One of my favorite units to do in January when we come back is to switch gears and look at non-fiction reading and writing. Kids are coming back a little out of routine, still in holiday mode and the structure of this unit makes it easier to slowly get them back into things.
I start out reviewing the difference between fiction and non-fiction books. We look at the characteristics, we look at examples and I make them put together a Google jamboard sharing what they know and adding examples of each type of book.
Then I move onto the next mini lesson where we discuss non-fiction text features – things that you usually will only see in non-fiction type books.
After this I then have the students look at non-fiction books on their own to see if they can find examples of the different text features they learned about. Epic Books is a great online source for this. The first day the kids start exploring and I show them how to filter to get to the books appropriate for them – grade level, non-fiction type books they will need to do the work. I have a variety of reading journals/response logs they work on to get more familiar and comfortable with non-fiction reading.
The culminating assignment is I have them do a biography on someone they are interested in. Again I am able to use Epic books to assign a library of biography books that I have chosen. I am able to pick books at their reading level, of a variety of famous people that will hopefully catch their interest. Once they have picked their chosen person, they then research and find out facts/information about them. I have them look at the following:
Once they finish, they then put this all together into a format to share. You can do a Google slide or jamboard. However, a site that I love to use is Book Creator which is a free online website where students can create their own books. Heads up – you only get access to so many books, it is not unlimited. To get unlimited, you do have to pay. The reason I love Book Creator is that the students can share their facts in interesting ways plus add in the non-fiction text features to their books which is part of their assignment. As well, they can actually record themselves reading their books too, which is added bonus.
The kids honestly enjoy this unit a lot. They are excited to share new things they have learned from their reading. They love the look of their books when they are done. It is a great way to start the new year. Hopefully this gives others their own ideas to use in their own classrooms.
catherined2014 