Non Fiction Unit
Grade 7
Session 1: What is Non Fiction?
Objective: Students will understand the classification of nonfiction
Resources and Materials:
 copies of the handout ‘Feature Articles’
 copies of graphic organizers for presentation
 various nonfiction texts
 a flowchart ‘Classification of Non Fiction Texts’
5 mins: Teacher and students will brainstorm ‘What is Non Fiction?’
20 mins: Students will be divided into pairs. Each pair will be given a newspaper, magazine or
informational text. They will find as many types of nonfiction texts as they can identify. Teacher
will keep on recording it on the web.
10 mins: Teacher will show a flowchart classifying nonfiction texts. A definition of each
classification and text type will be discussed.
HA: A handout ‘Feature Articles’ and a graphic organizer with presentation criteria will be given
to the students. Bring any one type of article listed in the handout to present to the class.
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Session 2: What is a Feature Article?
Objective: Students will:
 discuss the types of feature articles
 discuss the term ‘authority’
 present their article to the class
Resources and Materials:
 Nonfiction booklet per student
10 mins: Teacher and students will discuss feature articles and its various types taking help from
the handout. They will also discuss what being an ‘authority’ on a subject means.
25 mins: Students, in groups of four, will present the article brought in by them. Their
presentation will include the title, author, source, classification and examples from article to
explain the elements of that classification. (GO given for home assignment).
5 mins: Teacher will distribute the nonfiction booklet to the students.
HA: Bring magazines from home.
Session 3: Understanding Text Organization (Visual Elements)
Objective: Students will:
 understand the importance of visual elements
 write a Before Reading and After Reading response
Resources and Materials:
 a collection of magazines
20 mins: Students will go through various magazines brought from home and provided by the
teacher. They will choose one article and take notes under these headings: Fonts and
Effects(titles, headings, boldface print, color print, italics, bullets, captions, labels etc.);
Illustrations, Photographs and Graphics(diagrams, cross-sections, overlays, maps, word bubbles,
tables, graphs, charts etc.); Layout(use of space, text and picture positioning, sidebars,
orientation, placement in the magazine).
20 mins: Students will write a Before Reading Response by answering the following questions:
 What is the article about? How do you know?
 What did you like about the ‘look’ of the article? Why? (Give specific examples.)
 What visual element would you change or add in the article? Why?
HA: Read the article and add to your response:
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How do the visual elements help you to understand the text better? (Give specific
examples.)
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Session 4: Understanding Text Organization (Reading and Sharing)
Objective: Students will share their responses with their groups
40 mins: Students, in groups, will read each other’s chosen articles and responses.
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Session 5: Titles
Objective: Students will recognize and understand wordplay in titles
Resources and Materials:
 cutouts of titles from magazines and newspapers
10 mins: Teacher will put up several titles from articles that students have not previously read.
These titles will have double or triple meanings. She will give the students time to discuss, in
groups, what the articles could be about.
10 mins: Groups will share their ideas with the class.
20 mins: Teacher will provide one article that matches one of the titles to each group. They will
read and decide how far they were correct in judging the meaning of the title. They will then
share their findings with the class.
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Session 6: Vocabulary Study
Objective: Students will learn and practice strategies to decode meaning of unfamiliar words in
context
Resources and Materials:
 copies of the handout ‘Word Decoding Strategies’
 copies of ‘Vocabulary Study’ graphic organizers
5 mins: Teacher will ask students how they figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words they
encounter while reading a text. She will note down all answers on the board.
15 mins: Then she will ask the students to look at a particular article from their booklets. She
will draw their attention to a few of the difficult words in the text. She will then think aloud and
demonstrate how she figures out the meaning in context of those words by:
 predicting a word's meaning by making connections between her prior knowledge of
ideas presented in the text and the key word.
 using words and sentences around the key word as clues
 breaking the word up to determine the root, prefix, suffix, part of speech
A handout detailing the strategies will be given to the students.
20 mins: Teacher will ask students to choose an article from their booklets and identify a few
unfamiliar words. Students will then practice figuring out the meaning in context and note down
their findings in the ‘Vocabulary Study’ GO.
Unfamiliar Words
What I Think They Mean
Strategy I Used
Dictionary Definition
HA: Complete the ‘Vocabulary Study’ GO.
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Session 7: What is a Graphic Organizer?
Objective: Students will discuss the advantages and uses of graphic organizers
Resources and Materials:
 samples of blank and filled graphic organizers
5 mins: Teacher and students will discuss what the word graphic organizer means.
35 mins: Then teacher will show samples of blank graphic organizers and ask students if they
had ever used these and how. Then she will show completed samples of various GOs and
encourage students to think about the advantages of using GOs. She will record all answers on
the board. Discussion will lead to students understanding that GOs:
 provide different ways of seeing and thinking about information
 help to focus on the connections between information
 show the information in a simple-to-understand manner
 help lots of information to be converted into an easy-to-read, graphic display
 are easy to edit, revise, and add to
 can be used to structure writing projects, summarize reading texts, organize and store
vocabulary, and help in problem solving, decision making, studying, planning research
and brainstorming
 help to remember important facts and concepts
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HA: Bring 2 A4 sheets of paper.
