RI TeacherFest Handout: Helping Students Overcome Their Biggest Nonficiton Writing Roadblocks

Today Sarah Albee and I are leading a 90-minute session at the Rhode Island Teacherfest. We will begin by asking the educators in the audience to share the most common nonfiction writing challenges their students face, and then we will suggest solutions. We will also invite audience members to share their own creative ideas with one another.

Based on our experience offering similar sessions at nErDcamp Long Island and the Massachusetts Reading Association Annual Conference, the links below address some of the topics we expect to discuss:

Why Kids Copy their Research Sources, and How to Break the Habit

http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2017/02/in-classroom-why-kids-copy-their.html

Adding Voice to Nonfiction Writing

http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2016/09/tcrwp-handout-power-of-voice-in.html

http://www.melissa-stewart.com/sciclubhouse/teachhome/mini_lessons.html

 

Why Middle School Students Think Research Is Boring

http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2016/10/behind-books-stepping-up-to-research.html

Convincing Students to Revise

http://www.melissa-stewart.com/timeline/10yr_timeline.html

Teaching Nonfiction Text Structure

http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2017/01/behind-books-shopping-for-text-structure.html

http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/search/label/Nonfiction%20Text%20Structure

http://www.melissa-stewart.com/pdf/Understanding_Text-Structures.pdf#zoom=70

Organizing Information When Writing Nonfiction

http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2014/03/deadliest-animals-chunk-and-check.html

 

When Students Have Trouble Choosing a Topic

http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2017/03/in-classroom-idea-jar-for-nonfiction.html

http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2016/05/behind-books-starting-with-question.html

RI Teacherfest Handout: The Nonfiction Triumvirate

Nonfiction Categories

Life Story

The Boy Who Loved Math by Deborah Heiligman

 

Brave Girl by Michelle Markle

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

 

Coyote Moon by Maria Gianferrari

 

El Deafo by Cece Bell

 

The Family Romanov by Candace Fleming

Lives of the Presidents (and What the Neighbors Thought) by Kathleen Krull

 

A Mother’s Journey by Sandra Markle

Separate Is Never Equal by Duncan Tonatium

Some Writer! by Melissa Sweet

Survey Book

Eyewitness Books

 

The Horrible, Miserable Middle Ages by Kathy Allen

Lesser Spotted Animals by Martin Brown

Lightning by Seymour Simon

National Geographic Readers

 

Spiders by Nic Bishop

Why’d They Wear That? by Sarah Albee

Specialized Nonfiction

Chasing Cheetahs by Sy Montgomery

Drowned City by Don Brown
Handle with Care by Loree Griffin Burns

Feathers: Not Just for Flying by Melissa Stewart

Meadowlands: A Wetlands Survival Story by Tom Yezerski 

Sniffer Dogs by Nancy Castaldo

Sugar Changed the World by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos

The Port Chicago 50 by Steve Sheinkin

 

Concept Book

Can an Aardvark Bark? by Melissa Stewart

 

Just a Second by Steve Jenkins

 

Lifetime by Lola Schaefer

 

Mysterious Patterns: Finding Fractals in Nature by Sarah C. Campbell

No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart

A Place for Butterflies by Melissa Stewart

Pink Is for Blobfish by Jess Keating
Seeing Symmetry by Loreen Leedy

A Star in My Orange by Dana Meachan Rau

Trout Are Made of Trees by April Pulley Sayre

 

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Writing Styles

Expository

Facts Plus

Animals by the Numbers by Steve Jenkins

A Black Hole Is Not a Hole by Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano
 

Bone by Bone by Sara Levine

Born to Be Giants: How Baby Dinosaurs Grew to Rule the World by Lita Judge
 

Bugged: How Insects Changed History by Sarah Albee

 

Feathers: Not Just for Flying by Melissa Stewart

Human Body Theater by Maris Wicks

Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes by Nicola Davies
 

Fast Facts

Animal Grossapedia by Melissa Stewart
 

Eyewitness Books
  

Guinness Book of World Records
  

Time for Kids Big Book of Why

 

Narrative

Ada's Violin by Susan Hood

Ballet for Martha by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan
 

Bomb by Steve Sheinkin
 

Buried Alive by Elaine Scott

 

The Day-Glo Brothers by Chris Barton 
 

The Family Romanov by Candace Fleming

 

I Dissent by Debbie Levy

Red-Eyed Tree Frog by Joy Cowley

 

Vulture View by April Pulley Sayre

 

