The English-speaking section of second grade has been diving into non-fiction books during their reading and writing time.

Daily lessons have focused on what a heading is and how to determine what to use as a heading, the difference between fact and opinion, and the text features seen in a nonfiction book: table of contents, glossary, diagrams, sidebars. Students made a list of topics they felt they were an expert on and used reading time to pick "just right" books to help them learn more about their topic.  They learned how to take notes and look for interesting information.

Students then made and published their own nonfiction books on a variety of different animals they were interested in learning more about. Some of the choices were spiders, wolves, chameleons, ostriches and squirrels. We took the opportunity as a class of experts to share these amazing books of facts with our first-graders. They proudly read to the first grade and then asked if they had any questions. What a fun way to celebrate all their hard work in reading, researching, and writing!