Fiction versus Nonfiction

Primary 2

What do you think is the book about?

Needle Through a Balloon

Predicting

• What do you think will happen to a balloon if you insert a skewer in it?

• Blow up a balloon – not too full – and tie the opening shut. If you are careful, you should be able to push the skewer all the way through the balloon without popping it. Insert the skewer with a gentle twisting motion into the end of the balloon opposite the knot. Continue pushing and twisting the skewer until the tip emerges from the other end, near the knot.

• The balloon did not pop.

The rubber in the balloon consists of many long molecules that are linked together. It's similar to the way all of the noodles in a plate of spaghetti stick together. These long molecules are called polymers; when molecules of a polymer are chemically attached to each other, it is called cross-linking. These links hold the polymer molecules together and allow them to stretch…up to a point. When the force or tension pulling on the cross-links is too great, they will break, and the polymer will pull apart.

• Look at the rubber near the ends of the balloon where you first inserted the skewer. Does it look lighter or darker than the rubber in the rest of the balloon?

• The rubber at the ends of the balloon is stretched out less than in the middle of the balloon. Therefore, there is less force pulling on it. This allows the tip of the skewer to break some polymer cross-links, push aside the molecules of rubber, and slide into the balloon. However, enough cross-links remain so that the balloon holds together.

• What do you think will happen to the balloon if you insert the skewer from the side?

• In the side of the balloon, there are fewer polymer molecules. When you push the tip of the skewer through the rubber in the side of the balloon and the skewer breaks a few of the cross-links, the tension on the remaining cross-links is too great, and the balloon pops.

The Gingerbread Man

0nce upon a time, there were a little old woman and a little old man who lived in a little cottage near the river . The little old woman and the little old man were hungry, so the little old woman decided to bake a gingerbread man.

She made a big batch of gingerbread dough, then rolled it flat and cut it in the shape of a gingerbread man . She gave him raisins for eyes , a cinnamon drop for a mouth , and chocolate chips for buttons . Then she put the gingerbread man in the oven to bake.

When the gingerbread man was done, the little old woman opened the oven door,

1. What do you think happened next?

but before she could take him out, the gingerbread man jumped up and ran through the kitchen and out of the cottage shouting, "Don't eat me!"

• The little old woman ran after the gingerbread man . "Stop," she yelled. But the gingerbread man ran even faster, chanting, "Run, run as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man ."

• The gingerbread man ran into the garden and passed the little old man . "Stop," the little old man called out, "I want to eat you." But the gingerbread man ran even faster, chanting, "I've run away from a little old woman , and I can run away from you, I can. Run, run as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man ."

2. What do you think happened next?

• The little old man chased the gingerbread man , followed by the little old woman . But the gingerbread man ran too fast for them.

• The gingerbread man passed a cow by the barn . "Stop," the cow mooed, "I want to eat you."

3. What do you think happened next

• But the gingerbread man ran even faster, chanting, "I've run from a little old woman and a little old man , and I can run away from you, I can. Run, run as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man ."

• The cow chased the gingerbread man , followed by the little old woman and the little old man . But the gingerbread man ran too fast for them.

• The gingerbread man passed a horse in the field. "Stop," the horse neighed, "I want to eat you." But the gingerbread man ran even faster, chanting, "I've run from a little old woman and a little old man and a cow , and I can run away from you, I can. Run, run as fast as you can. You can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man ."

• The horse chased the gingerbread man , followed by the cow , and the little old woman and the little old man . But the gingerbread man ran too fast for them.

• Then the gingerbread man reached a wide river , but he didn't know how to swim.

4. What do you think happened next?

• A clever and hungry fox saw the gingerbread man and said, "Jump on my tail, and I'll take you across the river !"

• The gingerbread man thought to himself, "I'll be safe on his tail." So he jumped on the fox's tail and they started across the river .

• Halfway across the river , the fox barked, "You're too heavy for my tail, jump on my back." So the gingerbread man jumped on the fox's back.

5. What do you think happened next?

Soon, the fox said, You're too heavy for my back, jump onto my nose." So the gingerbread man jumped on the fox's nose. But as soon as they reached the riverbank, the fox flipped the gingerbread man into the air, snapped his mouth shut, and ate the gingerbread man .

• And that was the end of the gingerbread man.

What are we learning for today?

• Tell how to identify if a book is fiction or non fiction

• define what fiction and non-fiction are.• Sort books into fiction and nonfiction.

• Good readers can tell the difference between fiction and nonfiction texts. They choose each for different purposes. Today we will sort books into categories by fiction and nonfiction.

Vocabulary

Fiction-make believe Nonfiction-real

Fiction Nonfiction

T-Chart

Fiction Nonfiction

Group Work

• 1. Sort the books into two piles: fiction and nonfiction.

• 2. Discuss the differences of the two book types

• 3. Choose a book.• 4. On a piece of paper, write why is it fiction or

non fiction.

T-Chart

Fiction• Drawings/illustrations• Characters • Created in an author’s

imagination• Beginning, Middle and

Ending• For entertainment

Nonfiction• fact• Photographs are real• Glossary• Information about the

author• Table of contents• For learning

What have we learned today?

• Tell how to identify if a book is fiction or non fiction

• define what fiction and non-fiction are.• Sort books into fiction and nonfiction.

Group the following books into fiction or nonfiction.

Write the title of the book on its appropriate column.

Fiction• 1. _______________• 2._______________

Nonfiction• 1._________________• 2._________________• 3._________________

Homework:

• Study more about fiction and nonfiction.