Explorations In Nonfiction Writing Grade K

While learning how to locate, access, interpret, record, publish, and share information, students also consider ways to activate their voice and make their nonfiction writing clearer, more authoritative, and better organized. Designed around a consistent mix of explorationssome are extended units of study that engage primary writers in the complete writing process and others are targeted minilessons that expose students to various forms of nonfiction writingExplorations in Nonfiction Writing is easily adaptable and will support you whether you are integrating nonfiction writing into your established literacy block or developing a new nonfiction writing program that supports your entire academic curriculum.

The book you are about to read is destined to be the first, middle, and maybe even the last word on nonfiction writing for young, young children. It is certainly a text that you will return to over and over again as you do with a beloved cookbook. —from the Foreword by Tomie dePaola Over eighty- five percent of the reading and writing we do as adults is nonfiction, yet most of the reading and writing in K–3 classrooms is fiction or personal narrative. In Is That a Fact? Teaching Nonfiction Writing K-3, Tony Stead shows you how to open the door to the rich world of nonfiction writing that goes beyond what I did narratives and animal reports. And he convincingly demonstrates the importance of introducing nonfiction writing in the primary grades. Nonfiction inspires enthusiasm in young children because they can choose topics that are of interest to them personally. Is That a Fact? explores a variety of authentic purposes for writing nonfiction, such as describing, explaining, instructing, persuading, retelling, and exploring relationships with others. You will learn how to introduce each purpose using a variety of forms, including letters, reports, poetry, captions, directions, and interviews. Part One provides a complete overview of teaching nonfiction writing in the primary grades and includes: practical ways for organizing nonfiction resources within the classroom;how to assist children in collecting information for research;ideas for helping children keep their sense of voice when writing nonfiction;a chapter on spelling, with examples of how to guide students at each stage of spelling development;strategies for assessment and evaluation that guide teaching and learning engagements. Part Two provides five different explorations that were implemented in actual K–3 classrooms. Each focuses on a specific purpose for writing nonfiction and features:examples of whole-class, small-group, and independent instructional engagements;a comprehensive assessment rubric that will help teachers tailor instruction to the needs of all learners;an extensive resource section that includes lists of books in the exploration, grouped by readability levels;answers to the most commonly asked questions about teaching nonfiction writing. The appendixes include a self-assessment questionnaire, reproducible pages for exploring specific writing forms, and letters to parents. Children need to be introduced to the different purposes of nonfiction writing. They need to know how to plan, compose, revise, and publish nonfiction beyond narrative. Is That a Fact? guides you in achieving these goals with your students.

"Nonfiction writing does not need to sound like an encyclopedia. It can be richly constructed with a wide variety of sentence patterns. Craft elements and literary devices should be highlighted and employed in nonfiction selections just as carefully as we implement them in fiction." Linda Hoyt Nonfiction writers need to develop a broad arsenal of sentence structures so their writing is rich, varied, and fluid. They need to consider how powerful verbs can accentuate their voice and make their nonfiction writing more compelling. They need to reflect on how carefully selected details can bring a setting to life and invite their reader to understand more deeply. Focused on the process and traits of being a writer and how to best address the needs and expectations of nonfiction readers, Linda Hoyt's Crafting Nonfiction offers targeted minilessons that will help you elevate craft, integrate trait-based instruction, and elevate control over conventions. Click here to learn more about The Explorations in Nonfiction Writing Series.

Nonfiction writers need to develop a broad arsenal of sentence structures so their writing is rich, varied, and fluid. They need to consider how powerful verbs can accentuate their voice and make their nonfiction writing more compelling. They need to reflect on how carefully selected details can bring a setting to life and invite their reader to understand more deeply. Focused on the process and traits of being a writer and how to best address the needs and expectations of nonfiction readers, Linda Hoyt's" Crafting Nonfiction "offers targeted minilessons that will help you elevate craft, integrate trait-based instruction, and elevate control over conventions.

"Nonfiction writers need to develop a broad arsenal of sentence structures so their writing is rich, varied, and fluid. They need to consider how powerful verbs can accentuate their voice and make their nonfiction writing more compelling. They need to reflect on how carefully selected details can bring a setting to life and invite their reader to understand more deeply. Focused on the process and traits of being a writer and how to best address the needs and expectations of nonfiction readers, Linda Hoyt's Crafting Nonfiction offers targeted minilessons that will help you elevate craft, integrate trait-based instruction, and elevate control over conventions."--Publisher description.

What features make opinion writing strong? How do writers craft opinions to make them powerful? This Big Book and five supporting mentor texts provide many examples of strongly crafted opinions to help students answer these questions. With all the small books written by students, these texts tackle topics, such as "How you can be a good friend" and "Which game is the best?" An opinion piece in the Big Book includes call-outs to help students remember what features are important in crafting opinions. Use these student-written mentor texts to help learners analyze opinions and arguments and to identify features of opinions before they write their own.

What features make informative/expository writing strong? How do writers craft informational text to make them powerful? This Big Book and supporting mentor texts provide many examples of strongly crafted informational texts to help students answer these questions. With all the small books written by students, these texts tackle topics, such as "Can a wolf raise a cat?" and "What makes this insect cool?"An informative piece in the Big Book includes call-outs to help students remember what features are important in crafting informational texts. Use these student-written mentor texts to help learners analyze informative/expository texts and to identify features of these texts before they write their own.

This guide for teachers describes strategies for helping children in grades K-8 to become comfortable with and get the most out of nonfiction texts. Written by teachers and teacher educators, 25 contributions discuss such topics as the use of informational texts in daily instruction and the role that features such as captions and headings play in learner understanding. A number of guided reading and writing exercises also are presented.

A guide for conducting minilessons across the literacy spectrum, including oral reading, guided reading, independent reading, and writing.

Designed to teach nonfiction writing to 5th graders, including extended writing units to be used for research projects, and also shorter minilessons to teach a wider variety of nonfiction writing. Posters are to be used in conjunction with selected mentor texts. The companion CD-ROM contains a wide variety of resources to support the material in this set, as well as full color versions of the mentor texts found in the black and white print version of the same.