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Session 8: Understanding Text Organization(Text Structure)
Objective: Students will:
 learn to identify 5 basic text structures
 learn to select and display information on appropriate graphic organizers according to
text structure
Resources and Materials:
 samples of filled graphic organizers
 copies of the handout ‘Text Structures’
 A4 sheets
 copies of the rubric
10 mins: Teacher will put up the sample GOs, used in the previous session, and explain that
most articles are structured in the following 5 ways: Sequence, Description, Cause and Effect,
Compare/Contrast, Problem/Solution. A handout listing signal words to help identify each text
structure will be given to every student. Students will review the sample GOs and the handout.
30 mins: Students will then read an article of their choice from their nonfiction booklets, identify
the text structure and choose an appropriate GO to display the important points. They will draw
and present their article on an A4 paper. A rubric for the activity will be provided as this will be
a marked activity.
HA: Complete the Graphic Organizer begun in class. Submit the rubric along with your GO.
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Session 9: Leads or Hooks
Objective: Students will explore various types of leads used by authors to ‘hook’ the readers
Resources and Materials:
 copies of the handout ‘Different Types of Leads’
 copies of the ‘Great Leads’ graphic organizer
5 mins: Teacher will explain that leads or hooks are the opening sentences. Their purpose is to
grab the readers’ attention and compel them to read further.
25 mins: Students will read several leads from various articles and copy them in the GO
provided and determine the strategy used by the author. A handout ‘Different Types of Leads’
will be provided to each student.
10 mins: Students will share some of their leads and strategies with the class.
HA: Bring two A4 sheets
Article and Author
Great Leads in Feature Articles
Author’s Strategy
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Session 10: Author’s Stance
Objective: Students will identify writer’s stance and the strategies used to support the stance as
a feature article element
Resources and Materials:
 an OHP
 a sample article
 A4 sheets
 copies of the rubric
5 mins: Teacher will explain what the words ‘stance’ and ‘perspective’ mean.
15 mins: Using an overhead projector, teacher will show students an article. She will identify the
main idea, think about the author’s purpose, then figure out the author’s stance and highlight the
evidence that supports it (quotes, interviews, statistics etc.).
20 mins: Students, in pairs, will read an article from their booklets and determine the author’s
stance. They will also identify the strategies the author uses to support the stance by giving
specific examples from the text. They will record their findings on A4 sheets by creating a GO.
A rubric will be given to them as this is a marked assignment.
HA: Complete the GO begun in class.
Session 11: Author’s Stance (Reading and Sharing)
Objective: Students will share their GOs with their groups
40 mins: Students, in groups, will read each other’s articles and GOs.
HA: Bring ‘Great Leads’ graphic organizer
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Session 12: Identifying Voice
Objective: Students will learn to identify ‘voice’ in articles
Resources and Materials:
 an OHP
 a sample article
 copies of various articles
20 mins: Teacher and students will look at their ‘Great Leads’ GO and discuss why these leads
“hooked” readers. Teacher will point out how each example has voice. Voice is important in
writing feature articles as it supports a writer’s stance or perspective and gives life to writing.
Teacher will show an article on the OHP and read through it while marking the different
emotions as she thinks aloud.
20 mins: Students will be given photocopies of different articles. In pairs, they will use markers
and highlighters to identify voice.
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Session 13: Fact or Opinion?
Objective: Students will learn to distinguish between fact and opinion
Resources and Materials:
 an enlarged list of facts and opinions
 copies of editorials (one per pair)
10 mins: Teacher will ask students if they can distinguish between a fact and an opinion. She
will lead the discussion towards an understanding that:
 facts are statements that can be verified
 opinions are statements based on personal beliefs and are open to debate.
 one way to distinguish between the two is to think if the condition is always true.
15 mins: Teacher will show students a list of facts and opinions and together the class will
determine which are facts and which are opinions.
15 mins: Students will be given a copy of an article. In pairs, they will identify and highlight
facts and opinions using two different colors.
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Session 14: Responding to an Article
Objective: Students will analyze and respond to an article
Resources and Materials:
 an enlarged copy of a pre-filled graphic organizer ‘Analyzing a Feature Article’
 blank copies of the graphic organizer ‘Analyzing a Feature Article’
10 mins: Teacher will ask the students to read a particular article from the booklet. She will then
show an enlarged copy of a pre-filled GO ‘Analyzing a Feature Article’ and explain how she
analyzed the article. Then teacher will read aloud her response to the article.
10 mins: Students will choose another article from the booklet to read and analyze. A copy of
the GO will be given to them to take notes.
HA: Complete analysis of the article and write a response.
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Analyzing a Feature Article
Title of Article: _________
Author:________
Source:_________
Audience (Who does the author want to read the article?): _______
Author’s Stance: ______
List details from the article that support the stance: _____
Examining the lead - Explain how the article tries to "hook" your interest:________
Examining the text features - List any visual elements the author uses to help make
the article more interesting or informative. (Examples - headings, lists, charts,
graphs, diagrams, captions):__________
Examining the text structure (problem/solution, compare/contrast, cause/effect,
sequencing, descriptive):____________
Examining the conclusion - Explain how the author brings the article to a
conclusion: _____________
My response: ______________