Confession time.
grade teacher. My students love reading true texts, but when it comes to the
writing, they struggle to carry over all the wonderful craft moves we’ve
learned from fiction writing.
in the past, most of the writing I received was just a string of facts. So this
year I tried something new. I let them choose how they present the information.
They create an (1) infographic, (2) an article with an expository writing style, (3) or a narrative.
We read all three kinds of text during Reader’s Workshop, so students
had some familiarity with the various ways nonfiction could be presented. After
students chose a presentation style, they had 2 days to become experts. They
read at least three different texts in the style they selected “with a writer’s
eye,” so that they could begin to notice important characteristics and get
ideas for their own writing.
I had baskets of books pulled and ready so students could easily find titles
that were narrative and expository. I also pulled infographic texts like
National Geographic’s By the Numbers series and shared the link to the Kids Discover Infographic website.
As students read on their own or in small
groups, they kept track of text traits they noticed on a Mentor Text
Observations worksheet.
At the end of this reading period, we met in small groups and discussed
what they noticed. Each group shared key features of their presentation style and
any craft moves they wanted to try out in their writing.
Then we came together as an entire class to list things that all great
nonfiction writers do. These were things we expected to see in all the
students’ writing assignments, giving the class some voice in the grading
criteria.
Students were enthusiastic and engaged as they drew up plans and
outlines and began writing.
As a teacher, I wasn’t sure what I was going to get as final products, but
I knew I had to trust my students. And they didn’t disappoint me.
I was amazed at the variety of writing I received. I had kids taking
writing risks by employing craft moves and text features they noticed from the
mentor texts. Students seemed to really think about their topics and their
strengths as writers.
 |
| Narrative text about D-Day |
 |
| Expository text about California wild fires |
 |
| Infographic about tornadoes |
I can’t imagine locking my students into a presentation style ever
again. Allowing them choice and ownership not only made their writing better. It
also encouraged them to do some critical thinking and decision making. And to
be honest, it wasn’t any more work for me as a teacher. The only extra work was
making sure I had enough mentor texts for students to read and consult.
Were their challenges? Of course! Some students really struggled with
all the choices, so I set up some scaffolds along the way. Graphic organizers
and templates were available for students who needed help with the planning
stages and organizing all their information.
Some students were a little overly inspired by mentor texts about their
topic, so we had to talk about plagiarism and how they could put their own spin
on their writing. Next year, I am going to make it a rule that students may not
read a book about their topic during the 2-day immersion period. Hopefully,
this will help students focus on craft and presentation style without enticing them
to borrow features and wording for their own writing.
any extra work to my plate. Instead, it renewed us all, and we saw the power of
collaboration around nonfiction writing. Watching students celebrate and take
pride in their work made me realize just how powerful choice can be, not only
in reading, but also in writing.
Amanda Schreiber is a fifth grade teacher at MasonIntermediate School in Mason, Ohio. She blogs at My Shoestring Life and loves
celebrating the work of her students. You can find her on social media as
@msaplusteacher.
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2 Responses
Wow! Your students' work is impressive! Their enthusiasm for this approach shines through. I'm keeping your process in mind as I start a new nonfiction picture book project. Thanks for sharing.
Wow–this is great! They're really and inspired and engaged!