ALEX Classroom Resource

  

Blending Fiction and Nonfiction to Improve Comprehension and Writing Skills

  Classroom Resource Information  

Title:

 Blending Fiction and Nonfiction to Improve Comprehension and Writing Skills

URL:

 http://readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/blending-fiction-nonfiction-improve-262.html

Content Source:

 ReadWriteThink
Type: Lesson/Unit Plan

Overview:

This lesson supports the use of a text set (paired fiction and nonfiction texts on a similar topic) to increase student interest in and understanding of content area material and to develop critical writing skills. The more familiar format of narrative fiction introduces the topic and generates confidence in exploring the less familiar genre of nonfiction. Students then demonstrate what they have learned about the topic and about genre by writing an original piece that blends together narrative and expository elements.

Content Standard(s):
English Language Arts
ELA2015 (2015)
Grade: 3
1 ) Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers. [RL.3.1]

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.1- Answer who, what, and where questions to demonstrate understanding of a story.
English Language Arts
ELA2015 (2015)
Grade: 3
3 ) Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events. [RL.3.3]

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.3- Identify traits or feelings of a character in a story.
English Language Arts
ELA2015 (2015)
Grade: 3
5 ) Refer to parts of stories, dramas, and poems when writing or speaking about a text, using terms such as chapter, scene, and stanza; describe how each successive part builds on earlier sections. [RL.3.5]
English Language Arts
ELA2015 (2015)
Grade: 3
10 ) Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers. [RI.3.1]

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.10- Answer who, what, and where questions to demonstrate understanding of an informational text.
English Language Arts
ELA2015 (2015)
Grade: 3
11 ) Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea. [RI.3.2]

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.3.11- Identify the main idea of an informational text; identify details in an informational text that support the main idea.
English Language Arts
ELA2015 (2015)
Grade: 3
18 ) Compare and contrast the most important points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic. [RI.3.9]
English Language Arts
ELA2015 (2015)
Grade: 4
9 ) By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, in the Grades 4-5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range. [RL.4.10]

NAEP Framework
Anchor Standard::
Anchor Standard 9: Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.
Cognitive Target::
Consider Text(s) critically to evaluate the author's perspective or point of view within or across texts, take different perspectives in relation to a text, and compare or connect ideas, problems, or situations.
NAEP Descriptor::
Infer and explain a lesson common to story and poem. (Integrate and Interpret)

NAEP Descriptor::
Recognize surface similarity between story and poem. (Integrate and Interpret)
English Language Arts
ELA2015 (2015)
Grade: 4
21 ) Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. [RF.4.4]

a. Read on-level text with purpose and understanding. [RF.4.4a]

b. Read on-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings. [RF.4.4b]

c. Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary. [RF.4.4c]

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.4.21- Read/identify 150 words associated with pictures or tangible objects.
English Language Arts
ELA2015 (2015)
Grade: 4
23 ) Write informative or explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. [W.4.2]

a. Introduce a topic clearly and group related information in paragraphs and sections; include formatting (e.g., headings), illustrations, and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension. [W.4.2a]

b. Develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples related to the topic. [W.4.2b]

c. Link ideas within categories of information using words and phrases (e.g., another, for example, also, because). [W.4.2c]

d. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic. [W.4.2d]

e. Provide a concluding statement or section related to the information or explanation presented. [W.4.2e]

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.4.23- Compose informative or explanatory texts by stating a topic, providing facts or details, and providing an appropriate conclusion related to the topic.
English Language Arts
ELA2015 (2015)
Grade: 4
24 ) Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences. [W.4.3]

a. Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator, characters, or both; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally. [W.4.3a]

b. Use dialogue and description to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations. [W.4.3b]

c. Use a variety of transitional words and phrases to manage the sequence of events. [W.4.3c]

d. Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely. [W.4.3d]

e. Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events. [W.4.3e]

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.4.24- Compose narrative texts by introducing characters or a narrator, organizing events in sequence, and providing an ending related to the event sequence.
English Language Arts
ELA2015 (2015)
Grade: 4
30 ) Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. [W.4.9]

a. Apply Grade 4 Reading standards to literature (e.g., "Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text [e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions]"). [W.4.9a]

b. Apply Grade 4 Reading standards to informational texts (e.g., "Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text"). [W.4.9b]

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
ELA.AAS.4.30- Identify evidence from literary or informational texts to support a research topic.
Tags: Comic Creator, expository, genre, Letter Generator, narrative, Stapleless Book, writing
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Author: Cassie Raulston