Informational Text

I had a great session in West Branch last Wednesday.  I worked in 3rd grade classrooms and did a lesson on informational text.  The students had already been dabbling in writing information but I wanted to approach it from the CRAFT point of view.  I had them pair up then allowed them to choose from a big stack of informational books that I brought.  I then gave each pair 5 sticky notes and had them take their book back to their seats and scour it for features that made them want to read the facts.  They did such a good job and really thought about how the authors had had to make decisions to draw their audiences in.  I gave them a good amount of time, then we came back to the gathering spot and each pair shared one feature that stood out to them.  It was so fun and they were very interested in the others' finds.  We also had fun  sharing some of the surprising facts from our books!  Although the lesson took longer than a normal mini-lesson, it was time well-spent.  I think they will incorporate this view of craft into their work the next time they write! 

Here is a list of the books I used:

ACTUAL SIZE                                                                      Steve Jenkins

ANIMALS IN SUMMER                                                       Jane R. McCauley

BIG & LITTLE                                                                     Steve Jenkins

BIGGEST, STRONGEST, FASTEST                                       Steve Jenkins

BOLD $ BRIGHT, BLACK & WHITE ANIMALS                    Dorothy Hinshaw Patent

DOWN, DOWN, DOWN                                                    Steve Jenkins

EARTHQUAKES AND VOLCANOES                                    Fiona Watt

The FLOWER ALPHABET BOOK                                        Jerry Pallotta & Leslie Evans

FISHES                                                                              Alwyne Wheeler

FOREST: THE LIVING WORLD                                          Theresa Greenway, C. Gunzi, B. Taylor

HOTTEST, COLDEST, HIGHEST, DEEPEST                        Steve Jenkins

INCREDIBLE INVENTIONS                                                Lee Bennett Hopkins

LIVING COLOR                                                                 Steve Jenkins

MOSQUITO BITE                                                             Alexandra Siy & Dennis Kunkel

SEAS AND OCEANS                                                         Felicity Brooks

SEED SOIL SUN                                                               Cris Peterson

SURPRISING SHARKS                                                      Nicola Davies

SURVIVAL AT 40 BELOW                                               Debbie S. Miller

WHAT LIVES IN A SHELL?                                              Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

WIND AND STORMS                                                     Fred & Jeanne Biddulph