Non-Fiction Unit Resources

Well, it is the beginning of the 2nd 6 weeks and we are starting our Non-Fiction Unit with our kids. We will teach all of our Non-Fiction TEKS in the next 6 weeks. I was going through pulling all of my resources and realized that I haven't shared them on my blog yet (nor have I blogged in...well what seems like forever!) I guess you could say it has been a busy year thus far! I am excited to get started on Non-Fiction...so here we go!

I always start off by teaching the differences between Fiction and Non-Fiction. (I find this ties well into Text Features which comes next.) We usually use a Venn Diagram and compare two books--such as Goldilock and the Three Bears (simple, I know) and a Non-Fiction book about bears. The kids enjoy seeing the differences between the two books. This can be done with any books about animals though...just a fiction and non-fiction book! I am also going to use this in a station this year. The students sort different titles of fiction and non-fiction books and glue them under the appropriate category!

Station Activity

 

From there, I work on teaching text features! We do a few different things for text features. One direct teach tool we use is a Powerpoint. I am using two different ones this year! Hey, it can't hurt right? Here are the links to both of them! PP1 and PP2. One of them I created, the other one is from Scholastic! I think they are great ways to show students the defintions of the text features and pictures of them as well!

 

I also create an anchor chart for my students that we fill in during the week--this is a picture of one that looks close to what mine will look like when the week is done! I have the kids bring examples of text features from home--they love it!

 

I also created a fun text feature game for the kids! It can be found on a previous blog of mine--feel free to download it! :)

We also do some scavenger hunts throughout the 6 weeks on text features. We usually have the students look through our set os Time Magazine for Kids. We use this Task Card for the scavenger hunt, the kids do a great job with it! (Just make sure you have plenty of sticky notes!) :)

Here is another good scavenger hunt card to use! You do not need sticky notes, just have the kids make tallies!

Task Card

 

I also have my students respond many times using magazines and non-fiction books! Here are a couple of the responses I use!

 

Response KWL

Response Facts

 

I also think this is a great anchor chart for responding to non-fiction! I haven't made this yet, but I plan on doing so this year!

 

 

We also use these great graphic organizers when exposing the kids to new non-fiction texts! I suggest taking a look at them and purchasing them! I did, and it was a great buy!

 

 

 

I believe the most important part about non-fiction is exposure to the texts! The students just don't have much background knowledge when it comes to non-fiction, they need that constant practice reading and processing those texts.

 

I hope all of these resources help you find what you need to help your children be successful with non-fiction! Make it fun! :)