READING NONFICTION

NONFICTION IS ABOUT REAL PEOPLE, PLACES, IDEAS & EXPERIENCES.

THE TWO MAIN TYPES ARE: LITERARY NONFICTION & INFORMATIONAL TEXTS.

COMMON EXAMPLES OF LITERARY NONFICTION

Diaries, journals and letters- contain

personal thoughts and reflections

Biographies & Autobiographies- life

stories

COMMON EXAMPLES OF LITERARY NONFICTION

Essays & Articles- short nonfiction works about a

particular subject. Can be literary or

informational.

ESSAYS & ARTICLES MAY CONTAIN:

Reflection: the writer’s insights about an event’s importance

Humor: observations that are meant to entertain and evoke

laughter.Narration: stories about real-

life experiencesDescription: use of vivid words,

images, figurative language that appeals to 5 senses.

TYPES OF NONFICTION WRITING

Expository: presents facts, discusses ideas, or explains a process

Persuasive: meant to convince the reader to adopt a particular point of view or to take a course of action

Procedural: gives instructions on how to complete a task, solve a problem or perform a procedure

Analytical: breaks a large idea into parts to help the reader see how they work together as a whole

ELEMENTS OF NONFICTION: ORGANIZATION

Chronological: presents details in time order from first to last- sometimes from last to first

Comparison and contrast: shows the ways in which two or more subjects are similar and different

Cause-and-effect: shows the relationship among events

Problem-and-solution: identifies a problem and then proposes a solution

ELEMENTS OF NONFICTION

THE “TABLE OF CONTENTS” IS A LIST OF INFORMATION. IT IS IN THE BEGINNING OF A BOOK. IT TELLS US THE ORDER IN WHICH THE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1........... 4Chapter 2...........12Chapter 3........... 20Chapter 4........... 38Chapter 5........... 57

THE “GLOSSARY” IS A DICTIONARY OF IMPORTANT WORDS FOUND IN A BOOK. THE WORDS ARE ARRANGED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER.

THE “INDEX” IS A LIST OF SUBJECTS. IT IS ARRANGED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER WITH PAGE NUMBERS. IT IS USUALLY FOUND IN THE BACK OF THE BOOK.

Titles and Subheadings tell readers what you will be reading about.

Maps help the reader understand where things are in the world.

Labels help the reader identify a picture or a photograph and its parts.

Photographs help the reader understand exactly what something looks like.

Captions help the reader better understand a picture or photograph.

Alabama State Capital in Montgomery

BOLDED WORDS and Highlighted

words show the reader that it is

important.

Nonfiction reading is reading to

learn.

WHEN READING NONFICTION ….

Slow down so you can think about information.

Reading nonfiction is like a slideshow where you have to stop and think after each slide.

You have to stop frequently and take notes.

REREAD! This helps to clarify meaning.

Pay Attention to

the FEATURES!

Think about and write down your facts, questions and responses to help you better understand what you are reading.

LET’S PRACTICE!

WHERE WOULD YOU LOOK TO FIND THE MEANING OF THE WORD “PERFORMANCE”?

Glossary

A. Table of ContentsB. GlossaryC. Index

IF I WANTED TO KNOW IF THERE WAS INFORMATION ABOUT GEORGE WASHINGTON IN A BOOK, WHERE WOULD I LOOK?

Index

A. Table of ContentsB. GlossaryC. Index

IN WHAT PART OF THE BOOK WOULD YOU LOOK TO FIND OUT ON WHAT PAGE A CERTAIN CHAPTER BEGINS ON?

Table of Contents

A. Table of ContentsB. GlossaryC. Index

WHAT IS A HEADING?

It is a title that comes before a new part of the story.

WHAT IS A TITLE?

It is the name of a book.