Reader's+Workshop+-+Unit+on+Nonfiction

Reader's Workshop Reader's Workshop promotes the use of different genres to demonstrate and scaffold skills and strategies students will need in order to become successful readers. Using a focus point, students are guided with a mini-lesson and mentor text. The teacher will model a specific topic, discuss with the class in the forms of pair share and/or the whole group. Students will model their independence of the skill or strategy through their independent reading and small guided group work. Teachers will use their observations and student work to determine if a topic needs to be revisited.

Using Reader's Workshop while implementing a nonfiction unit of study is motivating to both student and teacher. Teachers will begin a unit by introducing what nonfiction is. By defining nonfiction students will be aware of how it is different from fictional pieces. Teachers may follow up by having students look through a variety of nonfiction books, magazines, and newspapers. Students will use the strategy of noticing to create a class list on what they notice about the nonfiction text. Units can continue with introducing and defining different features of nonfiction text. Teachers may approach these features by modeling in big books, on over head projectors, or using a smart board.In grade two, for example, students would be introduced to most features of text, going over the definition and examples of table of contents, bold face words, captions, labels, index, and glossary. Students will need to demonstrate an understanding of these features by utilizing them in their independent reading books and guided reading books.