This past week I shared this book...Reading Nonfiction by Kylene Beers and Robert Probst...at the Arkansas Reading Conference, where one third grade teacher said that, based on the overview, she, too, could use this book's content within her class. Yes, a must read.
With such an emphasis now on nonfiction texts (even within our secondary English classes), close reading strategies remain a pertinent topic. Authors Beers and Probst suggest teaching students the following:
- Three BIG Questions
- Five Signposts
- Seven Strategies for before, during and after reading
At Teachers Pay Teachers, several teachers have created resources for both this book and the authors' previous book Notice and Note. Cute, colorful posters. Bookmarks. Yes, those items that make us happy! AND some of the resources are free!
The primary difference between the two books is that Reading Nonfiction focuses on informational texts, while Notice and Note zones in on literary texts. Both good. Both needed. I hope to work with all the signposts, incorporating them, as I begin even more diligently readying my students to take the ACT Aspire next spring, on which they will be asked to analyze two texts, choose a common claim, and support with three pieces of evidence from the texts. We have worked much practicing this with one text; must now incorporate multiple texts.
These books go nicely with the premise of Penny Kittle's Write Beside Them...a practice I am attempting to journey back (as our new current curriculum has eaten much of my time as I read and prepare and think...that I could have spent creating and writing beside my students...stay tuned for my next post at Treasure Chest of Thoughts).
I would love to host or participate in a book study of either book. Should you know of such a book club or be interested in our creating one, please share!
