+

Teaching Nonfiction Reading

Delia DeCourcyOakland SchoolsNovember 5, 2013delia.decourcy@oakland.k12.mi

.us

elanonfictionrw.wikispaces.com

+Goals & Burning Questions

Define nonfiction.

Review the standards and expectations around nonfiction reading in the Common Core.

Explore strategies for teaching nonfiction reading paired with a fiction text.

Brainstorm the integration of nonfiction into a fiction unit you currently teach.

POST-IT: Write down a burning question that you want to get answered about teaching nonfiction.

+What is Nonfiction?Stop & Jot – define it

+

What is Nonfiction?

+Nonfiction Text Types

ARGUMENT

INFORMATIONAL

Narrative Nonfictio

n

implied argument

bias

+Why Teach Nonfiction?

MODELS What we ask our students to write in high

school

PREPARATION The majority of the texts students will encounter in

college and career

PREPARATION FOR AN INTELLECTUAL LIFE So they can inform themselves and enrich their

own lives

+4 Corners of Nonfiction MediumsWHAT’S YOUR PREFERENCE?

Articles & Books (printed and online, long and short form)

Graphic Novels, Photographs, Photo Essays, Cartoons

Speeches & Podcasts (Ted Talks, NPR journalism)

Videos & Films

Share with your neighbor the best piece of nonfiction in this medium that you recently read/heard/watched.

+Your Nonfiction Reading Life

What percentage of your extracurricular reading/viewing/listening is nonfiction?

100% 50%0%

+

The Challenge:

To become as expert in reading and teaching nonfiction as you are in teaching fiction/plays/poetry.

+Nonfiction & the CCSS

MYTHS

70% of the texts seniors read in English class must be informational texts.

The exemplar texts listed in Appendix B are required teaching.

FACTS

70% of the texts seniors read throughout their school day must be informational texts.

The exemplar texts in Appendix B point to the breadth, quality, and complexity of the texts students should read.

+The Informational Reading Standards

Multi-draft Read of an Informational Text

#1 – Central Ideas and Key DetailsTable talk

#2 – Craft and StructureTable talk

#3 – ImplicationsTable talk

+ Activity Reflection

What reading strategies did we just engage?

Multi-draft Read

Talk to the Text

Focused Discussion

+Group Discussion/Debrief

Summarize: What must our students be able to do as readers of informational text?

Extension: How do those skills spiral up from 9/10 to 11/12?

Key Practices Jumps

+FOUNDATION:Interactive Model of Reading

+Our Students as Readers

Students should…

enjoy/be engaged by reading

see connections within and across texts

ask their own questions of texts

grapple with those questions

make meaning via discussion, informal and formal writing (formative & summative)

+

Text

ReaderActivity

Interactive Model of Reading

COMPREHENSION

Rumelhart, D.E. (1977). Toward an interactive model of reading. In S. Dornic (Ed.), Attention and performance VI. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Snow, C.E. (2002). Reading for Understanding: Toward an R&D Program in Reading Comprehension. Santa Monica, CA: RAND.

+

Pairing Fiction & Nonfiction

+Pairing Fiction & Nonfiction – Why?“English teachers need to teach more poetry, more fiction, more drama, and more literary nonfiction. More is more when it comes to reading. And we have evidence to prove it. “

- Carol Jago, “What English Classes Should Look Like in the Common Core Era”

+Pairing Fiction & Nonfiction –Why?

Improve comprehension by expanding background knowledge connected to the narrative text. (Anderson & Pearson, 1984; Block & Pressley, 2002)

+Pairing Fiction & Nonfiction –Why?

Expand student thinking: 2 Lenses/1 TopicNarrative: illuminate human identity and

feelings Informational texts: provide knowledge of

the natural and social world (Duke, 2000; Weinstein, 2003).

“Nonfiction lets us learn more; fiction lets us be more.”

- Kylene Beers, Notice & Note: Strategies for Close Reading

+Pairing Fiction & Nonfiction –Why?

Increase relevanceDemonstrate connections between

the Canon and modern texts

INCREASED MOTIVATION & ENGAGEMENT

+Turn & Talk

How well do I strike a balance between fiction and nonfiction in my classroom?

How do I help students think about the role of both genres in their lives?

+Pairing Fiction & Nonfiction – How?BACKWARDS DESIGN

Literature Unit Essential QuestionsThemes

Summative Assessment

Select Texts

+Pairing Fiction & Nonfiction – How?PURPOSES of NONFICTION PAIRINGS

Develop background knowledge

Deepen perspective and analysis on a single topic or theme

Read one text through another to broaden perspective

Examine literary criticism or reviews of the fiction text Explore interpretations of the text Study models for upcoming writing task

+Romeo & Juliet – a model

To the WIKI

+BREAK 10 minutes

+Romeo & Juliet – a model Theme: Romantic Love

Essential Questions What is romantic love? How have depictions of romantic love changed and remained the

same?

