Keeping It Real!:
Strategies for Success with Nonfiction
Instructional Strategies: Examples
Teacher Inquiry Research Project
St. Augustine Catholic High School
Charmain Barker: charmain.barker@ycdsb.ca
Dan Bruni: dan.bruni@ycdsb.ca
Michael Rosettis: michael.rosettis@ycdsb.ca
5–4–3–2–1
Organizer for Reading
Title of work:
Name: __________________
Effective Paragraph Flow: Introduction
Curriculum Expectation: to develop skills, strategies, and habits of mind required for
scientific inquiry
Instructions: Single Paragraph
Identify and number the critical ideas in the topic sentence. Then, create the
following sentences by building on at least one of the numbered ideas from the first
sentence. As you write each additional sentence, check that your ideas relate back to
the numbered items in your topic sentence.
Paragraph 1
1
2
3
4
[Frequent review] of [course material] is [necessary] to [achieve
5
success] in [Science class].
St. Augustine C.H.S. © 2006
Name: __________________
Effective Paragraph Flow: Introduction
Curriculum Expectation: to develop skills, strategies, and habits of mind required for
scientific inquiry
Instructions: Multiple Paragraphs
1. Identify and number the critical ideas in the topic sentence.
2. Next, create the sentence that follows by building on at least one of the
numbered ideas from the first sentence.
3. With each additional sentence, number essential ideas and then build the
following sentence based on the sentence that precedes it.
4. As you write each sentence, check that it relates to the original topic sentence.
5. When all ideas from the topic sentence have been exhausted, a new paragraph
needs to be started. The new paragraph must build on the final sentence from
the first paragraph. Only one numbered item of the final sentence (first
paragraph) is used to form the new paragraph’s topic sentence.
6. After writing the topic sentence, continue with the writing of your second
paragraph. Follow the same procedures as outlined for the first paragraph.
Paragraph 1
1
2
3
4
The [advances] [in biotechnology] have [benefits] and [risks] for
5
[society].
Name: __________________
St. Augustine C.H.S. © 2006
Continue Paragraph 2 on the back of this page.
Paragraph 2
Continued from Paragraph 1 on the front of this page
St. Augustine C.H.S. © 2006
Flow Chart
Detecting Online Plagiarism
Instructions:
1. Use the Google Search Engine <www.google.ca> to help you locate the source of the
information for the following plagiarized sentences.
Note: other search engines will also work.
2. Type key words or a unique part from the sentence(s) into the search line, or type the
entire
sentence into the search line.
3. Then investigate the “hits” or “results” until you find the original web site from which
the
information has been plagiarized.
4. Write down the URL [Internet address] and the author of the web page from which
the
information was originally plagiarized.
5. Complete the task explained on the opposite side of this paper.
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PART A: Locating Information Sources [5 marks]
Information Source:
Provide URL + Author
Questionable/Plagiarized Information
[1] Whether or not to require labeling of genetically engineered
foods is likely to be the hot topic in food biotechnology over the
next year.
Completed together in class.
[2] Until recently, discussions about human cloning were
conducted within the realm of science fiction and fantasy.
However, with the successful cloning of the sheep "Dolly" in
1997, it became evident that sooner or later, scientists might be
able to clone human beings, too.
[3] Stem cell research is controversial because the best source of
stem cells is human fetal tissue. Harvesting the stem cells
destroys the embryo, which many see as morally problematic.
[4] Some Christians object to genetically modified food, as an
unacceptable intervention in God's creation violating barriers in
the natural world.
[5] Xenotransplantation is the transplanting of animal tissues
and organs into a human, and is being studied as a substitute for
human organ donors. Today the study and experimentation
revolving around the subject of genetics is exciting and
frightening at the same time.
[6] The field of genetics is in the news daily, with researchers
mapping the human genome, cloning animals, and identifying
new disease genes.
M. Rosettis © 2006
St. Augustine C.H.S. Library Information Centre
Detecting Online Plagiarism (cont’d)
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PART B: Using Information Ethically
Choose one (1) of the selections from the Questionable/Plagiarized Information chart on
the opposite side of this paper. Indicate which number you have chosen and write down
the general topic. Now create point form notes for the information from the plagiarized
paragraph in your own words. Then use your notes to write a paragraph about the
information in your own words so that it tells about the content idea(s) but DOES NOT
plagiarize the information source. Remember to use an embedded citation at the end of
your paragraph.
