Teaching Nonfiction Craft Moves
In most schools, students are plunging into their informational writing unit at this time of year, so I thought it might be helpful to share the table below, which appears on p. 54 of 5 Kinds of Nonfiction. While the book discusses each of these craft moves in detail—with half a chapter on text features and format, […]
Using the 5 Kinds of Nonfiction to Teach Craft Moves
In most schools, students are plunging into their informational writing unit at this time of year, so I thought it might be helpful to share the table below, which appears on p. 54 of 5 Kinds of Nonfiction. While the book discusses each of these craft moves in detail—with half a chapter on text features […]
Resources for Educators: Point of View in Nonfiction
More and more, teachers are requesting educational resources that go beyond traditional teachers guides and activity sheets. So while I do still have those kinds of materials on my website, I’m also offering resources that delve deeply into the nonfiction reading and writing process from an author’s point of view. Some of these resources focus […]
Writing Expository Nonfiction that Sings, Part 11
Since the beginning of the school year, each Monday, I’ve been posting about the importance of understanding the key elements of finely-crafted expository nonfiction and helping students identify those features as they read and include them as they write. For the first few weeks, I focused on the pre-writing process. Then, I turned my attention […]
Q & A with Sara Levine: Writing Flower Talk: How Plants Use Color to Communicate
In this fascinating interview, award-winning author Sara Levine shares some of the surprising strategies she used in crafting her new picture book about how plants send messages to animals. MS: Your previous books have focused on the comparative anatomy of bones and teeth. Why did you decide to write about plants? SL: The idea Flower […]
Narrative vs. Expository: Writing Nonfiction Picture Books
I’m excited to host award-winning author Maria Gianferrari today. Thanks, Maria, for describing your creative process. I love nonfiction, both reading it and writing it, so I’m delighted and honored to be guest posting today on Celebrate Science since it’s my favorite nonfiction blog. I have a deep love of the natural world and the […]
Behind the Books: Writing STEM Picture Books, Part 9
Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been discussing the ins and outs of writing STEM picture books, including its key craft elements. (Scroll down to read earlier posts in this discussion.) Today I’m going to finish up by talking about point of view. Traditionally, all nonfiction for children was written with third-person narration, but […]
SCBWI Handout: Writing STEM Picture Books
3 Tips to Get Started Starting with a Question https://twowritingteachers.org/2017/05/26/stewartnfques/ Making a Personal Connection http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2017/05/behind-books-concept-and-connection.html Hooking Your Readers http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2013/11/behind-books-hooking-young-readers.html http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2015/03/behind-books-tinkering-with-my-tools.html 6 Key Elements of Nonfiction Writing Category http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2015/10/behind-books-look-at-life-stories.html http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2015/10/behind-books-look-at-survey-books.html http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2015/10/behind-books-look-at-specialized.html http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2015/10/behind-books-look-at-concept-books.html http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2015/11/behind-books-choosing-nonfiction.html http://cynthialeitichsmith.blogspot.com/2017/05/guest-post-melissa-stewart-on-concept.html http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2016/01/behind-books-writing-sciencenature.html Writing Style http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2015/12/behind-books-two-kinds-of-expository.html http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2015/12/behind-books-two-kinds-of-narrative.html http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2016/10/breaking-mold.html http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2016/08/mta-handout-nonfiction-triumvirate.html Text Structure http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2017/01/behind-books-shopping-for-text-structure.html http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2016/06/behind-books-q-the-forgotten-text.html http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2016/01/behind-books-text-structure.html http://www.melissa-stewart.com/pdf/Understanding_Text-Structures.pdf#zoom=70 http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2014/03/deadliest-animals-look-at-structure.html Format http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2017/03/in-classroom-text-format-in-expository.html http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2017/03/behind-books-importance-of-format-in.html http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2011/05/behind-books-does-your-books-format.html Voice […]
In the Classroom: Point of View in Expository Literature
I’ve discussed point of view in nonfiction writing many times before on this blog, most recently here. But today I’m suggesting an activity to introduce your students to first, second, and third person point of view in finely-crafted expository texts. First, read aloud and discuss portions of The Most Amazing Creature in the Sea […]
Behind the Books: What’s the Point (of View)?
In 2010, I had the good fortune to meet Melissa Techman (@mtechman), a school librarian in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Twitter. Over the years, Melissa has shared many great ideas with me. One of my favorites came in the form of a comment to a blog post I’d written about voice and point of view in […]