Reader Strategies Blog Series
In this series, we will be walking through some strategies for using the Natural Inquirer Readers with children from kindergarten through 2nd grade. Each strategy will include a downloadable lesson map so you can take the blog post and put the plan in action in your classroom.
We’ve designed the blog series to progress from the first strategy to the next, but you can also use the strategies separately or in any order you’d like. We’ll provide supply lists that we’ve designed to be as simple as possible, step-by-step instructions, extension and next steps activities, and standards alignments.
Download the lesson map and get started right away!
What Is a Natural Inquirer Reader?
Each Reader in the Natural Inquirer Reader series introduces young kids to a scientist. In simple language, kids will learn about the work the scientist does, tools they use, and questions they try to answer. Each Reader includes questions for discussion, a glossary, and a fun activity.
Elements of Nonfiction
Objective:
Readers are detectives. When we read, we use clues to help us make meaning, just like a detective. We can use our detective skills on any nonfiction text.
In this lesson plan, students will identify some elements of nonfiction: titles, table of contents, boldfaced words, figures and captions, illustrations and maps, and glossaries. Students will understand how each element can help the reader understand the text.
To reach these objectives, you will walk through an example Reader with your students, pointing out the elements of nonfiction and filling out an anchor chart. The anchor chart will help students articulate, visualize, and remember how each element of nonfiction helps the reader make meaning.
Before beginning, students should be able to:
- Identify some differences between fiction and nonfiction texts
- Sort books into fiction and nonfiction categories
See the Fiction and Nonfiction Lesson Map for a guided lesson plan using Natural Inquirer Readers and other texts.
Supplies:
- A Natural Inquirer Reader to demonstrate, then one or more other Readers for students to try on their own or with teacher assistance (order class sets or make copies of the Readers)
- To identify elements of nonfiction in a Reader: a smartboard – OR – photocopies of a Reader and markers or highlighters – OR – multiple copies of the Reader (one for each student) and sticky notes or strips of paper
- Large paper for your anchor chart
- Markers, crayons, pencils, or pens
Elements of Nonfiction Lesson Map
Ready to put the plan in action? Download a pdf of the Elements of Nonfiction Lesson Map, featuring all the key details you need to use this lesson plan in your classroom.
Instructions
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What Is a Detective?
Fiction and Nonfiction Lesson Map- Have students brainstorm what they know about detectives. You can begin by reading a fiction or nonfiction book about a detective who gathers clues or by asking your students what they know about detectives.
- Continue: “Readers are like detectives, too. When we read, we gather clues to help us understand what we’re reading. Today, we’re going to talk about some clues we might gather when we read nonfiction books.“
- This is a good time to review what they have already learned about nonfiction. What are the purposes of nonfiction? What are the differences between fiction and nonfiction? How is the writing different in fiction and nonfiction books?
Introduce a Natural Inquirer Reader
Browse Readers- Choose one of the Natural Inquirer Readers to share with your students. You can either download the pdf to use on your smartboard, order a class set for each student to have their own copy, or make photocopies for each student.
- We’ll be using “Meet Dr. Hoagland” as our example for this walk-through.
- Possible introduction: “In this book, we’ll meet a scientist named Dr. Hoagland and learn about her work. She studies Mexican spotted owls and their habitats. As we read, we’re going to look for clues the writer has given us to help us understand what this book is about.“
- Note: you may also want to provide some background information about the scientific field the Reader addresses.
Introduce the Anchor Chart
Download Blank Anchor Chart- Begin your anchor chart on large paper or on a smart board. You can label the chart “Nonfiction Clues.”
- Make two rows in your chart: one row will be for the clues, and the next row will be for what those clues tell the reader.
- Explain: “We’re going to use this chart to write down clues the author gives us and what those clues tell us about the book.“
- The example chart (shown to the right) is to get you started. As you read together, you will add more columns as you collect more clues.
Download a blank anchor chart like the one seen here on the “Templates” tab.
Reader Walk-Through with Anchor Chart
- Read the text together and stop to point out features as you come to them. Add these features (“clues”) to the chart.
- For each clue, ask students to think about how that clue helps us as readers or what we learn from that clue.
- Some examples of clues you can add to your chart include title, cover picture, table of contents, glossary words (boldfaced), maps, compass rose, photos and captions, illustrations, sidebars, etc.
- Use terminology appropriate for your students or select words to add as important vocabulary.
- Variation: you can mark up your Reader as shown in the examples below on a smartboard before adding the clues to your anchor chart.
Sample Anchor Chart for "Meet Dr. Hoagland"
A sample anchor chart for “Meet Dr. Hoagland.” As you read through the book, you will add more columns to the right.
Click on the images below for examples of how to mark up pages during the read-through.
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Review the Reader
Now review the Reader to see how much your students understood about the text. Have them reflect on how the elements of nonfiction can help us understand what we read.
Some questions to ask:
- What did we learn?
- How did the clues help us?
- Which clue was most helpful and why?
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Independent, Small Group, or Guided Walk-Through
Try the activity again with a different Reader. Depending on how the first walk-through went and the reading level or age of your students, this may be done with varying levels of support. Options include:
- Repeating the walk-through together as you did the first one.
- Putting students in small groups to work through an anchor chart for a new Reader together. Groups can share their anchor charts with the class or contribute to a whole class anchor chart you build together.
- Having students complete another anchor chart for a new Reader individually. They can share their completed anchor charts in small groups or with the whole class to contribute to a class anchor chart.
Note: It may be helpful during this step to allow students to mark on their copies of the Reader or to use sticky notes or strips of paper to mark “clues” as they read.
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Reinforce the Elements of Nonfiction
- Display the anchor chart featuring their nonfiction clues in your classroom.
- Refer to the anchor chart and add to it as you read other nonfiction texts.
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Extension Activities
- Brainstorm where else you might have seen some of these elements of nonfiction being used (such as in TV shows, documentaries, magazines, etc.). Discuss how these elements can be used in other contexts.
- Create a small bookmark version of the elements of nonfiction anchor chart. Have students fill out their bookmarks as they read a new nonfiction book on their own. (Download a bookmark template here.)
- Write a nonfiction text together. Individual or small groups of students can be responsible for one of the elements (e.g. one student writes the table of contents, another draws an illustration and writes the caption, another makes a map, another writes a glossary, etc.)
Education Standards
We correlated this lesson plan to the Common Core standards for Reading – Informational Text. Download the standards correlations in the Educators Guide tab. This lesson plan will also likely satisfy subject-area-specific standards regarding reading for information and critical reading and thinking skills.
What's Next?
Next in our Reader Strategies series: What is a scientist? Help young readers explore the work of scientists and the variety of scientific fields. Use Natural Inquirer Readers to meet several different kinds of scientists and learn more about their work.
Amy Dover, Guest Contributor
This blog series was a collaboration between Amy Dover and the Natural Inquirer staff. We couldn’t have done it without you, Amy!
Hi! My name is Amy, and I am a guest blogger for the Natural Inquirer program. Before I retired, I wore several hats: Speech/Language Pathologist, Special Education Teacher, and Literacy Coach. I’ve always enjoyed investigating fun and creative ways to teach all subjects in interdisciplinary ways. In my spare time, I love to read, cook, walk, explore different crafts, and spend time with my family and friends.
