Navigating Nonfictionin Expository Text

Lucy CalkinsUnit 3

Readying Our Minds to

Read Nonfiction

Lesson #1

There isn’t ONE way to read

We can get lost in a

book

OR we can sit up and learn

Think of a specific time when you have been a great fiction reader

What did it look like,sound like,feel like?

Think of a specific time when you have been a great nonfiction reader.

What did it look like,sound like,feel like?

Nonfiction readers read different things in different ways.

BUT......

All GREAT nonfiction readers read with

POWER

How do we read with

POWER?

You have to Rev up your mind, of course

Rev Up Our MindsJust like on a motorcycle,

we can rev our reading “engines”while standing still

What is the text made to do?

How do the parts of the text go

together?

*We read titles and subtitles first

*We preview the photos and diagrams

*We look over chunks of the textAND WE THINK:“This

book is mostly about...”

“This book might start with...”

“This book will tell

me...”

Let me show you how to preview a nonfiction book by

“revving my engine”

Did you notice......

Me thinking about the information?

Me clarifying to myself the information that I read/learned?

Me altering my voice when there was an important idea/fact?

Your TurnYou and a partner will skim the heading

and subheadings of a nonfiction text

1) Pay attention to the big headings and smaller subheadings

2) Use them to answer, “What might this be about?”

3) Ask yourselves, “What do I already know about this topic?” AND “How does knowing that help me anticipated how this text will probably go?”

Teacher’s Advice

Don’t forget to pause while you are readingand do a self check-in.

Ask yourself,“Does this match my expectations”

Let’s Get Reading

Mid-Workshop teaching point(s)1) Strong nonfiction readers notice stuff in the text features that others just glance by2) It’s helpful to pay attention to the physical features of the text (more words=greater importance)3) Expectations/predictions will change as your read on

Did you know that we can“BUZZ”

about nonfiction too?

Point out:what you saw as you scannedHunches you developed in your previewWhether your hunches matched what

you actually read

Looking for structure within nonfiction text

Lesson #2

My college teachers used to give me book after book after book to read in one week

I was a pretty good reader. So no big deal, right?

WRONG

By the next week 1/2 of them hadn’t even been touched

The ones that I had read would kind of be circling in my brain

I was trying to memorize all I’d read so I could recall it all later in class.

Kind of hard when you are reading 300 pages of EXPOSITORY nonfiction

There are over 200,000 identified

plant species and the list is growing all the time

.

While using energy from sunlight, plants turn carbon dioxide into food in a

process called photosynthesis

Bamboo can be a fast growing plant, some types can grow almost a metre

(3.28 feet) in just one day In the agricultural industry, to ensure crops of food grow well water is often added to soil in the form of irrigation

Tree resin which has been fossilized is known as amber, it

sometimes contains plant material or small animals that were trapped

inside

Plant matter found at the bottom of areas with water

such as swamps can eventually turn into coal due to a process called metamorphosis (changing

form)

It took me awhile

But I finally figured out some tricks

Trick #1Read with a pencil

When we come to an end of a chunk of text-or when our

mind is brimful- we can pause and say to ourselves,

‘What did I just read?’

Then we come up with little summaries to help us recollect what we’ve just learned.

Let me show you how this works

Watch for me:PausingRecallingUsing “boxes and bullets” on my hand

box=main idea bullets=important detailsAnd then we’ll practice it together

You and your partner will read the same text as each other, but separately.

Decide on a portion of the book to read.

Rev up your mind by studying text features and imagining how the text will probably go.

Then read, not trying to memorize everything in the text, but looking for the “boxes and bullets”

Teacher’s Advice

When your mind is full, pause and reflect on what you’ve read, thinking of

“boxes and bullets”

Let’s Get Reading

Mid-Workshop teaching point(s)1) Look back over the passage you have just read, and list across your hand and fingers the main ideas and the specific points gleaned so far.2) Readers of nonfiction jot notes really quickly.

SharingTimeGet together with your reading

partner and talk about what you thought were the main ideas and the supporting details of the text

you read.

What if you disagree?Look back over the text and talk through your differences.

Reread and think, ‘Whose ideas seem more right?’

Choosing Just-Right Texts and Reading with Stamina, in Nonfiction

Lesson #3

You and your partner need to have a shared text to read today

We started this year reading books about characters living in faraway places or imaginary places.

We experienced the magic of coming to know these characters through their stories.

