Using Nonfiction to Teach Writing in the Primary Classroom

This resource is designed to teach children to recognize and use text features such as captions, time lines, labels, and more. Every activity provides a helpful list of reading selections from an array of curricular areas.

Introduce children to the world of nonfiction with Unwrapping a Book! This resource provides an imaginative and practical approach to teaching children how to recognize and use features common to most nonfiction books. These include:

• Captions
• Timelines
• Pronunciation keys
• Labels
• Emphasized vocabulary
• Photographs and illustrations
• Glossaries
• Maps
• Fact boxes

Each lesson provides a list of age-appropriate nonfiction titles that are ideal for reading aloud. They feature an array of curricular areas, so you can choose the texts that best suit you students' interests. Using these books as models, children will write:

• Biographies
• Field guides
• Photo journals
• How-to books
• A classroom newspaper
• Brochures
• Cards and letters
• A sports magazine

Each activity has been successfully implemented with young children and features samples of children's work. So, gather your students around you and unwrap the mystery of expository text. They will never read nonfiction the same way again!