2nd Grade Reading Workshop
Part 1 / Nonfiction Readers Read to Become Smarter about Our World and the Things in It / Part 2 / Nonfiction Readers See more Than the Text on the Page / Part 3 / Nonfiction Readers Tackle Tricky Words in Our Books / Part 4 / Nonfiction Readers Can Read More Than One Book about a Topic to Compare and Contrast
Overview of Part 1 /
- “Sell” non-fiction to students by letting them know that reading nonfiction makes them smarter and allows them to become experts in certain subjects.
- Begin the unit by teaching text previewing strategies. Allow students to explore the pages before they begin reading.
- Teach text features in conjunction with nonfiction as a Common Core Standard, but do not let it consume too much time.
- In the first part of the unit, you will teach children to read nonfiction text with fluency, phrasing, and intonation
- Demonstrate how to reread for clarification throughout this part of the unit.
- Consider using Discovery Ed clips where Jeff Corwin explains animals and uses dramatic pauses, different voices, and different levels of intonation.
- Nonfiction readers can practice reading aloud with a partner. They can teach others in doing so. They can refer their partner to diagrams, captions, charts, and more to be good teachers.
- Nonfiction readers categorize information into different “mental containers”.
- The teacher will encourage students to read beyond the words, in this part of the unit, but to respond to illustrations and text.
- Teaching the students to “read” illustrations will help them visualize places they have never been and things they may never see in person as they become strong readers of nonfiction.
- Teach students to use illustrations as support for difficult text and to extend the words on the page.
- Teach students to respond to the text: comment on their abilities to develop questions in response to what they have just read, as well as to develop new and great ideas.
- Encourage children to determine the main idea of nonfiction text. During conferences, as them what they think the author was trying to teach the writing/what the author’s purpose was in writing this book.
- Encourage students to respond to text before and after reading.
- In reading nonfiction, students will encounter many new words that are particular to the subject they choose to study.
- Model for students that when they come to an unknown word they need to work to decode it, AND to determine the meaning of it.
- Teaching children to use text features, such as labels on pictures may help them tackle tricky words.
- Set up book clubs to create experts in a particular topic. Allow students to collaborate and compare and contrast the texts.
- Each club could produce a poster or other type of project that explains all they have learned on a particular topic and present it to the class. This will ensure that they are meeting listening and speaking standards in alignment with the Common Core.
- Teach protocols for effective group membership. Confer with clubs about taking turns, listening to one another, making eye contact, and coming to the club prepared.
- Allow the students to own their club. Encourage them to decide what topic they want to study, as well as what aspects of a given topic they want to focus on.
- Students will work to compare and contrast multiple texts.
- Kids in each club can get together and share what they are learning about a given topic.
- Each club member will have a specific role and each one should have the opportunity to serve as the teacher.
Sequence of Teaching Points
Part 1 / Nonfiction Readers Read to Become Smarter about Our World and the Things in It / Part 2 / Nonfiction Readers See more Than the Text on the Page / Part 3 / Nonfiction Readers Tackle Tricky Words in Our Books / Part 4 / Nonfiction Readers Can Read More Than One Book about a Topic to Compare and Contrast
TP 1 / Readers study the lay of the land.
Nonfiction readers begin reading by glancing at the table of contents, headings, and subheadings to gain ideas about the text. / TP8 / Readers use illustrations/photographs
Readers look at illustrations and photographs to help them understand words, parts, pages, and entire books. / TP 13 / Readers tackle tricky words in nonfiction text
Nonfiction readers use comprehension strategies to figure out what trick words mean throughout the text. / TP17 / Readers closely explore topics
Readers join reading clubs and decide on the parts of their books that they want to more closely explore with partners. They use Post Its to track thinking.
TP 2 / Reader voices.
When reading fiction, we use a story telling voice, but when reading nonfiction we use an explaining/teacher voice. / TP9 / Readers explain pictures.
Even when nonfiction readers come across pictures with no text, they find words to explain what is going on in the picture. / TP 14 / Readers are confident when they encounter tricky words
Nonfiction readers use the same strategies that fiction readers use in figuring out tricky words. / TP18 / Readers talk about Post Its
Nonfiction readers in a club can choose one Post It and talk about it for a long time. When they finish one conversation, they find another Post It to discuss.
TP 3 / Readers take their time.
When reading nonfiction, readers pause often and reflect on what they are learning. / TP10 / Readers react to the text.
