Navigating Nonfiction

As students progress through the grades, more and more of their reading is done in nonfiction, or expository, materials-content area textbooks, reference books, periodicals, and informative articles on the Internet, for example. 

Because the main purpose for reading these texts is to acquire information, the reasons for teaching our students efficient and effective strategies for tackling this type of text are compelling. Students need explicit instruction in identifying and best utilizing the text features and text structures they encounter. If students learn to read the signposts that are guides to the organization of a particular piece of nonfiction, they will be better equipped to navigate their way through and comprehend the material.

Excited to get your kids hooked on nonfiction texts? Check out my digital resource, Reading Information Texts to help students navigate nonfiction. Readers will learn how to approach nonfiction texts, identify and utilize text features, figure out tricky words, and determine facts related to the main idea.  It includes: 

• EIGHT presentations for Google Slides™
• Interactive activities for EACH presentation. 

The EIGHT topics are: 

1.  Story Types (Fiction vs. Nonfiction)
2. Text Types (Features and Structures of Fiction and Nonfiction) 
3. Author's Purpose 
4. Fact vs. Opinion 
5. Context Clues 
6. Main Ideas 
7. Main Idea and Details 
8. Text Features 

There is NO PREP! You will be provided links to each presentation. Each presentation is made for Google Slides™ , but can also be downloaded as a PowerPoint™. The interactive activities can be presented online or downloaded and completed as printables.

Poetry

April is Poetry Month!

It is a time to play with words, line breaks, and figurative language. 

Introduce Poetry

Poetry is everywhere! Share popular jingles, catchy songs, sweet greeting card verses, and nursery rhymes. 

Build Excitement

Evoke giggles with poems authored by Shel Silverstein, Dennis Lee, and Jack Prelutsky. “Sick”, “The Planet Of Mars”, “Alligator Pie” and “Green Giant” are sure to cause gales of laughter. 

Rhyme and Rhythm

Sing popular children’s songs such as “The Ants Go Marching In”, “Down By The Bay”, and “Mister Sun” to help students understand rhythm and rhyme. Introduce rhyming couplets and variations of “Roses are Red”.

Imagery

Pop popcorn. Have students write sensory words to describe the popcorn. Create a 5 senses poem using the brainstormed list. My students brainstormed phrases such as, “I see buttery pillows of delight”, “I hear bulldozers gnashing into the yellow goodness”.  Draw a picture of the “Green Giant” in Jack Prelutsky’s poem or the horse in Armstrong’s “I Would Like To Be A Horse”. 

Trickster Tales

Have you ever read trickster tales?

Trickster tales are entertaining stories that have been retold for generations as a way to teach lessons about human behaviour.  Tricksters are loveable, but cunning as they use their knowledge to play tricks on others!

Why Teach Trickster Tales?

The tales are great ways to strengthen these concepts:

1.  Characterization
2.  Personification
3.  Lesson or moral
4. Compare and contrast similar tales

Tales To Share

Almost every culture has its own trickster characters. Here are my favourites:

ANANSI is a trickster from West African and Caribbean stories, and is full of wit and cunning. Anansi and The Moss Covered Rock and Anansi and The Talking Melon are fun read alouds.

RAVEN is a trickster from the First Peoples of the Northwest Pacific Coast from Alaska to British Columbia. Raven is alternatively a clever and foolish  bird-human whose voracious hunger and greed give rise to humourous adventures. Raven: A Trickster Tale from the Pacific Northwest is a great book to share.

COYOTE is a comic trickster character from North American Indigenous stories, who is lack of wisdom gets him into trouble, and his cleverness gets him back out. Students will enjoy Coyote: A Trickster Tale from the American Southwest.

LEPRECHAUN plays several roles in Irish folklore; he is principally a roguish trickster figure who cannot be trusted and will deceive whenever possible. Clever Tom and The Leprechaun is a delightful tale.

WESAKECHAK is a trickster character whose adventures are often humourous, but unlike Plains First People tricksters he is portrayed as a staunch friend of humankind. Wesakechak Tales will be devoured by your students.

Structures and Materials

A tennis shoe is a structure. It holds our foot securely, so we can walk or run. A bicycle is a structure. It has a certain shape and size. It is built securely so we can sit on it and it can take us places. Learning about structures can be LOADs of fun!!!

Students will look at structures in our NATURAL environment, as well as MAN MADE structures. 

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the most famous structures in Italy. 

Learn about why it leans, as well as famous landmarks:

  

Through interactive Google Slides, students will experiment and learn about:

• The STRENGTH of a structure is its ability to hold a load.
• The STABILITY of a structure is its ability to maintain balance and to stay in one spot. 
• The PROPERTIES of materials, such as STRENGTH, FLEXIBILITY, and DURABILITY, need to be considered when building materials. 
• The TYPES of structures, such as FRAME, SOLID, and SHELL.
• FORCES that affect the shape, balance, or position of structures.
• STRUTS and TIES which help strengthen and stabilize structures.

If you are looking for fun ways to teach Structures and Materials, whether face-to-face or digital, this resource is for you.

Mapping Skills

This year is certainly different! I have been teaching grade three online since September! I have been busy creating digital resources for my students!

Our current social students unit is looking at different representations of Earth. Even though many of us view maps on phone apps, students still need good map skills. Fortunately, the concepts are applicable for apply for virtual and paper maps.

1. Share map books.

    Epic has many great books that I have shared.

2. Map out fairy tales.

Read a familiar fairy tale. Design a simple map of the main character’s travels. This is a cute way to help young minds explore map skills. 

3. Map your bedroom or yard.

Turn students into junior cartographers! Students draw a room in their house or their background from a variety of perspectives, such as an aerial view and a map view. 

4. Play Battleship

The online Battleship game helps students learn grid coordinates.

5. Go on a satellite scavenger hunt.

Google Maps and Google Earth provide many opportunities for a scavenger hunt. Familiarize students with satellite images, so they can find their own house and world landmarks.  Look at satellite and street views!

If you are interested in learning more, please visit my resource, Mapping Skills. Perfect for distance learning, this social studies resource includes Google Slides™ to teach students about various representations of Earth. This interactive resource helps students understand different representations of Earth, such as maps, globes, aerial photos, and satellite images, as well as geographical concepts that help define and identify places on the earth.