Number: _______
Topic: ________________________________________________
Important Points (point form notes): [2 marks]
Revised Version (non-plagiarized) including embedded citation:
[3 marks]
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
TOTAL:
M. Rosettis © 2006
/10
St. Augustine C.H.S. Library Information Centre
Magnet Summaries
cooled quickly
thin
Earth’s Crust
tectonic plates
5 to 50 km
Partially
melted rock
2900 km thick
Mantle
high pressure
from above, low
pressure below
completely
liquid
convection
currents
2200 km thick
Outer Core
very high
temperature
solid iron
and nickel
molten iron and
some nickel
huge pressure
Inner Core
2400 km in
diameter
3870 oC
The thin Earth’s Crust, which
measures between 5 and 50 km,
cooled quickly during the
formation of the Earth, which
caused parts of it to break apart
and form the tectonic plates.
Student Name:
Date:
Non-fiction Reading Journal
General Information
Student Comments / Reflection
\
Date
Title of Book
Pages read
 Topics covered
 Ideas discovered
 Interesting facts
Starter Examples:
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“I enjoyed …”
“Something surprising was …”
“I think that …”
or Write a statement to summarize your reading
Teacher Suggestions:
 Integrate the Non-fiction Reading Journal into your curriculum in response to reading of textbook passages or
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content from supplementary sources;
Provide a “content” area for students to look for in a chapter or section, and then reflect on this.
Adapt requirements of Reading Journal sheet, as needed.
Name:
Modeling Making Inferences
Read the text below and write a comment and or question (in each box provided) based
on an inference that you make as you read through the text.
1.
3.
2.
5.
He put down a beaker on the counter.
The girl on the stool took out her textbook.
The person next to him handed him a graduated cylinder, but he gave it back
to her.
4.
7.
6.
8.
Teacher Suggestions:
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Use short passages and think aloud your inferences
Have students decide what types of inferences are being made as the class thinks aloud
Demonstrate that reading is an active process between the text and the reader (let students hear the
inner dialogue that effective readers use
Discuss the different types of inferences that readers make
Point Form Notes: In Class
Name: _____________________________
Instructions:
A/ Read the information in the paragraphs below, and then do the following:
1. Circle the key words (most important words/ideas).
2. Write point form notes for the words that you have circled.
3. Add some of your own ideas/insights about the information you have read.
4. Number your point form notes/own ideas in the order that sounds best to you.
5. Follow this order when writing your rough copy paragraph.
Heredity is the passing on of biological characteristics from one generation to the next.
The process of heredity occurs among all living things--animals, plants, and even such
microscopic organisms as bacteria. Heredity explains why a human mother always has a
human baby and why a mother dog has puppies--not kittens. It is also the reason
offspring look like their parents. Through heredity, living things inherit characteristics,
often called traits, from their parents. You resemble your parents because you inherited
your hair color, nose shape, and other traits from them. All organisms consist of cells.
Tiny biochemical structures inside each cell called genes carry traits from one generation
to the next. Genes are made of a chemical called DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid). They
are strung together to form long chains of DNA in structures known as chromosomes.
Source: Hendrick, Philip W. and Robert F. Weaver. “Heredity.” WorldBook
Multimedia Encyclopedia. [CD-Rom] 1999.
Subtopic: ________________________________
 Heredity is passing on of inherited
characteristics
 All living things are formed by heredity
 Features are inherited from both parents
 Hair colour, shape of nose
 Cells contain genes
 Genes are made of chemicals called DNA
M. Rosettis ©2005
My Own Ideas/Opinions
 Certain features
determined at
conception
 Skin colour,
height, teeth
 Hereditary
diseases
St. Augustine C.H.S. Library Information Centre
B/ Write a paragraph using your ordered point form notes and your personal ideas/
opinions. Include the main idea of the subtopic in the first sentence of your paragraph.
M. Rosettis ©2003
St. Augustine C.H.S. Library Information Centre
Topic:
Exploring Mars
Name: __________________
What are the features of
Mars from afar?
What are the surface
features of Mars?
What might humans learn
from Mars?
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