Non-Fiction

1. Non-Fiction

2. A balanced literacy program should include all types of genre • Learning to read and write non-fiction is a necessary skill • Using non-fiction material helps us think • Non-fiction material can engage the reader • Some non-fiction materials are more accessible to some students Why should we include non-fiction material?

3. Questions are the door to human wonder. Mine them with a pick ax. All kids have questions.

4. Cause children to change their actions towards the environment, the homeless, politics ….. Want to students to bring what they are learning into their own life Non Fiction can

5. Hobbies Passion A sense of mission Researchers don’t love outlines and citations. They get involved, like a good book, they cannot put it down. What matters in research is absorption. LMC Research can Give Us

6. They are waiting for something to happen – waiting for books and texts to learn them. Research requires enthusiasm and chutzpah! When Children sit in fronT of a NF TEXT

7. Write a statistic at the top of the page. Have students write off it and write a question about it. Level 1 (22% of adults) Canadians at this level have difficulty dealing with printed materials and have few basic skills for decoding or working with text. They most likely identify themselves as people who cannot read. Using Statistics

8. Problem at Recess • What happened? • Why older students picked on us?

9. observe the world closely • always have their antennas ups • are curious and ask questions • are driven to figure things out • thinks about where to find important information • investigate different situations and scenarios • listen to others, yet think for themselves • make connections between their lives and their questions Researchers …..

10. List events unfolding in front of you Choose 1 detail and write about it in detail Writing about it raises questions and you will never look at the object/activity the same way Students need to write about something they know about Short term observation gives students opportunity to record data Donald Graves Observation

11. Resources to support non-fiction inquiry • Maps, globes, and atlases • Phone books • Newspapers • Travel brochures • TV guide or a similar broadcast schedule • Almanacs • Guinness Book of Worlds Records • Calendars • Catalogues • Museum publications • Chars, graphs, and tables • Books • Magazines • Thesauruses, dictionaries, style guides • Posters and quotations • Internet

12. Once it is known that a local school, wantsto learn from and build on community resources, all manners of persons come forward to recommend others who can contribute to children’s learning. Use the community resources

13. Note text length and structure • Note important headings and sub-headings • Determine what to read and in what order • Determine what to pay careful attention to • Determine what to ignore • Decide to skip text because it contains no relevant information Overviewingthe Text

14. Fonts and special effects – titles, headings, boldface print, colour print, italics … • Textual clues (for example, for instance, in fact, in conclusion, most important, but, therefore, on the other hand and such as ….) • Illustrations and photographs • Graphics – diagrams, overlays, word bubbles, tables, charts, graphs, framed text • Text organizers Identifying Non-Fiction Features

15. Choose the source that will best serve your needs, and start there. • Skim and scan material before attempting to read it word for word • Mark important information with sticky notes for later reference • Ensure accuracy by rechecking information before recording it • Record bibliographic information in notebooks • Use what you already know to help understand new information • Use encyclopedias to begin research, not to model writing • Pay attention to publication dates Research Guidelines

16. Check newspapers and weekly magazines for up-to-date information • Get on-line for up-to-the minute information • Scientific topics often require current information • Historic topics may require less-current information • Look to CD-ROMs/webcasts for live presentations

17. the research needs to be current • the information is difficult to find in print • the information comes in primary-document form • the researcher has exhausted other possibilities • immediate conversations with professionals are needed • information provided by distant adults and peers will enhance the project • the researcher wants to share information with others • the researcher has a great deal of time to delve and explore Use Internet for Research When

18. Is helping children write in their own voice Students copying directly from the text Using quotes properly Moving students from a broad topic to a subtopic or else they keep circling the same research As students start their research new problems emerge Challenges of research

19. Read the Following article to find the Main Idea? Read the following article with this question in mind • What are the problems with setting up schools in a 3rd world country? Which process was more productive?

20. Madonna’s Foundation for Malawi Girls’ School Collapses By ADAM NAGOURNEYPublished: March 24, 2011 Madonna visited Malawi in 2007.  LOS ANGELES — A high-profile charitable foundation set up to build an all-girls’ school for impoverished students in Malawi, founded by the singer Madonna and fellow devotees of a prominent Jewish mysticism movement, has collapsed after spending $3.8 million on a project that never came to fruition. The board of directors of the organization, ’Raising Malawi, has been ousted and replaced by a caretaker board, including Madonna and her manager, officials with the organization said Thursday. Its executive director, who is the boyfriend of Madonna’s trainer, left in November amid criticism of his management style and cost overruns for the school, which included what auditors described as outlandish expenditures on salaries, cars, office space and a golf course membership, free housing and a car and driver for the school’s director. Most strikingly, the plans to build a $15 million school for about 400 girls in the poor southeastern African country of 15 million — which had drawn financial support from Hollywood and society circles, as well as the Los Angeles-based Kabbalah Centre International, an organization devoted to Jewish mysticism — have been officially abandoned.

21. Help students read with a question in mind. Ability to recount Plan logistical arguments Stating plans Ability to write directions Donald Graves

22. Note taking is an abstract of a text (written or spoken) • If you have been involved with a project, your writing will change, it will not be flat • Students must have an understanding of the topic to take careful, effective notes • Have a passage on the board and underline most important words or record data under the questions • tell others about your topic only using your note • Write for 10 minutes on the passage (no notes or books) and pass to a friend and friend responds orally or in writing • The object of a report is to help students demonstrate their knowledge • Reports should be a natural part of learning • Research can give us hobbies, passion, and a sense of mission Note taking

23. begin note taking with a small group • begin with a topic the students know something about (if concepts are new this will be too much) • should be short • write a blurb about what you know • do a web (represent facts or ideas with a single word ) – may have to narrow the focus of the web How to help children with formal reports  

24. think of some questions on the topic (some students may have to do more reading first) put each question on a separate piece of paper, when reading put information on that piece of paper, the number of questions depends on the children’s previous knowledge • periodically have group share • use picture books (information is fundamental and has illustrations) • students need to be conversationally acquainted with their subject LMC

25. Beginning: Lead that hook • Leads in the form of a question • Leads in the form of dialogue • Leads that raise questions • Leads that set a tone • Leads that inform • Leads that surprise Middle • Develops and supports the central thesis • Has subtitles • Develops naturally • Has enough information/fact to support the thesis Reports: Beginning, Middle, and End

26. Good endings capture the essence of the piece, wrap things ups, and conclude with a final sentence that fits. • Questions to help decide if you are finished • Did I include all needed information • Did I tie up loose ends • Do I have anything I still burn to say • Did I answer my original questions • Will the reader feel satisfied or at least challenged • Does the ending fit Ends

27. Listen carefully to the subject – you may find surprising information • Ask follow-up questions – they take the interview deeper • Ask mostly open-ended questions – yes and no questions can kill an interview before it gets off the ground • Ask specific personal and global questions – both types can provide rich information • Let the interviewee do the talking – live with the silence in order to find out more • Take charge when interviews go astray – if the interviewee rambles, redirect the focus by asking a generic question • Jot down key words and short notes during interviews – these should jog your memory later • Record important information in notebooks as soon as the interview is completed Interview Guidelines