Yesterday we realizedthat narrative nonfiction can be just as magical.

This type of reading is excitingBUT

it can also be challenging tohold on to all of the information.

Strategies we learned when reading fiction are still applicable to nonfiction.

For example:When reading fiction,

Sometimes we pause to review what we just read or think

about what will happen next.

Can you think of other lessons from reading

fiction that we can apply to our nonfiction

reading?

Turn and Talk to your partner

Do you remember how lists help us when choosing books?

We use lists to help usdetermine Just Right Books

Too Hard

*Don’t understand

*Have to read slowly

*Can’t read w/ expression

*Keep getting stuck

*5+ words I can’t say

Just Right

*Get most words right

*Read fast and smooth

*Understand it

*Not confusing

*Read easily with expression

Let me show you

how to use a list to find a

“just right” nonfiction book

Teacher’s Advice

Just like we use lists in life to help usremember the things we need to do

We can also use lists to help us remember what we have reada.k.a. “boxes and bullets”

Let’s Get Reading

Mid-Workshop teaching point(s)1) Readers pause to teach others what we’re learning2) Using “boxes and bullets” as and outline/talking points, not just reading them to our partners

My Final Piece of Advice

Decide what’s big enough to write down.

When we try to record every little detail, it gets much harder to

organize our thinking.

Your Teacher’s Final Piece of Advice

Becoming Experts and Teaching Others from

Nonfiction Texts

Lesson #4

Our classroom has become a factory

Our factory is churning out

experts

Experts are teachers

To teach someone you need to:

*know main idea and supporting details*Use an explaining voice

*Use body language to explain

What’s it take to be an expert on what you read?

Let me show you how to read in a way

that I’m becoming an expert.

As I read, I’ll be:1) thinking about what this section will be about2) looking for relationships between this topic and what I already know3) looking for main ideas and supports

Let me show you how to teach the content

Keep a watchful eye for my teaching techniques

What did you notice?

Teacher’s Advice

As you read your nonfiction books today, keep in mind that you aren’t just reading them

for yourself; you are also reading for your partner since you will be teaching them later

Let’s Get Reading

Mid-Workshop teaching point(s)Readers study pictures carefully and discuss what we notice and wonder

Time to show your expertise

Grasping Main Ideas in Nonfiction Texts

Lesson #5

On the next page.......

How many pictures are thereof four-legged animals?

How many did you notice?

Let’s try this another way.....

4 Legs <4 Legs

Now how many did you notice?

Why was it easier to answer the question the 2nd time?

4 Legs <4 Legs

Line  Separates  categories

Labels

Organiz

ed  in  ro

ws Categorized

What does this have to do with reading?

Readers of expository text have to organize what they are learning,

especially when there aren’t subheadings to organize it for you.

As we read, we sort the little bitsof information under bigger points or ideas.

It helps to create larger categories to organize the information.

There are a couple of tricks you can use to organize the new information we are learning.

1) Read.....stop......step back.....and sort the new learning into “piles”. These become “boxes and bullets.”

2) Find a teaching point, or main idea, that pops out in each section.

Let me show you how to....

1) Read and sort into piles2) Find the pop-out teaching point

The Weird and Wonderful Octopus

Of all of the strange and wonderful creatures that live in the ocean, one stands out above the rest. It is the amazing octopus, and they can be found in every ocean in the world.

The octopus has a body unlike any other animal. Its body, called the mantle, is soft and shaped like a bag. The octopus can squeeze itself into very small spaces because it no bones in its body. Its eight rubbery arms are attached to its head near its mouth. The octopus’s arms are covered with suckers. These suckers help the octopus grab and taste things. The octopus can see very far distances, but it cannot hear anything at all.

Main Idea:

Box

Supporting Details:

Bullets

Teacher’s Advice

It helps to organize the information you read.Make little headings (box) in your mind and

read to find the details (bullets) that support it

Let’s Get Reading

Mid-Workshop teaching point(s) pg. 94-95 Readers read differently when we anticipate teaching others what we are learning

Time for you to become the teacher

Talking to Grow Ideas About Nonfiction Texts

Lesson #6

What have you learned about reading nonfiction that you especially remember?

I want to remind you that readers talk to let texts get through to us, to let texts change our minds.

We talk to grow ideas

Let’s learn from some veterans

Click to play

What did you notice?How did they use the text to help them?

How did they grow their understanding?

How were they helping each other learn?

