Weather: A Journey in Nonfiction

Overview

From Theory to Practice

OVERVIEW

This research project is designed for primary students to engage in nonfiction text, in both print and digital format. Students begin by formulating questions on a subject (in this case, weather), then classify questions into topic areas. After grouping students by topic areas and assigning a question previously generated, students engage in nonfiction text to answer the question. Combining question with answer, students construct sentences that are then combined with others in their topic group to form a "report" (paragraph length). The group then creates an illustration to reflect the topic and publishes it in the chosen format (print or digital).

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FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE

Doiron, R. (1994). Using nonfiction in a read-aloud program: Letting the facts speak for themselves. The Reading Teacher, 47, 616–624.

• Children gather experience and knowledge from both types of texts (narrative and expository) and we should expose them to both in our literacy programs.
  
  
• Teachers have a responsibility to motivate children to read all types of texts.
  
  
• By listening to nonfiction and talking about it, children will gain respect for expository language as well as learn to emulate the best examples in their own writing.
  
  
• Teachers need to look for opportunities to incorporate the literature of fact into literacy programs, not as texts to learn but as rich, meaningful experiences.

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