NonFiction Text Features

I like to teach NonFiction Text Structures and NonFiction Text Features fairly close together-we spend a lot of time talking about nonfiction when I do! (Although my Guided Reading groups do get into it a little earlier-well, a lot-I talk about it with them in September! :)

Since we had just finished up talking about text structures, I thought it would be a perfect time to introduce them to text features.

This is a chart from a few years ago. But I folded it up and revealed them one by one to talk about it. I don't save many charts-but this one took a TON of time to do. Plus, my kids really surprised me with their knowledge of the text features!

After discussing it, I gave them a Scholastic News-which is perfect for short, nonfiction text.

I had them label all the text features that they noticed.

And then, to tie it into the text structures, I had them write me a paragraph for each 'article' saying what they thought the text structure was and why.

The next day, we added in the text features entries to our notebooks (we use Nicole Shelby's stuff).

I made some modifications to have my students get a little more information out of it, and have their notebooks as a better resource.

After spending some more time with some visual reminders, I decided on a fun way to assess them-as well as sneak in some information writing!

While the kids were at special, I created an example to show them what I wanted them to do.

I had italicized, glossary, sidebar, heading, picture and caption

They were to create their own informational paragraph, and showcase at least 5 different text features. I told them they could do 5-6 different ones and showed them the examples on mine.

I had pulled some quick read science books (easy reads for most of my kids).

They each picked a book and got right to work (and OMG, they were so quite and on task (for the most part :) for almost an hour!)

Some friends (who are not 'idea' writers) needed some help with their paragraph planning, so I had them tell me what they wanted to include, and I wrote notes for them.

I starred the ones for this friend that needed to be done first

This way, they had a plan of what they wanted to include written down, but they still needed to write out their sentences and add in their text features. It worked pretty well! (For those who wanted help...I had some who could have used my help but chose not to take it :( )

These turned out pretty well! I love how each example is a reflection of the student. :)

This is definitely something I'll do again...now to brainstorm other ways to do similar things... ;)


Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

NonFiction Text Structures & Other Reading Skills

We've been working hard on different reading skills since we got back from break.

First, we spent a little time reviewing synthesizing...we'll continue to work on this one!

We then moved onto monitoring understanding. We didn't spend too much time on this one, as they had a good handle on it!

We've spent the last two weeks on NonFiction Text Structures-in between MAP testing and snow days!

I started off with a chart.

We discussed what each one was and we read some examples.

I had printed out some of Teaching With a Mountain View's Informational Text Structure Cards, and I had them glue one into their notebooks to respond to.

I noticed some students were still struggling with it.

So after we added it to our notebooks, I used some of her other informational cards and typed them up on my SMART Board.

I divided them into groups and had them discuss what text structure it was and why.

We had some lively discussions going on! We did have to do some reminders of being respectful of others' opinions-some of the friends got very excited!

Cue two snow days :)

I wanted to add some examples into their notebooks, so they could easily see the differences between them, and being inspired by the Blizzard of 2015, I used it as the basis for all of my examples.

Working on writing some NonFiction Text Structure examples for our reading notebooks-using the blizzard as inspiration! #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #iteach456 #iteachfourth

A photo posted by Smiles & Sunshine (@smilesandsunshineteacher) on Jan 28, 2015 at 4:19pm PST

We added them to our notebooks, and I had the kids do this one independently.

I made sure that they were getting the right ones, reminding them to check, and that just because they see a key word once doesn't mean that it's telling you the text structure!

I had the students pick another task card to glue into their notebooks and respond again.

We'll finish off with a quick assessment, and we'll be moving onto NonFiction Text Features!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Reading Notebooks

Happy New Year! I hope everyone has settled into a nice new routine at school. :)

I wanted to share today how I set up and use reading notebooks in my class. We are a notebook based class in a lot of subjects (Social Studies-we use a lot!, Math-not so much-still trying to figure this one out with a math program!, Mentor Sentences/Language, and a Numbers Notebook!).

Let me preface this by saying that these are a work in progress. They look different from what I did last year, and I'm sure that next year they'll look different again. However, they are getting better each year! ;)


On their supply list for school, I have each student get a 3 subject notebook. I always pick up a couple extra in case someone doesn't have it-or I get a new student in the middle of the year! (The new student will just pick up where we left off-I won't have them go back and redo entries-although that certainly is an option)

Some kids can't find a 3-subject and pick up a 5-subject-that's fine too.

Our 3 sections in our notebooks are Reading Notes, 40 Book Challenge/Reader Response and Word Study/Vocab. You might find that you need a different 3 sections-but I've found that this works really well for me.

One thing I added this year was a set of notebook expectations, as well as grading their notebooks. We spend a lot of time in these, and it's also a good indicator of how well they are paying attention while we work in them.

Notebook expectations are clearly laid out and are the same for every notebook. Students have a label in their front cover to remind them of the criteria.

