Nonfiction Matters: Identifying Text Evidence Across Multiple Texts (Reading)

This class series is entitled, "Nonfiction Matters," because nonfiction is of growing importance as kids get older. During students' 4th grade year, 50% of their reading should be from expository text . By the end of high school, 70% of a student's required reading will be nonfiction. Many students are not equipped with the skills needed to comprehend difficult nonfiction texts. The focus of this 5 week class will be on combining information from multiple texts. During the first four weeks, we will be reading lots of informational articles and see how the authors use text evidence to support particular points. We will then read about the same topic in multiple texts, compare and contrast viewpoints, and combine the information together to get a better grasp of the topic. During the last week, students will use information from two texts to write an essay on the assigned topic.

This class will be conducted in the format of a guided reading group. We will read and work through the text together as a group. Students will be using the chat box and discussion to respond to questions. We will read the text both aloud and silently. After I introduce the standard that we are studying, most of the class will be focused on reading and answering questions about the text.  This class is intended for students who are reading on or close to a 4th grade level. 

Schedule
Week 1: Explaining Text Evidence
Week 2: Combining Information From Two Texts
Week 3: Paired Comprehension
Week 4: Paired Comprehension
Week 5: Extended Response Project: Writing an essay comparing and contrasting two informational texts

Each course in the series will focus on different upper elementary informational standards that students need to understand when working with nonfiction texts. Courses may be taken out of order or independently.
1. Nonfiction Matters: Answering Text-based Questions
2. Nonfiction Matters: All About Text Structure
3. Nonfiction Matters: Finding the Main Idea
4. Nonfiction Matters: 1st and 2nd Hand Accounts
5. Nonfiction Matters: Inferring Cause & Effect Relationships in Informational Texts
6. Nonfiction Matters: Identifying Text Evidence Across Multiple Texts
7. Nonfiction Matters: Interpreting Text Features