Nonfiction readers don’t just read, but they come up with questions and ideas in response to the text. They jot down their thoughts in an effort to grow bigger ideas. / TP 15 / Readers work on hard words.
Nonfiction readers try to pronounce words by reading them part by part, and using text features to help. / TP19 / Readers compare and contrast
Readers work with club members to compare and contrast information in their nonfiction books. They read many books on the topics that they are interested in.
TP 4 / Readers pick out topic sentences.
Nonfiction readers know that paragraphs have one special sentence that serves as a main idea or topic sentence and tells us the topic of the entire paragraph. / TP11 / Readers use Post Its to track thoughts and wonderings.
Nonfiction readers respond to text by using Post Its or minipads. They jot things like: “This made me think…”, “This makes me wonder…”, etc. / TP 16 / Readers don’t give up.
Nonfiction readers come across words that they don’t know. They use every strategy they can, but sometimes still can’t get them. When they’ve tried everything, they jot the word on a Post It and try to figure it out with a partner’s help. / TP20 / Readers read multiple books on the same topic.
Nonfiction readers grow their understanding on a topic by reading many books on that topic. They mix and match what they read to gain a complete understanding on a topic. They take quick notes along the way.
TP5 / Readers retell nonfiction.
Readers can work with partners to retell nonfiction. They can retell text across their fingers to explain what they have learned. They also use transition words when explaining. / TP12 / Readers ask and answer questions.
Nonfiction readers don’t just ask questions, but they work to get them answered by referencing multiple sources. / TP21 / Readers celebrate with their club members.
Nonfiction readers celebrate all they have learned by creating posters or big books highlighting their learning.
TP6 / Readers look for meaning
Nonfiction readers always make sure that they are working to decide what their books are about. They tell their partners what they have learned and they ask questions for clarification.
TP7 / Readers create lists of what they have learned.
Nonfiction readers create a list of things they have learned about a given topic.
Support Ideas
MaterialsNeeded for Writers / Anchor Charts / Conferencing Prompts
Materials /
- Lots and lots of nonfiction books for use in classroom libraries
- Nonfiction texts for book clubs
- Areas for book clubs to meet
- Post It Notes and/or mini pads
- Hanging on Jefferson’s Nose: Growing Up on Mount Rushmore by Tina Nichols Coury
- Fiction vs. Nonfiction
- Nonfiction Text Features
- Strategies for reading nonfiction
- Venn Diagram compare/contrast
- Strategies for tackling tricky words in nonfiction text
- Being a reading club member
- Post-It Notes for nonfiction text
- Why do you think the author wrote this book? What was he/she trying to teach the reader?
- What are the big ideas in your book?
- After reading this book, what do you still wonder about?
- Show me a text feature that you used to help you make meaning of the text.
- Show me a Post It you used for a word you didn’t know.
Common Core Focus Standards for Unit 4: Nonfiction Readers Learn About the World
Reading: Informational Text Standards
Key Ideas and Details / Craft & Structure / Integration of Knowledge and Ideas
RI.1 / Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text. / RI.4 / Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 2 topics or subject area. / RI.7 / Explain how specific images (i.e., a diagram showing how a machine works) contribute to and clarify a text.
RI.2 / Identify the main topic of a multi-paragraph text as well as the focus of specific paragraphs within the text. / RI.5 / Know and use various text features (i.e., captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, indexes, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or informationin a text efficiently. / RI.8 / Describe how reasons support specific points the author makes in a text.
RI.3 / Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text. / RI.6 / Identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe. / RI.9 / Compare and contrast the most important points presented by two texts on the same topic.
Common Core Focus Standards for Unit 4: Nonfiction Readers Learn About the World
Speaking and Listening Standards
Comprehension & Collaboration / Presentation of Knowledge
SL.1 / Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 2 topics and texts with peers and adults in small and larger groups. / SL.4 / Tell a story or recount an experience with appropriate facts and relevant, descriptive details, speaking audibly in coherent sentences.
SL.2 / Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media. / SL.6 / Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide
SL.3 / Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to clarify comprehension, gather additional information, or deepen understanding of a topic or issue.
ML1: Readers study the lay of the land. CCSS: RI 2.10, RI2.5
TP: Today I am going to teach you how readers study the lay of the land by glancing at the table of contents, headings, and subheadings to gain ideas about the text.
