Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Analyzing Text Complexity of Non Fiction Sources
This lesson plan will help middle schoolers read and comprehend nonfiction, specifically biographies, through determining criteria for text complexity. Included is a PDF and Smart Notebook titled Determining Text Complexity, and an...
City University of New York
Cuny: E Resource Center: Course Tutorials: Reading Your Textbook
A tutorial consisting of seven exercises showing different text structures used in textbooks. Learn how they organize information to help students locate specific details and how to take notes based on information within a textbook.
South Carolina Educational Television
Know It All: Non Fiction Text Features
Fifth graders will use non-fiction books to identify and explain how text features help them as individual readers.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Diagram It! Identifying, Comparing & Writing About Non Fiction
Introduce your learners to the different types of non-fiction such as biographies, biographies, and informative books. Students will use graphic organizers, peer interaction, and hands-on experiences to further understanding of this lesson.
Read Works
Read Works: Passages: Grade 2: A Brush With History
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read a non-fiction article about the history of a toothbrush and answer questions in comprehension, sequencing, inferences, main idea, transitions, and more. A link to paired text questions is...
Read Works
Read Works: Passages: Grade 2: When Television Became Colorful
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students read a non-fiction article about colored television and answer questions in comprehension, sequencing, inferences, main idea, transitions, and more.
Read Works
Read Works: Passages: "What to Expect if You're Having Surgery"
[Free Registration/Login Required] This non-fiction passage focuses on what to expect when you are having surgery and how to prepare for it. A comprehension question set and answer key are provided.
Read Works
Read Works: Grade 2: Three Lesson Unit: Genre
[Free Registration/Login Required] A series of three lesson plans designed to teach students to compare and contrast fiction and non-fiction, identify the characteristics of non-fiction, and use guide words to locate topics in an...
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Understanding and Analysis of Literary Text: Meter and Rhyme
OnTRACK English II Reading, Module 3, Lessons 1-12, and Practice Lessons 1-3. Students understand, make inferences and draw conclusions about the structure and elements of poetry, drama, fiction, and literary non-fiction, and provide...
Other
Haisln: Recommended Reading Lists
Librarians from a group of independent schools in Houston, TX have chosen hundreds of books covering grade levels from Pre-K through 12, and genres from non-fiction to poetry to fiction. Each entry lists title, author, publisher and...
British Library
British Library: 19th Century Non Fiction Texts: Work & Welfare
This thematic collection will allow students to read and understand 19th-century non-fiction texts, and support them in identifying key features for a range of genres, audiences, and purposes. Each source is accompanied by original...
British Library
British Library: 19th Century Non Fiction Texts: Gender, Behaviour & Etiquette
This thematic collection will allow learners to read and understand 19th-century non-fiction texts, and support them in identifying key features for a range of genres, audiences, and purposes. Each source is accompanied by original...
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Text Features: Non Fiction [Pdf]
Compare the printed page to an electronic web page and use this activity to discuss the similarities and differences. A cross-curricular tie-in with ecosystems. Could easily be adapted to another subject area.
BBC
Bbc: Ks2 Bitesize English: Reading
This site provides activities, games, tests, and worksheets in reading areas: deduction, dictionaries, poetry, and non-fiction.
Read Works
Read Works: Read Aloud Lesson: Digging Up Dinosaurs
[Free Registration/Login Required] Teachers will read "Digging Up Dinosaurs" using the close reading technique. Students will use graphic organizers to summarize the steps necessary to collect, study, and build a dinosaur skeleton.
Curated OER
Glenco Online: Teaching Today: Reading Comprehension and Considerate Text
Learn the features of "considerate text" and ways to teach students to use these features to increase their comprehension as they read. These features generally apply to non-fiction, especially textbooks.
Read Works
Read Works: Debate a Moment of Silence, Please
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text debating the topic of starting each school day with a moment of silence. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
TES Global
Tes: Guided Reading Resources: Nonfiction
[Free Registration/Login Required] This learning module contains several guided reading resources. Students will be able to use the charts to guide themselves as they discuss informational texts and persuasive texts. Teachers can monitor...
Read Works
Read Works: Paired Text Questions: "We Are Americans" and "Whoever You Are"
Students will compare information from the non-fiction book "We are Americans" and the book "Whoever You Are" to write or speak more knowledgeably about what large groups of people have in common.
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University
De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: A Garden in Lawndale [Pdf]
"A Garden in Lawndale" is a one page, non-fiction, reading passage about an eighth grade class who planted a garden in a vacant lot by their school and maintained it to improve their neighborhood. It is followed by constructed-response...
CommonLit
Common Lit: "Diary of a Teenage Refugee" by Amira
CommonLit.org is a wonderful resource to use in a Language Arts classroom. Each story or article is accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. In addition, students can click on words to see...
Read Works
Read Works: Explicit Information 3rd Grade Unit
[Free Registration/Login Required] A two-lesson unit in which students learn how to identify explicit information in non-fiction text by creating questions and then reading the text to find answers. Students also use explicit information...
Read Works
Read Works: Fact and Opinion 1st Grade Unit
[Free Registration/Login Required] A three-lesson unit on fact and opinion through which students learn how to identify opinions through signal words, identify facts in a non-fiction text, and use facts to help them formulate opinions of...
CommonLit
Common Lit: Units: Teaching Units
Complete teaching units (12) by grade level. CommonLit units are crafted to be both engaging and rigorous, featuring a variety of literary and informational texts from diverse sources. Reading, writing, and discussion are prioritized in...