HOW WERE THEY CHANGING EACH OTHER?

Ideas

observationobservation

Ideas

Idea

s

IdeasIdea

s

observation

observation

We grow ideas through

conversation

The reason we converse is to THINK, not to talk

We take littleobservations

and turn them into big ideas

Teacher’s Advice

As you read, try to be the kind of person who wonders and/or questions.

Observe the stuff that could grow into a big idea later, when you converse with your partner.

Let’s Get Reading

Mid-Workshop teaching point(s) pg. 1091) Readers pay attention to surprising parts of our texts and squeeze our minds to grow ideas about those parts and are prepared to share those with their partners.

Time to have a CONVERSATION

with your partner

Conversations can grow big ideas if you ask ‘Why?’ and ‘How Come?’ questions

Reading Differently Because of

Conversations

Lesson #7

How have your conversations with your Reading Partners helping you become

a better nonfiction reader?

Does someone have one they want to tell us about?

We read differently when we knowthat a conversation will follow

Repeat the prompt and elaborate on it

List a couple of big or small points that

we think a text is making and choose

one that interests you

Your partner provides a thought prompt to nudge your thinking TextText

Here’s how to have deeper conversations

Talking and Thinking Prompts*I can picture how this goes...*The weird thing about this is...*This makes me think that...*But I wonder...*So, again, the idea is that...*It is important to notice...*This reminds me of...*You are probably asking...I think the answer might be...*I used to think...but now I am realizing...*On one I hand I think...But then again, I also think...

Take a look at the book you read yesterday

Choose a couple of big or small points to share

Choose who will share their point, first

Listen for me to call out a prompt for you to usethen repeat it and elaborate

Let’s give this a try

How did these conversations with your Reading Partners help you?

Teacher’s Advice

Remember to draw on all you have learned about reading nonfiction texts.

Decide which work you especially want to do today

Let’s Get Reading

Mid-Workshop teaching point(s) pg. 127Readers hold ourselves accountable for word-solving, even when definitions aren’t apparent

Fiction

Nonfiction

How We read

Identifying nonfiction text structures and adjusting reading

Lesson #8

Yesterday we learned that we sometimes read fiction and non-fiction differently.

We don’t read everything the same way!

We don’t read stories the same way we read newspapers

We don’t read a car manual instructions the same way we read a fairy tale.

Readers use different reading eyes for

different text structures

When we look at a nonfiction book, we ask ourselves,“Is this a narrative text or a expository text?”

This helps us know which reading strategies to use.

Narrative nonfiction texts:TRUE STORIES

- We read it like a narrative fiction book!- Tells about a person or

something that happened in history-Allows us to live through an experience

Expository nonfiction texts:ALL-ABOUT BOOKS

-Gives facts- Gives information about a topic

- Contains text features (table of contents, headings, subheadings, bolded words, glossary, etc.)

You try it!I’m going to give your group a pile of books.

I want you to separate the books into TWO piles. NARRATIVE

NONFICTION

EXPOSITORY NONFICTION

NARRATIVE NONFICTION

EXPOSITORY NONFICTION

What did you notice?

Watch how I read a narrative nonfiction text!

Pay attention to:- who the characters are - what their traits are-what they want-what gets in the way of them getting what they want

There will be lots of facts. I want you to notice the facts

but you do not have to memorize them all!

The Mummy’s Curse

What did you notice about how I read a narrative nonfiction book?

I am going to continue reading!

I want you to jot down notes about what YOU notice about the character and his traits and struggles

Teacher’s Advice

Remember that readers notice text structure. Remember the expectations readers can bring to

narrative nonfiction texts.

Let’s Get Reading

Mid-Workshop teaching point(s) pg.15 Volume 2Help children bring their familiar reading strategies to narrative nonfiction

Reading nonfiction narratives as stories with main characters

Lesson #9

Seeking Underlying Ideas in

Narrative Nonfiction

Lesson #10

Types of NonfictionWe are most familiar with

All-about texts

What do we know about narratives?

Are they considered nonfiction?

Why do authors writenarrative nonfiction?

Shape information with a story

To avoid a hodgpodge of junky

details

Create a unifying idea

Convey ideas

“To write a good narrative, you must be able to answer the

question:what is the story about?”

“To write a true story, there needs to be a unifying

idea, a central concept.”

