What do you think?
Rationale
Non-fiction books provide a great deal of information beyond the actual text (i.e., illustrations, chapter titles, headings, key vocabulary words, etc.). The Extreme Sports series provide excellent opportunities for teachers and librarians to Identify parts of the book that set the stage for learning the content. The high-interest topics in this series will engage even the most reluctant readers.
Objectives
- Students will identify parts of nonfiction books that provide information
- Students will make predictions about the content based upon illustrations,
- chapter titles, etc.
- Students will make real-world connections
Grade
Grade 2 - Grade 5Lesson
Build Framework for Learning
Select two or three of the titles in the Extreme Sports series. One at a time, show the students each cover. Guide them in discussion with questions such as:
Would you like to… (go bungee jumping, hang gliding, etc.)?
What do you know about… (bungee jumping, hang gliding, etc.)?
Why do you think the author wrote this book? What do you think the author is like?
Who in our class do you think would like this book the most? Why?
Next, take the students on a “book walk” pointing out features of the book such as the table of contents, the glossary, the index, etc. Repeat that process with several other books in the series before sharing all of the titles. Ask the students to write the title of the book that interests them the most and jot down two questions that they hope the book will answer for them. You can also create a class list of questions on butcher paper or the whiteboard. Either way, engage discussion by allowing students to share why the books grab their attention. Talk about how prior experiences, movies, and other books shape the things in which we show interest.
Read and Reflect
Ask students to either work independently or with a partner to select and read the book that interests them the most. Provide each student with the Extreme Sports Concept Web handout to take notes as they read. The last box asks students to write a personal opinion statement. Prompt students’ thinking with a discussion about the athletes who participate in these kinds of sports. Are they thrill-seekers? Are they daredevils? Ask the students to evaluate whether they could ever participate in the sport that they read about.
Making Headlines
Ask students to imagine a person from their home or school community who participated in the sport. Explain that they will write a newspaper article that combines facts from the book with the person they have chosen to write a fictitious article. Remind students that newspaper articles include who, what, where, when, why or how. All of the elements for their article should be based upon facts from the book — except the "who" which should be someone they know. Provide the Just the Facts prewriting sheet for students to use to organize their articles. Then, give each student a copy of the newspaper writing template for the final article. If you have a digital camera available, make it accessible for students to include a photo with their article.
Compare and Contrast
Break the class into small groups of 3-4 students. Ask each group to select an Extreme Sports book to read together. Next, ask two groups to work together to compare the two sports they have read. Create a Venn diagram on butcher paper for each group and ask the students to complete the organizers with similarities and differences about the two sports.