishing Nonfiction

• Traditional Report• PowerPoint Presentation• Picture Book• Comic Book• Webpage• Poster• Lots of other possiblities—wikis, blogs,

etc.

A Framework For Teaching Informational Writing

From Tony Stead's Is That a Fact?  Teaching Nonfiction Writing K-3

 1.  Select your writing purpose, audience, and form--you may frame this as a genre piece (eg feature magazine article). 2.  Immerse writers in a content area to create a real context for the learning of the selected writing purpose and form. 3.  Assess each writer's skills and understanding in writing in the specific form selected. 4.  Whole class exploration of the selected topic/text by student writers with teacher:                                  A.  What makes a good_______piece?                             B.  How do you write a______ piece? 5.  Independent/Guided Exploration 6.  Follow-up assessment to determine each student writer's skills and understanding in writing of the specific form selected. 7.  Contemplate future considerations for teaching and learning.

Steps in Writing Nonfiction 

1.  Choose a topic.  What interests you?2.  Write what you know or think you know.3.  Research your topic (books, websites, people with knowledge, video, etc.)4.  Add new information to what you already knew.5.  Reread--make all corrections and make sure all information is true.6.  Sort information into sections/chapters.7.  Publish:•write neatly or type •illustrate and label •table of contents--is it needed? •page numbers •glossary and index--are they needed?