Two of our country’s greatest nonfiction writers are Mark Kramer and Wendy Call

David Halberstam wrote Firehouse

A story about the days before,

during, and after the 9/11 tragedy

“I just couldn’t write everything that happened to the people in the firehouse. One ate pizza, another

fed the dog, one answered the phone. I couldn’t tell it all.”

“Twelve men from this one firehouse died that day. I

thought I could measure some of the pain inflicted on the city by looking at that one firehouse.”

What can we learn from these authors?

There’s no story until you know the overall concept you want your readers to grasp.

You must be able to point to something larger.

Let’s read the start of the book Secrets of the Mummies

What is the message being conveyed?

Keep in mind all of the techniques we used in our personal narratives.

Remember, everything an author does is ON PURPOSE!

“I must find the lost tomb.”

Howard Carter had been saying the same thing for year. Now it was 1922, the fifth year he had spent digging through sand and rocks in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. He was searching for a tomb that no grave robbers had ever found-the tomb of Tutankhamen, the boy pharaoh.

Carter scoffed when he was warned of the curse: “Death comes on wings to he who enters the tomb of a pharaoh.”

Each day, his men worked in the sweltering heat and dust. They seemed to be getting nowhere. Then one morning, as they dug in soft rubble, a shovel clanged...

When Carter arrived, he was met by an excited hush. The men had found a stone step. Another 15 steps were quickly uncovered. Could this be Tutankhamen’s tomb?

Carter was the first to look. What he saw left him speechless. Later, he told people that he had seen “strange animals, statues, and gold - everywhere the glint of gold....”

When Carter arrived home that night, his servants were wailing and shouting.

“What’s wrong?” Carter demanded above the din.

“You have opened the tomb,” wept a servant. “We are cursed!” He told Carter that a Cobra had swallowed Carter’s pet canary at the exact moment the tomb was opened. Cobras were a symbol of royalty in ancient Egypt. They were said to spit fire at a pharaoh’s enemies.

Carter was not worried. The next day he began to clear the first room of the tomb.

More than a mile of cotton wadding was used to wrap up the items. Carter’s team packed games, clothing, pottery, musical instruments, and statues. Most of these were sent to Cairo, Egypt’s capital, by boat. The more valuable artifacts went on a train accompanied by armed guards.

Finally, the men were ready to unseal the third door. Slowly and carefully, Carter started chipping away the rocks and plaster.

Then he stopped. Before him was a wall of solid gold! It was the front of a huge, golden shrine. Carter was astonished. He knew this was the greatest ancient Egyptian find ever.

Inside the golden shrine were three more shrines. And inside the last one was a sarcophagus-a stone coffin. But that was not all. Wthin the sarcophagus were three more coffins, each fitting snugly inside the other. The final coffin was made of solid gold. Inside it was the mummified body of Tutankhamen.

But before anyone could investigate further, disaster struck. It began when Carter’s patron, Lord Carnavon, was bitten on the cheek by a mosquito. He accidentally cut open the bite while shaving. The bit soon became infected, and fever set in.

A few days later, Carnavon’s family raced to his bedside. He was very ill. Then, early one moring, it was all over. Lord Carnarvon died.

At the very moment of his death, all the lights in Cairo went out. They stayed out for several hours, and no one could explain why. Back at Lord Carnarvon’s home in England, Susie, his dog, pricked up her ears, howled once, then dropped dead.

Other details followed. A French Scientist who visited the tomb died after a fall. An X-ray specialist on his way to examine Tutankhamen’s mummy died unexpectedly. Then a wealthy American died from a virus after visiting the tomb. Were these deaths all coincidences, or was the curse of the mummy to blame? No one knows for sure.

What idea is this text conveying to us?

Turn and Talk

How to Find the meaning

Find the time in the story when the main character had to make a pivotal choice. What kind of consequence does the choice have? Is there a message or idea for everyone in this?

When the character meets challenges, what helps? Is there a message or idea for everyone in this?

Did the character learn a lesson? Does this lesson apply to us?

Use these pointers to help you find a unifying idea in the Mummy’s Curse

Teacher’s Advice

Read these books like you read fiction books, getting lost in the story.

Don’t worry if you miss some facts, you can always reread for specific facts later.

Be thinking, “what lesson could this story hold for us all?”

Let’s Get Reading

Mid-Workshop teaching point(s)Study characters’ central choices to learn lessons from the text. Think about the choice and its consequences .

Achievement textsDisaster texts:

Templates in narrative nonfiction

Lesson #11