Marcie Ivy

611 Differentiated Instruction

July 17, 2016
Lesson: Classifying Texts as Fiction or Nonfiction

Grade: 1st Grade

Content:
Learning Goal: Students will be able to classify and categorize books as fiction or nonfiction.

Common Core State Standards: Language Arts - Grade 1

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1 Reading Standards for Literature Craft and Structure
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.1.5 Explain major differences between books that tell stories and
books that give information, drawing on a wide reading of a range of text types.

Pre-Assessment:
Think Check
Ask: "How did I know which book was fiction and which book was nonfiction?" Students should
respond that you looked at the pictures and identified what was real and what was make-believe.

Materials/Resources:
Independent Practice Worksheet
Froggy Goes to School by Jonathan London, Life Cycle of a Frog by Angela Royston
fiction and nonfiction books from library
3 Post-its for each partnership
Glue sticks
Construction paper
Scholastic order forms; book catalogs
Sentence strips with the sentence frames:
o The title of this book is ______________.
o It is a fiction book.
o It is a non-fiction book.

Process:
The teacher will discuss the definitions of fiction (make-believe) and nonfiction (real) and
explain that stories can be fiction or nonfiction. Fiction stories are created by the authors
imagination and nonfiction stories are true stories or give the reader information. The teacher
will also explain how knowing the genre of a book can help you understand the book better. The
teacher will show the covers of Froggy Goes to School by Jonathan London and Life Cycle of a
Frog by Angela Royston. The teacher will explain that both of these books are about frogs, but
 Marcie Ivy
611 Differentiated Instruction
July 17, 2016
one is fiction and one is nonfiction. The teacher will model using the cover of the books to think
about whether the pictures are real or make-believe. The teacher will do a picture walk through
each book and share thoughts about the pictures and whether each book is fiction or nonfiction.

Guided Practice
We will read each of the books and discuss whether the text gives us information (nonfiction) or
whether it is a story from the authors imagination (fiction). We will discuss which book is
fiction and which book is nonfiction. We will also discuss how to determine the genre of each
book. For the Guided Practice, chart characteristics of each book that make it fiction or
nonfiction. For example, copy a picture of the frog from each book and have students help you
identify which one is from a nonfiction text and which from a fiction text.

Independent Practice
Students will explore the library or samples of books provided by the teacher (fiction and
nonfiction) and identify books from each genre. The student will record the titles of the books
under the correct genre. (Independent Practice Worksheet is provided.)

Build Student Background knowledge

While reading Froggy Goes to School, stop on page 9 and identify the name of Froggy's school
swamp school. Explain that a swamp is an area with shallow water. Often trees, plants, and
animal life grow in swamps. Explain that beavers, ducks, frogs, birds, and turtles might be found
in a swamp. Turn the pages and stop again when you see Froggy's other friends at school. Ask
your students, Are Froggy's friends "swamp animals"?

Differentiated Instruction:
Based on Student Readiness: Learning is scaffolded by I do, WE do, YOU do. Table groups
are mixed ability with 1 low, 2 medium, and 1 high. Students will work with their table group for
the Fiction or Nonfiction activity

Explain that there are pairs of books on the tables. You will match them with a partner
and give them a pair of post-its. One post it says Fiction and the other says Non-
Fiction. The final post-it is blank. Their job is to discuss the books with their partners
and decide which book is fiction and which is non-fiction. Then they should put the post-
it on top.
Then they should figure out the shared topic of the two books and write it on the blank
post-it.
At the end, they will share with the group. They will use the sentence frames to say, in
complete sentences, The title of this book is ______. It is a fiction/non-fiction book.

Assessment:
Students can earn up to 1 points.
1 point for correctly identifying the book as fiction or non-fiction
1 point for correctly deducing the common topic
1 point for presenting their books clearly
 Marcie Ivy
611 Differentiated Instruction
July 17, 2016
Based on Student Interest:
Students will cut pictures of books (from book catalogs, scholastic order forms, etc.) and
sorting them by their pictures as either fiction or nonfiction.
Students will move their pictures to a divided piece of manilla paper and glue down their
choices.
Because their choices seem to be only made my sight, they wrote in their Guided Reading
notebooks answering these questions.
**What makes this book a fiction book?
**What makes this book a nonfiction book?
**I know my choices were fiction books because they
**I know my choices were non-fiction books because they

Assessment:
Students can earn up to 1 points.
1 point for correctly identifying the book as fiction or non-fiction
1 point for correctly deducing the common topic
1 point for presenting their books clearly in their guided reading notebooks

Based on student profile:

Many 1st graders are Kinesthetic learners therefore this activity will have them putting the books
they labeled as fiction/nonfiction in their correct location in the library.
Students will sort books according to fiction or nonfiction
Students will put books in their correct address (location) in the library.

Assessment:
Students can earn up to 1 points.
1 point for correctly identifying the book as fiction or non-fiction
1 point for correctly putting books in their correct location.