I will say that I am very picky when I grade these-since everything is laid out, and we do a lot of entries together, it does have to be complete to get a 3-and we've talked about where most kids missed their points. They can't say I didn't warn them-since it's clearly communicated in their notebooks for them to refer to!

I used 2 by 4 Avery Shipping Labels.

All sections must start with a table of contents-otherwise, where else could they find what they need?! :)

Our first section is where we take our notes on the different skills.

I primarily use Nicole Shelby's Reading Notebook for this. Sometimes, I'll make additions to the pages, so the students have an example to go by.

Our most recent skill

Nicole Shelby's contribution

My addition-so the kids know how to set it up!

We usually do this section together as a whole class. I usually do it towards the middle or end of a skill (a little like a review), so the students help me fill things in (I just write what they say).

I do not introduce a skill using this (although you could certain do so), but will sometimes use it as an additional teaching lesson after I have introduced it (this is what we did for synthesizing-our notebook entry was day 2 or 3).

Our next section is all about our 40 book challenge and our reader responses.

You can read a little more how I set this section up here and here.

The first half of this section is all about our 40 book challenge-although we are doing a little iffy with it-that's one thing I'll work on improving for next year.

The next part of this section is all about the reader responses.

I've taught the kids different ways they can respond to writing, and we have little templates in our notebooks.

Usually, I let students choose what book to use when responding (and have them focus on a certain skill-like summarize the chapter, what do you think the theme is, etc.), but sometimes I will give them the text to respond to (a Scholastic News, a story from our basal, task card, etc.).

We all used the Grinch for this one

They picked their own story

They used a Scholastic News-but had a choice of which article

Reader responses are graded-using my handy dandy labels!

I'll often write little notes on how they could improve (or what they forgot), and color in the hearts for things they need to focus on.

Our last section is our Word Study/Vocab section.

In past years, I've used Laura Candler's vocab foldable, but I'm doing things a little differently this year (and will continue to improve on it for next year)

The first part of this section is where we work on our root words, meanings and examples.

I've used the Brown Bag Teacher's Greek and Latin Root of the Week for this.

Next, we work on prefixes and suffixes.

They get one root, one prefix and one suffix a week as part of their spelling test. They need to know how to spell it, as well as the meaning (and they need both to get the point!). We gradually worked up to have all three- we did the first two months with just the root, in November we added a prefix, and we added the suffix in December.

The last part of this section is the vocab. This comes from our reading series (Literacy by Design), and I'll admit that we've done kind of stinky with this part-something to work on!

Hmmm-this student wasn't paying complete attention-characteristic is spelled wrong!

That's our reading notebook! We are definitely using it more than last year, and I can't wait to see the improvements for next year.

This is a good system for us-I like to set it up as a resource that the kids could keep and use in future years-as well as seeing some examples of their work. They certainly enjoy working on them in class!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Informational Writing

I recently went to an excellent workshop on writing-Opinion/Persuasive Writing!

Now, even though this was a workshop on Opinion/Persuasive Writing, I got some great ideas that could be used for any writing-especially prewriting ideas!

I actually wrote the prewriting ideas up for a teamie-to share the awesomeness of the workshop! (If you're in the New England area, and have a chance to see Fred Wolff-who is a Six Traits presenter-then go!)

Our newest writing unit is informational/expository writing, and before we got to writing, I wanted to go over what informational writing was (and could be!)

After we came up with our lists, we moved into groups.

We are going to be writing advertisements (though they didn't know that)-I figured it was a good way to introduce it, plus it's that time of year when ads get crazy!

Using one of the prewriting ideas I got at the workshop, I split the kids into 4 groups of 4 (yes, I only have 16-I love it! I'll have more next year :)

I had them divide up their paper into three columns, and label it Toys, Games and Electronics/Video Games.

With their group, they had to brainstorm a list for each.

After they finished (there was some cool discussions!), I had them do a gallery walk to see what other groups came up with.

When the gallery walk finished, I gave each group a yellow piece of paper and had them divide into three again.

This time, they needed to pick the best toy/game/electronic and write down:
-Why it was cool
-Why people would buy it
-What made it the best

I told them they needed to come to a consensus on the best for each category.

The discussions they had were great!

As well as some compromise thrown in there :)

They took another gallery walk.

This group could not agree if a Wii (girls) or a Playstation/Xbox (boys-and I can't remember specifics :) was better. I suggested gaming system since that's what they both are.

This group had to compromise-they gave one girl the toy if the boys could pick the electronic :)

One of the kiddos here had a HUGE music thing-he won the electronic battle

 Then I sent them back to their seats. I had them pick one game/toy/electronic that they thought was the best and answer the questions above.

We shared as a group when everyone was finished :)

We talked a little bit about advertisements, and what they are.

Tomorrow, we'll talk about what an ad needs to have and I'll get them started on their writing.

This was a great lesson-long, but worthwhile! (It took over an hour-probably closer to an hour and a half with the chart and activities) Plus, they were engaged the whole time, and working cooperatively. Score!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn