Reading Workshop Unit of Study
Third – Fifth Grade
Moving From
Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Written by
Okeelah McBride
Fifth Grade Teacher
Muskegon Public Schools
&
Tammy Peterson
Third Grade Teacher
Oakridge Public Schools
Sponsored by
Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Content Area: Reading Workshop
Grade Level: Grades 3-5
Unit Title:
Duration: 4-5 Weeks
Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Concepts:
 Bend 1:
 Bend 2:
 Bend 3:
Readers of narrative nonfiction apply what they know about fiction.
Readers use comprehension strategies, text features, and text structures to aid in the understanding of expository and narrative nonfiction.
Readers use a variety of skills to comprehend expository and narrative nonfiction text.
Structures
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Physical Structure
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Classroom library with a variety of nonfiction texts at different levels
Meeting Area
1
Other Structures
Read Aloud
Conferring
Mini-Lessons
Independent Reading Time
Small Group Work (optional)
Partner Work
Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Resources and Materials
Mentor Texts
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Materials
Amazing Animals by Kate Beohm Jerome
Any Book by Seymour Simon
Assortment of Biographies
The Bee by Sabrina Crewe
Big Talkers by Peter Winkler in National Geographic for Kids
The Bravest Dog Ever: The True Story of Balto by Natalie Strandiford
DK Amazing Animal Facts by Jacqui Bailey
A Drop of Water by Walter Wick
Erica’s Story by Ruth VanderZee
From Seed to Plant by Gail Gibbons
The Life and Times of the Honeybee by Charles Micucci
Life in a Rainforest by Lucy Baker
Look to the North: A Wolf Pup Diary by Jean Craighead
Many Thousand Gone: African Americans from Slavery to Freedom by Virginia Hamilton
The Most Beautiful Roof in the World by Kathryn Lasky
Once a Wolf: How Wildlife Biologists Fought to Bring Back the Gray Wolf by Stephen
Swinburne
Pompeii: Nightmare at Midday by Kathryn Long Humphrey
A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry
Salmon Summer by Bruce McMillan
Slinky Scaly Snakes! By Jennifer Dussling
Spiders by Deborah Merrians
Spiders by Gail Gibbons
Tales of Famous Americans by Connie and Peter Roop
Titanic by Sean Price in Kids Discover
Tracking Trash: Flotsam, Jetsam, and the Science of Ocean Motion by Loree Griffin Burns
Wolf Pack: Tracking Wolves by Sylvia Johnson and Alice Aamodt
Zoobooks 2: Spiders by Wildlife Education, Ltd.
2
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Anchor Charts
Plenty of “easy” nonfiction
texts for students to read
Reader’s Notebook
Reading Logs
Sticky Notes
Texts that include books,
magazines, current event
articles, recipes, how-todirections, downloadable
articles, phone books, maps,
and menus.
Teacher References
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The Art of Teaching
Reading by Lucy Calkins
Growing Readers by
Kathy Collins
Guided Reader’s and
Writer’s Grades 3-6 by
Irene C. Fountas and Gay
Su Pinnell
Nonfiction Toolkit by
Stephanie Harvey and
Anne Goudvis
Teacher’s College Reading
and Writing Project
Curriculum Calendar
Teaching Students to Read
Nonfiction by Alice
Boynton and Wiley Blevin
Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Content Area: Reading Workshop
Grade Level: Grades 3-5
Unit Title: Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Duration: 4 Weeks
Bend 1
Assessment
Instruction
Readers of narrative
nonfiction apply what they
know about fiction.
See Readers…
 Engrossed in biographies during independent reading time.
 In partnerships to discuss the WHO and WHAT in their
biographies.
 Share stop and jots about what they have learned from their
texts.
 Write about the big ideas or life lessons they learned from
biographies.
1. Readers of nonfiction explore types of narrative
nonfiction through biographies.
2. Readers of nonfiction use what they already
3.
4.
5.
Hear Readers. . .
 Talk about the difference between types of narrative
nonfiction texts.
 Say, “How does this kind of nonfiction text usually go?”
 Talk about information they have learned from reading a
biography.
 Talk about the big ideas or life lessons they learned from
biographies.
3
6.
know to determine the WHO and WHAT of their
reading.
Readers of nonfiction grow big ideas about their
character.
Readers of nonfiction understand what they can
learn from biographies.
Readers of biographies ask themselves, “What
big lessons could I learn from the life of this
person
Readers of nonfiction also read narrative
nonfiction stories other than biographies to learn
more about a topic.
Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Bend 2
Readers use comprehension
strategies, text features, and
text structures to aid in the
understanding of expository
and narrative nonfiction.
Assessment
See Readers…
 Read expository nonfiction text for information.
 Skim nonfiction text for information.
 Talk to their peers about learning new information.
 Rely upon text structures to aid in the comprehension of expository and
narrative nonfiction. For example, cause/effect, problem/solution,
compare/contrast, sequence, and description.
 Rely upon text features to aid in the comprehension of expository nonfiction.
For example: glossaries, indexes, illustrations, and a table of contents.
 Use context clues and other supports to determine the meaning of unfamiliar
words.
 Use “Stop and Think” strategies while reading nonfiction.
Hear Readers…
 Say, “What can I add to what I already know about this topic?”
 Say, “Wow, I didn’t know that!”
 Discuss the difference between narrative and expository nonfiction texts.
 Talk about what they have learned while reading different nonfiction texts.
 Say, “You could look that up in the index (or table of contents).”
 Say, “Wow! Look at all these cool pictures (or graphics).”
 Discuss text structures, cause/effect, problem/solution, compare/contrast,
sequence, and description. For example, “Frogs hatch into tadpoles.” “How is
the Sahara different from the Kalahari?”
4
Instruction
1. Readers of nonfiction will explore the
different types of nonfiction texts.
2. Readers of nonfiction learn from
reading nonfiction texts.
3. Readers of nonfiction work to infer
meanings of words using information
that comes before and after the words
in surrounding sentences.
4. Readers of nonfiction use “fix up”
strategies to support comprehension
when meaning breaks down.
5. Readers of nonfiction learn about
nonfiction text features.
6. Readers of nonfiction identify
descriptive language in nonfiction
texts.
7. Readers of nonfiction identify
sequence and time order in nonfiction
texts.
8. Readers of nonfiction use text
structures and features to compare and
contrast within expository nonfiction.
9. Readers of nonfiction identify the
cause and effect within a text to
continue learning ways nonfiction text
structures can help them comprehend
and quickly locate information.
10. Readers of nonfiction use text
structures and features to identify the
problem and solution within a text.
Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Bend 3
Readers will use a variety
of skills to comprehend
expository and narrative
nonfiction text.
Assessment
See Readers…
 Utilize a variety of skills before, during, and after reading
to deepen their understanding.
 Talk to their peers/teacher about how the different skills
they have learned have helped them with their
comprehension.
 Read nonfiction text with a purpose.
 Stop and jot questions about the text as they read
1.
Hear readers…
 Make connections and activate prior knowledge about a
topic before reading.
 Say, “Wow I knew _____ about _____, but I didn’t know
_____.”
 Stop and pause during reading to retell important parts of
their text to themselves or a partner.
5.
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2.
3.
4.
6.
Instruction
Readers of nonfiction connect what they are learning
about a topic with what they already know.
Readers of nonfiction ask questions as they read and
understand that good readers question the text.
Readers of nonfiction monitor their understanding as
they read by pausing to retell to themselves or with a
partner
Readers of nonfiction use what they already know
about a topic and what they read in the text to infer
ideas about the text.
Readers of nonfiction distinguish the difference
between interesting information and important
information.
Readers of nonfiction text use structures, text features
and their comprehension skills to determine the main
idea of the text.
Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Reading Unit of Study Instructional Learning Plan – Bend 1
Bend
Bend 1
Readers of
narrative
nonfiction apply
what they know
about fiction.
Day 1
Teach
Readers of nonfiction explore the
types of narrative nonfiction
through biographies. Biographies
are a great way to learn about a
person. One type tells about a
character’s lifetime and the other
tells of a specific time period.
Active Engagement: Introduce
nonfiction text. A biography is a
nonfiction text. There are two types
of biographies. One type tells about
the life a person and the second tells
about a specific time in someone’s
life. They both read like a fiction
story but are a true story. Show
multiple samples of biographies.
Make sure that you have examples
of both types.
(See sample lesson included)
Share
Share with your partner a biography
that you read today. Why did you
choose that text? What type of
biography is it?
Day 2
Teach
Readers of nonfiction use
what they already know to
determine the WHO and
WHAT of their reading. Who
is this book about and What
did they do?
Day 3
Teach
Readers of nonfiction grow big
ideas about their character. What
is my character like, what are
their character traits? What has
happened in their life that made a
difference in who they are today?
Active Engagement: When
reading a biography, as
readers we need to find out
WHO the story is about and
WHAT they did. In the story,
The Bravest Dog Ever, that
we read aloud: Who is this
story about? What did Balto
do that made him such a
famous dog? Why was that so
important to everyone? What
type of biography is this text?
Active Engagement: Using
Sacagawea: Girl of the Shining
Mountains, talk about
Sacagawea’s character traits.
What was she like? What are her
character traits? Together fill in a
character traits graphic organizer
about her asking for input from
the students. Name the trait and
give examples of where she
showed these traits. (See
examples of character trait
organizers at the end of the unit.)
Share
Ask a few students to share
Who their book is about and
What did they do? Why did
they have a biography written
about them?
6
Share
Share with your partner what your
character is like. Share their
character traits.
Day 4
Teach
Readers of nonfiction
understand what they can
learn from biographies. The
information they learn about a
person helps them to know
about their character in a
deeper more meaningful way.
Active Engagement: Using
the graphic organizer from
yesterday, talk about
Sacagawea’s character traits.
What does this tell you about
her? There was something
that happened in her life that
changed Sacagawea. What
was that? How do all of these
contribute to who she was?
Mid workshop teaching
point: What is the life
changing event that your
character experienced?
Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Reading Unit of Study Instructional Learning Plan – Bend 1
Bends
Bend 1
Readers of narrative
nonfiction apply what
they know about
fiction.
Day 5
Day 6
Teach
Readers of biographies expect the text to teach them big
ideas for their own lives. They ask themselves, “What
big lessons could I learn from the life of this person?”
Model think aloud from a familiar biography.
Active Engagement
Use the same or a different familiar biography for the
students to practice. May use a turn and talk or a stop
and jot and share. If this seems challenging, you may
want them to try with more than one passage or more
than one text. Listen in and share the thinking of
partnerships that are doing the work you hope the whole
class will do.
7
Teach
Readers of nonfiction also read narrative nonfiction
stories to learn more about a nonfiction topic.
Active Engagement
Readers, today we are going to look at other
examples of narrative nonfiction. This text tells us
facts but is told as a story. Show many examples of
narrative nonfiction texts. Show the students how
they read just like a fiction story but contain true
facts. Magic School Bus books are good examples of
this type of text.
Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Reading Unit of Study Instructional Learning Plan – Bend 2
Bends
Bend 2
Readers use
comprehension
strategies, text
features, and
text structures
to aid in the
understanding
of expository
and narrative
nonfiction.
Day 1
Teach
Readers of nonfiction
will explore the
different types of
nonfiction texts.
(i.e., telephone books,
maps, menus,
cookbooks)
Day 2
Teach
Readers of nonfiction
learn from reading
nonfiction texts.
What is the purpose
for reading nonfiction
text?
Active Engagement
Pass out a different
Active Engagement
Students look through downloadable article
a collection of
to each student or
nonfiction materials
partnership. After
spending a couple of
students have read
minutes
their article, have
brainstorming with
them “turn and talk”
their partners about
with their partners
when and why people about new
would need and use
information learned
these types of
from the sections of
nonfiction materials.
the article.
Share Time
Try to find a student
within your
classroom that is
either doing or almost
doing a good job
using today’s minilesson as a model
during their
independent reading
time.
Share Time
As you confer with
students, try to find a
student that has really
highlighted new
information that
he/she has learned
from their reading.
Day 3
Teach
Readers of nonfiction work to
infer meanings of words using
information that comes before
and after the words in
surrounding sentences.
Active Engagement
Have students locate two or
more words in bold print from
any downloadable article.
Students work with a partner to
determine context clues that
help determine the meanings of
bold print words. Students could
justify their inferred meanings
with information found in the
text.
Mid point: Talk about
definitions that are “right
there”, the ones you will need to
hunt and find and those you will
need to infer the meanings of.
Share Time
Focus should be about what you
taught during today’s minilesson or what you have taught
in previous lessons. If you
notice that there are students
struggling with previous
lessons, you may want to use
this time to reinforce the
lesson/lessons.
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Day 4
Teach
Readers of nonfiction
use “fix-up”
strategies to support
comprehension when
meaning breaks
down. Note: “Fix-up”
strategies may
include rereading,
using context,
decoding an unknown
word, and skipping
ahead.
Active Engagement
Partners may read a
passage from their
nonfiction text and
monitor to see if they
need a fix-up strategy
and if so, which one
worked in that spot.
Share Time
Today’s focus should
be based upon what
you see and hear
during conferring
time.
Day 5
Teach
Readers of nonfiction learn about text
features.
Active Engagement
“I am going to continue flipping
through this book and I want you to
raise your hand when you notice a
text feature you think will help you to
read the book better.” Teacher will
continue with the book walk,
stopping when children raise their
hand to signal that they have found a
text feature. “Turn and tell your
neighbor what text feature you noticed
on this page.” Teacher will listen in
and report back. “Good job, you all
noticed the glossary at the end of the
book. Some of you said that the
glossary will help you figure out the
meaning of unfamiliar or tricky
words. Great work! When you are
reading nonfiction text and come
across a word you are not familiar
with, you can always flip to the
glossary in the back of the book to
help figure out the meaning.”
Share Time
Be on the lookout for student
conversations about nonfiction texts.
Call on these students to share what
they have learned from their text
during independent reading time.
Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Reading Unit of Study Instructional Learning Plan – Bend 2
Bends
Bend 2
Readers use
comprehension
strategies, text
features, and text
structures to aid in
the understanding
of expository and
narrative
nonfiction.
Day 6
Teach
Readers of nonfiction
learn to identify
descriptive language in
nonfiction texts.
Note:(connect to
visualization in
fictional text)
Active Engagement
Have students listen
while you read a
section from A Drop of
Water. As you read tell
students to focus on
words or phrases that
allowed them to
actually “see” or
visualize what is
happening in the text.
Call on volunteers to
share.
Recommended Texts
A Drop of Water
Slinky Scaly Snakes!
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Teach
Teach
Teach
Readers of nonfiction
Readers of nonfiction use
Readers of nonfiction
identify sequence and
time order in nonfiction
text.
text structures and features
to compare and contrast
within nonfiction.
Active Engagement
As you read from a
model text, have
students complete a
timeline of events or
model completing a
timeline while reading.
Stop periodically to
highlight dates and time
periods in order as they
appear in the text. May
be a good idea to use
narrative nonfiction
that list steps in order
or a cooking recipe for
this lesson.
Active Engagement
Read from a text that
students are familiar with
and that has a good example
of a compare/contrast
relationship. As a class,
have students discuss the
difference between two
phenomena showing how
they are alike and different.
A Venn diagram may be
appropriate for this lesson.
identify the
“Cause/effect” within a
text to continue learning
ways nonfiction text
structures can help them
comprehend and quickly
locate information.
Recommended Texts
The Bee
A Fire in the Forest
The Life and Times of
the Honeybee
Look to the North: A
Wolf Pup Diary
Salmon Summer
Recommended Texts
Amazing Animals
Wolf Pack: Tracking
Wolves
Zoobooks 2: Spiders
9
Day 10
Teach
Readers of nonfiction use
text structures and features
to identify the
problem/solution within a
text.
Active Engagement
Copy the “Saving the
Forest” section of Life in
the Rain Forest. Have
partners (or individuals)
work to highlight the key
words that helped them to
locate the problem/solution
within the text. Have
individuals or partners
report their findings
Active Engagement
Copy a page from a
familiar text with a strong
example of the
“Cause/Effect” text
structure. Have students
actively listen for and
identify key words that
helped them identify the
cause and effect of a
specific phenomenon. List Recommended Texts
key words on an anchor
Once a Wolf: How
chart.
Wildlife Biologists
(Refer to attachment for
Fought to Bring Back
examples of keywords)
the Gray Wolf
Tracking Trash: Flotsam,
Recommended Texts
Jetsam, and the Science
The Most Beautiful Roof
of Ocean Motion
in the World
Tracking Trash: Flotsam,
Jetsam, and the Science
of Ocean Motion
Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Reading Unit of Study Instructional Learning Plan – Bend 3
Bends
Bend 3
Readers will use
a variety of skills
to comprehend
expository and
narrative
nonfiction text.
Day 1
Teach
“Today I want to teach you
that we can use what we
already know about a
subject to help us learn
more. Before we begin to
read a nonfiction book, we
should think about what we
already know about that
subject. This will prepare
our minds to recognize
information that is new to
us.”
Active Engagement
Using the book Spiders by
Gail Gibbons – refer to the
pages that tell about the
webs spiders weave. Talk
about the fact that we know
that spiders spin webs but,
we did not know that
different spiders spin
different types of webs.
Show the examples of the
different types that are
pictured in the book.
Explain how this adds to
the knowledge we already
have about spiders. (See
sample lesson included)
Day 2
Teach
Readers of nonfiction ask
questions as they read,
understanding that good readers
question the text.
Active Engagement
Using the book First on the
Moon by Barbara Hehner, talk
about how when we read a
book we should focus on asking
questions of the text as we read.
These questions should dig
deeper into the subject of our
text. “You were not alive when
the first moon walk happened
so you may have a lot of
questions about this topic.”
Read some of the text modeling
questioning. “What can we do
to answer our questions? Turn
and tell your partner. Let’s
make a list of ways that we may
be able to answer our
questions.” Have them share
their suggestions. (See sample
chart included in the appendix.)
Remind the students to use
sticky notes to write down their
questions about the text as they
read.
10
Day 3
Teach
Readers of nonfiction monitor
their understanding as they read
by pausing to retell to themselves
or a partner. You can do this at
the end of each section if your
text is divided into sections.
What did I learn from this
section?
Active Engagement
Using the book Pompeii:
Nightmare at Midday, model how
retelling what each section was
about after reading can help us
remember what we have read.
Have the students say “This
section is mostly about . . .” or
“What I learned from this section
is . . .” The students may need to
summarize their thoughts on a
sticky note and leave it at the end
of that section. Remind the
students that the nonfiction that
we read to learn from is often
harder to remember than a fiction
story that we read for enjoyment.
Mid workshop teaching point
Remind them to retell only what
the section is mostly about, not
everything they have read.
Day 4
Teach
Readers of nonfiction use what they
already know about a topic and text
features to infer ideas about the text.
What is the text not telling me? What
can I learn by?
Active Engagement
Using the article Titanic from Kids
Discover magazine. “Today we will
read this article with a question in
mind. Could this tragedy have been
prevented? We will use the text,
photographs and illustrations to help
us infer whether this could have been
prevented or not.” Discuss the
information about the crew, the
equipment on the ship, and the ship
itself. Create a two column chart, one
for facts and one for inferences, as
you discuss the article. When you
have discussed the information in the
article ask the students, “What do you
think? Could this have been
prevented?” Talk about how we use
clues in the text and the photographs
to help us make this inference.
Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Reading Unit of Study Instructional Learning Plan – Bend 3
Bend
Bend 3
Readers use a variety
of skills to comprehend
expository nonfiction
text.
Day 5
Teach
Readers of nonfiction distinguish the difference between
interesting information and important information. What
parts of the text do I need to know? What parts of the text
are just for fun?
Active Engagement
Using the book Spiders by Gail Gibbons, reread a page or
two. Talk about the information on each page. Page 2 –
Spiders come in many shapes and sizes – specific sizes are
not important. Page 3 – First spider was 300 million years
ago – interesting but not important. Page 4 – Arachnid –
word origin - this is interesting but not important. “These
facts are all interesting but are not important for what we
need to know about spiders?”
11
Day 6
Teach
Readers of nonfiction text use structures, text features, and their
comprehension skills to determine the main idea of the text.
Active Engagement
Suggested article Big Talkers by Peter Winkler. Tell the students that
“today we are going to use all the strategies and skills that we have
learned so far to determine the main idea of a nonfiction text that we
have read." Use the details from the subheadings and the information
that each section tells. Recap each section by saying, “This part teaches
me . . .” Repeat this for each of the sections. Can we restate what the
article is about using the answers given for each section? Can we
combine these into a sentence or two to tell what this article is teaching
us? This whole text is mostly about. . .
Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Sample Mini-Lesson Use with Bend 1, Lesson 1
Connection
“Readers, we have just finished a unit in which we spent time studying the characters in our fiction books. Today we will
begin a new unit called nonfiction. Nonfiction books are books that contain true facts and information. We read these
types of books so that we can learn more about a person, a place, or a topic. These books are full of so much information
and interesting facts. We will start this unit by reading and studying biographies.”
Teaching
“How many of you know what a biography is? Tell your partner what you think a biography is like. I hear many good
answers. Jaden you are right, biographies are true stories about a person. I want you to know that there are two types of
biographies. One type tells about the entire life of a person and the other tells about a specific period of time in a person’s
life. They both read just like a fiction story but are true stories.” Show some examples of each type of biography and
discuss which ones are about an entire lifetime and which ones are about a specific period of time.
Active Engagement
Have students look at multiple examples of each type of biography. With their partner, have them make two piles out of
their books. One pile for whole life biographies and one pile for specific period of time biographies. You will need to have
many biographies available for this activity.
Link
“Readers today as you are choosing books for your book basket, remember to include a biography or two in your
selection. I would like you to make sure you include a biography in your daily reading.”
Share
“Share with your partner a biography that you read today. Why did you choose that text? What type of biography is it?”
Independent Practice & Conferring
Students will read books in their level for 35-40 minutes. Conferences with students will occur during this time. Record
each conference as the conference is happening.
Mid-workshop teaching point
“Readers may I have your eyes and ears? I want you to take a look at the biography you are reading. What type of
biography is it? What interesting facts are you learning?”
12
Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Sample Mini-Lesson Bend 1, Lesson 5
Connection
“Readers, we have been taking what we know about characters in fiction and applying it to the people in nonfiction
biographies. Yesterday we read our biographies thinking about events that may have changed the person we are reading
about. Other days we have gathered information about that person. Authors of biographies often intend to teach more
than information about the character. This is similar to the work we did in the character unit when we thought about our
characters and brought this thinking into our hearts so that thinking about characters became a way to think about
ourselves and our world.”
Teaching Point
“Today I am going to teach you that readers of biographies also expect the text to teach them big ideas for their own
lives. They ask themselves, ‘What big lessons could I learn from the life of this person?’”
Model
“I’m going to reread parts of “A River of Words”. We’ve talked about the poet, William Carlos Williams, or Willie as
he’s named in the text and we learned about him as a person and paid attention to the big events of his life.”
“Today I want to show you how readers of biographies expect the text to teach them something for their own life. As I
reread, I’m going to be asking myself, “What big lessons could I learn from William Carlos William’s life?”
Read pages 1-4 (unnumbered)
“I see Willie paying close attention to the world around him. I know we talk a lot about writers living wide awake lives, it
sounds like that’s what Willie does. I think that affects the poetry he writes. So one lesson I could learn from him is to pay
attention to the world around me.”
Read to page eleven
“Here’s more about the poet. I think the way he paid attention to and wrote about the things in his own life then, didn’t
just do things like other people, didn’t write like other poets, says to me that he came up with a way to do his work that fit
for him and helped him feel joy. I think this lesson can affect my life even beyond writing.”
“Do you see what I did? I reread a part of the biography and asked myself, “What big lessons could I learn from this
person’s life? I had some thoughts, and then I kept reading, asked myself the question again and added in some thinking.”
Active Engagement
“Now you try it.”
Read to the end.
“What ideas do you have now? What are the lessons you might learn from what Jen Bryant wrote about the life of
William Carlos Williams? Stop and jot, then turn and share one idea with your partner.”
Listen to the partner talk and paraphrase one or two examples to highlight the teaching point.
Link
“Readers, today and any time you are reading a biography, I want you to expect the text to teach you big ideas for your
own life. Ask yourself, ‘What big lessons could I learn from the life of this person?’”
13
Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Sample Mini-Lesson Use with Bend 2, Lesson 1
Connection
“Readers, I want you to know you did a wonderful job last week studying narrative nonfiction through biographies.
Today, we move on to another type of nonfiction text called expository nonfiction. Expository nonfiction is different from
narrative nonfiction because expository nonfiction is specifically designed to teach new information. You want to know
something else that is interesting about expository nonfiction? You are surrounded by it everyday and I bet you don’t
even know it.”
Teaching Point
“Today I am going to teach you that every time you pick up a newspaper to find out how your favorite team is doing,
whenever you follow a cooking recipe, or read a movie review, you are reading nonfiction. Nonfiction gives information.
It explains, informs, or persuades. However, nonfiction materials are quite different from a story or a novel and reading
nonfiction presents more challenges than reading fiction.”
Model
Select a form of nonfiction you frequently read, such as a newspaper, exercise magazine, or professional educator
materials. Explain when and why you read it. Move to a different form, such as a zoo brochure or other field trip
materials. Bring examples that relate to student experiences such as lunch menus, school letters, calendars, or phone
books. Follow with a third format of nonfiction text such as an advertisement, newspaper editorial, or technical manual.
Explain uses of this information.
Begin a two- column chart, “Discovering Reasons for Reading Nonfiction.” List your nonfiction form in the left column
and purpose in the right column (see sample at the end of this unit).
Hold up a copy of your favorite cooking recipe and say, “Readers did you know cooking recipes are considered to be a
type of expository nonfiction?” Ask, “Have any of you ever used a cooking recipe while making your favorite dish?”
“What would be the purpose for using a recipe?” Repeat the process for at least two other types of nonfiction that
students may see in everyday life. Add the form of nonfiction text and its purpose to the two-column chart.
Active Engagement
Have students look through a collection of nonfiction materials spending a couple of minutes brainstorming with their
partners about when and why people would need and use these types of nonfiction materials. Ask for partnerships to add
new forms and ideas to the class chart.
Link
“Now readers, today and everyday, I want you to remember that you are always surrounded by nonfiction. For the next
few days we are going to continue our study of expository nonfiction text and how they are designed to teach us new
information. Today, though, your job during independent reading time is to read a piece of nonfiction text focusing on the
purpose of that text. I am going to ask volunteers to share at the end of our independent reading time. Off you go on your
journey to exploring expository nonfiction!”
Independent Practice and Conferring
Students will read for at least 30 minutes at their independent reading levels. Conferences will focus on skills being taught
at this time.
Mid-Workshop Teaching Point
“May I have your attention for a moment? As I was conferring with Juan I couldn’t help but notice his enthusiasm for
reading nonfiction text. As he discussed the bus schedule he was reading with me, he really did an awesome job
explaining how a bus schedule helps him and his mom travel around town. He also talked to me about how he never
would have imagined a bus schedule could be considered as a nonfiction text. Way to go Enrique! Read on readers!”
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Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Share
Gather students together on the carpet and say, “I can tell by the looks on your face that you have discovered tons of new
forms of nonfiction that we have not talked about yet. Do I have any volunteers to share a new form of nonfiction they
have explored and to talk about its purpose in day to day life?” Call on a couple volunteers and remember to add any new
examples of expository nonfiction to the classroom chart.
15
Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Sample Mini-Lesson Use with Bend 2, Lesson 5
(Adapted from the Comprehension Tool Kit by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis)
Connection
“Boys and girls, let’s take another look at all these great nonfiction books I have in my basket here! I want everyone to
choose a book that looks interesting to you and we’re going to spend some time looking through our books to see what we
notice about nonfiction text features. We spent some time talking about nonfiction text features at the beginning of the
school year and today were going to review what we know.”
Teaching
“Today, I want to teach you that nonfiction text features are really like sign posts because they teach us to pay close
attention and provide us with lots of interesting information. There are two types of features: visual text features and text
features. Visual features would be things such as illustrations, photographs, maps, and diagrams. Text features include
things such as the table of contents, headings, and bold or italic words. These features help organize the text so we can
navigate through all the information. Headings break the text into sections and give us a heads up as to what our reading
is going to be about. Different types of font, or words that are in italic or bold print, signal us to pay attention to them or
they tell us, “Hey, look at me because I am important.” If you really think about it, often times the visual features and the
text features work together because we rely upon words, like labels or a caption, to accurately explain or describe a
photograph or illustration. And an illustration can help us understand a long, wordy description or explanation.”
Modeling
“Watch me as I share some of the features I notice in this book “Space”. We have already talked about the different types
of text features, so I am going to begin listing some of those on our anchor chart. I am going to create a two column chart.
One column will be for the name of the text feature and the other column for its purpose. Together, as a class, we will
describe the purpose of each feature, how it guides our reading, and helps us understand the information.”
“So readers, on our feature chart we mentioned titles. It was one of the first features on our list and it is one of the most
important. I would say the purpose of a title is to tell us what we are going to be reading about, so I’ll write that here, in
the Purpose column of the chart. And photographs. As I look through this book, I notice that the photographs show me
exactly what walking on the moon looks like, so I’ll write that under the Purpose column of the chart, next to the word
photograph.
“If we were to take a look at the table of contents for this book, you can see it tells us what topics are in the book and on
what page the information is located. As readers we can use this feature, the table of contents to understand more about
Space. The table of contents is there to guide our reading. Watch me as I skim the list of chapters to see which topic I
want to read about first. Let’s see… here’s a chapter called “Journey to the Moon”. I really want to read this chapter
because I have always fantasized about going to the moon and I would like to know what it is like. The table of contents
tells me to turn to page 12. So, I’ll add this information to my chart under the Purpose column next to the words table of
contents.”
Active Engagement
“I am going to continue flipping through this book and I want you to raise your hand when you notice a text feature you
think will help you to read the book better.” Teacher will continue with the book walk, stopping when children raise
their hand to signal that they have found a text feature. “Turn and tell your neighbor what text feature you noticed on
this page.” Teacher will listen in and report back. “Good job, you all noticed the glossary at the end of the book. Some
of you said that the glossary will help you figure out the meaning of unfamiliar or tricky words. Great work! When you
are reading nonfiction text and come across a word you are not familiar with, you can always flip to the glossary in the
back of the book to help figure out the meaning.”
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Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Link
“Remember, today and every day, that as you read nonfiction you will notice certain text features that are there to help
you read the text better. Today, the job of you and reading partner is to find a nonfiction text from the basket, read and
flip through the book as I did, and put sticky notes on the different text features that you notice, remembering to also note
its purpose. We will come back to the carpet for group share time to talk about our findings. Your reading logs and your
books are waiting. Off you go!”
Independent Practice & Conferring
Students will read for 25-30 minutes at their independent reading level. Conferences will focus on procedures being
taught at this time. The teacher will confer as students find features and list these on their feature/purpose chart.
Mid – Workshop Teaching Point
“Boys and girls, may I have your attention for a moment? I was listening in on Joseph and Maria’s conversation and they
noticed a new text feature called an index. Joseph and Mary labeled the index with a sticky note and on the sticky note
they wrote that the index would help them find the page number of a specific topic. Isn’t that great work? Okay readers,
sorry for the interruption. You may go back to work now.”
Share
Students will gather back on the carpet. “I was listening in on your conversations. I know that you and your partners are
anxious to share what features you have found in you texts, so I will ask for volunteers to go first.” Make sure to add all
new text features to the class anchor chart.
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Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Sample Mini-lesson, Bend 2, Lesson 6
Connection
“Readers, I want to commend you for all the great things you have been doing with our nonfiction work so far.
Throughout our unit, we have talked about narrative nonfiction, text features, and fix-up strategies, but there is another
aspect of nonfiction reading we need to talk about this week, called ‘text structures’.”
Teaching Point
“Today, I want to begin our study of nonfiction text structures by talking to you a bit about the structure- description. I
want to teach you that text structures are important to know because they help you understand the organization of the text
better. Knowing the organization of the text is important because it alerts the reader to how the text was written. This, in
turn, can also help us to organize our thinking as we read.”
Model
“Writers organize their writing in a way that helps us understand it. As I look at page 15 from A Drop of Water, I can see
lots of details. The author has provided a very rich description of a soap bubble. So, as I read this paragraph, I will try to
picture what the author is saying about the soap bubble.”
“There are few objects you can make that have both the dazzling beauty and delicate precision of a soap bubble.
Shown here at actual size, this bubble is a nearly perfect sphere. Its shimmering liquid skin is five hundred times
thinner than a human hair.” (Pg. 15)
“Wow, readers, did you see that? The author used such amazing words and descriptive language to describe a soap
bubble. I felt like I could actually see the soap bubble right here before my very own eyes. He used words like ‘dazzling
beauty’, ‘delicate precision’, and ‘shimmering liquid skin’ to really help me picture what an actual soap bubble looks like
in real life. I am going to create a class anchor chart that will help us to keep track of our learning during our study of
nonfiction text structures. I will title my anchor chart, ‘Nonfiction Text Structures’. My chart will have four columns, Text
Structure, Definition, Keywords, and Sample Text. Watch me as I add the new information to our chart. The name of the
text structure is ‘description’. The meaning of description is to use language in such a way that the reader can form an
image in his/her head while reading the text. How does that sound? Keywords or phrases that helped me to form this
image were dazzling beauty, delicate precision, and shimmering liquid so I will add those to my chart underneath the
section labeled ‘keywords’. Underneath sample text, I will write ‘A Drop of Water’ because that is the title of the book we
are using. Now readers I want you to try it.”
Active Engagement
Say, “Listen as I read another section from A Drop of Water to you. As I read, I want you to focus on the descriptive
language and adjective that the author uses to describe the elastic surface of water. When I am finished reading, I will
ask for volunteers to add new information to our anchor chart.”
“The drop grows heavy and begins to fall. As it breaks from a strand of water, the drop shrinks itself into a round
ball, or a sphere. The drop flattens then elongates as it falls. The strand, meanwhile, breaks into tiny droplets. The
impact of the drops hitting the water causes a new strand to bounce back out as another drop breaks away.” (Pg. 8)
“Okay, readers, who would like to add to our anchor chart? What keywords did you hear that helped you to really
visualize and see the elastic surface of water?” Keywords or phrases should include such words as: drop grows heavy,
strand of water, round ball, flattens, elongates, etc.”
Link
“Remember, today and everyday, text structures are important to know because they help you to understand the structure
and the organization of text. From this day forward I want you to remember that authors use descriptive language to help
you visualize certain topics more clearly. As you read today, think about the language and descriptive adjectives the
author has used to help you understand and see the topic better. Your books are waiting for you at your desks. So readers,
off you go!”
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Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Independent Practice & Conferring
Students will read for 25-30 at their independent reading level. Conferences will focus on procedures being taught at this
time. The teacher will confer with students based upon previous skills and strategies that have been taught already while
looking for students who are practicing today’s minilesson during independent reading time.
Mid – Workshop Teaching Point
“Readers, may I have your attention please? Excuse the interruption but I have to share this exciting news! Timothy is
doing such an awesome job reading his book about volcanoes. While I was conferencing with Tim he shared his post-it
notes with me and I am so excited to see that he has a post-it with very descriptive language that the author has used in
his book. Tim also shared with me how these words have helped him to see the eruption of a volcano better. Way to go
Tim! Readers, keep up the good work.”
Share
This may be a good time to pull students back together on the carpet to share their work on Text Structure- Description.
Feel free to add any new information to the chart.
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Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Sample Mini-Lesson Use with Bend 3, Lesson 1
Connection
“Readers, for the last two weeks we have been learning about the many different text structures and features that are
found in nonfiction books. Now we are going to learn the skills we need to use while reading nonfiction text that will help
us with our comprehension.”
Teaching
“Today I want to teach you that we can use what we already know about a subject to helps us learn more. Before we begin
to read a nonfiction book, we should think about what we already know about that subject. This will prepare our minds to
recognize information that is new to us.”
Active Engagement
“Readers, today I want us to take a look at the book “Spiders” by Gail Gibbons. (Hold up the book as you speak) I am
sure you know a lot about spiders. Turn to your partner and tell them what you know. I heard lots of good facts about
spiders. I hear someone say that spiders spin webs. That is correct spiders do spin webs. Let’s read about spider webs.”
Read the pages in the book that talk about spider webs. “Wow! Did you know that different spiders spin different webs? I
did not know that. That is very interesting! See how this information adds to what we already knew. We knew that spiders
spun webs but, we did not know that different spiders spin different types of webs.”
Link
“Readers today and everyday as you read, think about what you already know about the topic as you read. See how that
combined with what you read helps to build your knowledge about that subject.”
Share
Ask a few students to share two things about their book.
1 What do you already know about the subject?
2 What you learned today while you were reading.
Independent Practice & Conferring
Students will read books in their level for 35-40 minutes. Conferences with students will occur during this time. Record
each conference as the conference is happening.
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Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Appendices
21
Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Nonfiction Text Feature
Purpose
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Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Discovering Reasons for Reading Nonfiction
Form of Expository Nonfiction Text
Purpose
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cookbook
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telephone book
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

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23
Shows us how to prepare certain foods
Gives us the location and telephone number
to a specific person or place of business
Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Text Pattern
Text Structures in Informational Texts
Definitions
Key Words
Examples of Text
Description
Time Order
Problem/Solution
Compare/Contrast
Cause/Effect
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Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Text Pattern
Text Structures in Informational Texts
Definitions
Key Words
Examples of Text
Description
Use language to help the reader
form images or visualize
processes.
descriptive details-words like
on, over, beyond, within
descriptive adjectives

A Drop of Water
Time Order
Present ideas or events in the
order in which they happen
first, second, before, after,
finally, then, next, earlier,
later, last

Fire in the Forest

Salmon Summer

Look to the North: A Wolf
Pup Diary
Wolf Pack: Tracking
Wolves
Problem/Solution
Discuss two ideas, events, or
phenomena showing how they
are similar and different
while, yet, but, rather, most,
either, like and unlike, same, as
opposed to, as well as,
likewise, on the other hand,
although, the same, similarly,
opposites

Compare/Contrast
Provide explanations or
reasons for phenomena
because, since, thus, so that,
if…then, therefore,
nevertheless, due to, this led to,
as a result, then…so, for this
reason, on account of,
consequently
The Most Beautiful Roof in the
World
Cause/Effect
Identify problems and pose
solutions
propose, conclude, a solution,
the problem or the question,
research shows, the evidence
is, a reason for
Once a Wolf: How Wildlife
Biologists Fought to Bring
Back the Gray Wolf
Adapted from Guiding Readers and Writers by Irene C. Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell
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Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
Word
Inferring the Meaning of Unfamiliar Words
Inferred Meaning
Clues
26
Sentence
Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
27
Reading Workshop Unit of Study – Moving From Fiction to Nonfiction Reading
28