Summative Assessment

Write an argument essay that compares and contrasts popular depictions of romantic love in the play and advertisements we explored in this unit. What has changed since Shakespeare's writing of Romeo & Juliet and what has remained the same?

Write an informational essay in which you explain the definitions of and attitudes about romantic love explored in this unit. What do Shakespeare, hooks, Fisher, and corporate advertisers contend about love? Discuss the implications of each definition/attitude.

+

Romeo & Juliet – first thoughts

(2 min. freewrite)

Do you believe in true love-- also known as

romantic love?

+Alpha Text – Talk to the Text Context: after reading Romeo & Juliet’s initial

meeting; close reading of the love sonnet.

Driving/essential question: What is romantic love?

DIRECTIONS:

Read the excerpted essay below. As you read: Underline the central ideas/claims. Number key supporting details. In the margin

Make notes to identify text structures (cause/effect, definition, list, compare/contrast, etc.)

Pose questions you have Make notes about confusing words or ideas

+Alpha Text – Talk to the Text

Excerpt from the Times article “Watching New Love as It Sears the Brain” (science)

Excerpt from bell hooks’ book All About Love, ch.10 on romance (essay)

INFORMATIONAL ARGUMENT

1.Jigsaw: half the table reads one article, half the table reads the other.

2. Free write on the questions

3. Share thinking about articles.

4. Discuss together: Discuss Fromm and Peck’s thoughts on love through the lens of the New York Times’ article “Watching New Love as it Sears the Brain.” Who does Shakespeare agree with?

WHAT IS ROMANTIC LOVE?

+Before, During & After ApproachBefore reading

Activate interest and prior knowledge.Build/review any necessary knowledge

before reading. Preview difficult concepts and

vocabulary.Introduce and set purpose with a driving question. (essential question)

+Before, During & After ApproachDuring reading...

Have students identify and organize important information.

Teach students to record developing understandings and questions.

Help students clarify things they don't understand.

+Before, During & After ApproachAfter reading…

Guide students to use evidence from texts to develop accounts.

Have students use evidence from texts to support arguments.

Facilitate synthesis and connection across the texts.

+

AUDIO & VIDEO

+Viewing/Listening Scaffolding Pause periodically

Stop & Jot – with prompt (summary, analytical question) or graphic organizer

Turn & Talk – with prompt (summary, analytical question)

Backchannel – Today’s Meet

Summary of content

Reflection on/ analysis of content

Tracking structure Flow chart/idea mapping

Television Ad: Multi-draft viewing/graphic organizer

+

How does the ad reinforce or conflict with the play’s ideas about romantic love?

+Speech – Stop & Jot After reading Act 5: The Brain in Love

Driving Question: What is romantic love?

+What do Dr. Fisher’s ideas help explain about Romeo’s behavior in Act 3 when he’s banished from the city and in Act 5 when he kills Paris?

Freewrite – 2 min.

+Pairing Texts: Curriculum Design

+Text Pairing – Curriculum Design Backwards Design

Essential questions and themes? Summative assessment for the unit?

Unit Length – Less is More Make Choices: What’s most important about

this narrative text? Avoid Readicide: Are you over teaching the

narrative text?

+Pairing Fiction & Nonfictionread-i-cide noun : The systematic

killing of the love of reading, often exacerbated by the inane, mind-numbing practices found in schools. (Kelly Gallagher, 2009)

Under teaching text: You’re on your own.

Over teaching text: Flogging a book to death.

Big chunk/little chunkReading flowSelected close reading

+Text Pairing – Curriculum Design Nonfiction Integration

Purposes

Develop background knowledge

Deepen perspective and analysis on a single topic or theme

Read one text through another to broaden perspective

Examine literary criticism or reviews of the fiction text Explore interpretations of the

text Study models for upcoming

writing task

Consider Multiple Text Types Articles Essays Reviews Ads – print & video Documentaries Op-eds TED Talks Speeches Podcasts Interviews – print & audio Images/photographs

+Text Pairing – Curriculum Design

Grade Level PlanningSelect a Text -

Google Docs Linked on Wiki

Google DocsReal time editingNo need to saveEditing – like Word Sharing – anyone with the link can edit

+Virtual Gallery Walk

+Discussion

What was challenging about the brainstorming?

What concerns came up?

What was exciting or revelatory?

+Burning Questions

Did you get your question answered?

If not – how will you get it answered?

What new questions were raised for you today?

+Thank you!