Materials: a Non-Fiction book of your choice (maybe Caves by Stephen Kramer),,markers, chart paper, non--‐fiction books for children to look at in groups of 2--‐3 Children with examples of table of contents, headings, and subheadings
Today I want to teach you how readers study the lay of the land by glancing at the table of contents, headings, and subheadings to gain ideas about the text.
Connection: Now that we’ve finished learning about noting how characters change and grow like we do, we are going to start a new unit. This unit is going to focus on using non--‐fiction to help us understand the world around us. We are going to start this unit today by doing a preview of a non--‐fiction text before reading it.
Teaching Point& Demonstration: So, here I have a book called Caves. I’m going to take a second to look through the book before I Start to read it. I am going to notice the table of contents, the chapter headings, and the subheadings to get an idea of what the book will be about. Before I can do that I will have to tell you what each of those things are! This is the table of contents, it tells you what each of the sections are titled in the book. It’s almost like the name of the chapters. The Headings are the names of those “chapters” Throughout the book, and then the subheadings are the smaller parts to each of the headings. I’m going to add each of these things to our “Non--‐Fiction Text Features” Chart. I’ve made a photocopy of each of these text features and I will stick that in the first column, the next column I will write the name of the text feature, and finally I will write how it helps us as readers Now, watch me go through the book and notice all these things. [Demo going through the book and noticing all the table of contents, headings, and subheadings]. Fantastic, now I am going to write down a preview post--‐it to show that I previewed my text before reading. I am going to write down one thing I Learned before I read the book.
Active Engagement: Have non-fiction book for each student/pair of students.
Great! Now, it’s your turn! I am going to hand each of you a non-fiction book, and I want you to do a quick preview of it noticing the table of contents, headings, and subheadings with your partner. See what you can learn just from noticing these text features! [Assist Children in previewing the text, and then have them turn and talk about what they learned without even reading the book].
Link: Today and everyday readers study the lay of the land by glancing at the table of contents, headings, and subheadings to gain ideas about the text.
Independent Practice:
Students will practice reading at their seats. As they read, students will focus on completing L post it notes about what they are learning without actually reading the book.
Share:Today, I noticed/liked how you used your post it notes to track the things you are learning about your book by looking at the table of contents, the headings and subheadings as you gained information about your text.
Differentiate for levels: Students reading at a higher level should be encouraged to select their best fit books. A chart may be more useful than post it notes for some children until they get used to tracking their learning with non-fiction. See Mrs. Helms for a chart.
ML2: Reader voices
TP: When reading fiction, we use a storytelling voice, but when reading non-fiction, we use an explaining/teacher voice.
Materials: Chart paper, novel, post it notes, photo copy of a page from the read aloud.
Today I want to teach you how when reading fiction, we use a storytelling voice, but when reading non-fiction, we use an explaining/teacher voice.
Connection: Yesterday we learned how readers study the lay of the land by glancing at the table of contents, headings, and subheadings to gain ideas about the text.
Teaching Point& Demonstration: Today I want to teach you when reading fiction, we use a storytelling voice, but when reading non-fiction, we use an explaining/teacher voice. We spent a lot of time a few units ago working on using a storyteller voice to read fiction. We learned that we need to pay attention to punctuation, read quickly (but not too quickly), and to try and have expression while we read. Well today, we are going to learn how to have a narrator voice when we read. A narrator voice is kind of like a teacher voice. And, the cool thing about reading in a narrator voice is that you want to put great emphasis on really cool and/or interesting facts. Watch me. First, I will read it the boring way and sound like a robot. [demo reading in a boring robot voice]. Pretty boring right? Well, now I am going to read it again, but this time I am going to use my narrator voice and make sure to sound super excited and interested when it is a cool part. This will let my brain know I should be paying close attention to this part [demo reading in a narrator voice, putting emphasis on interesting facts].
Active Engagement: Great! Now, it’s your turn! I am going to hand each of you a non‐fiction book, and I want you to read the page I bookmarked a few times, trying more and more to sound like a narrator, and I will then have you turn and show your partner your narrator voice. [Have children practice for 1‐2 minutes, then turn and talk with their partner]. Fantastic work Boys and girls! Today, we are going to do something a little different. I am not going to have you do a post‐it, but instead I would like you to bookmark one of your favorite pages while you are reading. I will then give you a few minutes to practice the page at the end of reader’s workshop and you will share your non‐fiction voice with a partner.