When Marian Sang by Pam Munoz Ryan
  

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Common Text Structures

Description  

A Black Hole Is Not a Hole by Carolyn Cinami DeCristofano
 

The Beetle Book by Steve Jenkins
 

Creep and Flutter by Jim Arnosky

Dolphins! by Melissa Stewart

 

Frogs by Nic Bishop

 

Lightship by Brian Floca

 

Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes by Nicola Davies

 

Sequence

Chronological narrative

Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet

The Boy Who Loved Math by Deborah Heiligman

Buried Alive by Elaine Scott

 

The Day-Glo Brothers by Chris Barton 
 

Marvelous Mattie by Emily Arnold McCully 
 

Planting the Trees of Kenya: The Story of Wangari Maathai by Claire A. Nivola
  

Pop: The Invention of Bubble Gum by Megan McCarthy
 

The Secret World of Walter Anderson by Hester Bass 

 

Some Writer by Melissa Sweet

What to Do About Alice? by Barbara Kerley 

 

Episodic narrative

Ballet for Martha by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan
  

Brave Girl by Michelle Markel

 

Fearless Flyer by Heather Lang

When Marian Sang by Pam Munoz Ryan

Braided narrative
Amelia Lost by Candace Fleming

Bomb by Steve Sheinkin
  

The Family Romanov by Candace Fleming
 

Titanic: Voices from the Disaster by Deborah Hopkinson
 

We’ve Got a Job by Cynthia Levinson
  

Journey narrative

If Stones Could Speak by Marc Aronson
 

Lost Treasure of the Inca by Peter Lourie
 

Quest for the Tree Kangaroo by Sy Montgomery
 

The Great White Shark Scientist by Sy Montgomery
 

 

Cycle narrative

Coyote Moon by Maria Gianferrari

A Drop of Water by Gordon Morrison
  

Frog in a Bog by John Himmelman
 

Red-Eyed Tree Frog by Joy Cowley
 

A Seed Is the Start by Melissa Stewart

 

 

Vulture View by April Pulley Sayre
  

 

Chronological expository

Bugged: How Insects Changed History by Sarah Albee

 

Poison by Sarah Albee

Poop Happened!: A History of the World from the Bottom Up by Sarah Albee

 

Why'd They Wear That?: Fashion as the Mirror of History by Sarah Albee
 

 

Cumulative expository

Here Is the Tropical Rain Forest by Madeleine Dunphy
 

No Monkeys, No Chocolate by Melissa Stewart

 

Older Than the Stars by Karen C. Fox
 

How-to expository

Dessert Designers: Creations You Can Make and Eat by Dana Meachen Rau

 

How to Swallow a Pig by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page
  

The Klutz Book of Paper Airplanes by Doug Stillinger
 

Roald Dahl's Revolting Recipes by Josie Fison and Felicity Dahl
  

Try This! 50 Fun Experiments for the Mad Scientist in You by Karen Romano Young
 

 

Compare & Contrast

Dueling spreads

Frog or Toad? How Do You Know? by Melissa Stewart
  

Mosquito Bite by Alexandra Siy

 

Neo Leo by Gene Barretta
  

Those Rebels, Tom & John by Barbara Kerley
 

 

List book

Born in the Wild by Lita Judge

 

Born to Be Giants: How Baby Dinosaurs Grew to Rule the World by Lita Judge
  

Eye to Eye by Steve Jenkins 
 

Feathers: Not Just for Flying by Melissa Stewart
 

Move by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
 

My First Day by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
 

Just One Bite by Lola Schaefer

 

Cause & Effect

Earth: Feeling the Heat by Brenda Z. Guiberson

 

Frog in a Bog by John Himmelman

A Place for Butterflies by Melissa Stewart

 

When Rain Falls by Melissa Stewart

Problem—Solution

The Great Monkey Rescue by Sandra Markle   

 

A Place for Butterflies by Melissa Stewart

 

Mesmerized  by Mara Rockliff

Stay: The True Story of Ten Dogs by Michaela Muntean

 

Q & A Books

Bone by Bone: Comparing Animal Skeletons by Sarah Levine

Good Question series (Sterling)

 

Creature Features by Steve Jenkins& Robin Page

Hatch! by Roxie Munro

Hello, Bumblebee Bat by Darrin Lunde

Scholastic Question & Answer series

What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

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Mixing & Matching

If you’re writing a Life Story . . .

• Probably sequence (chronological) structure
• Narrative writing style

If you’re writing a Survey Book . . .

• Description/explanation, sequence, Q & A
• Expository writing style

If you’re writing Specialized Nonfiction . . .

• Probably sequence, compare & contrast
• Narrative or expository writing style

If you’re writing a Concept Book . . .

• Sequence, compare & contrast, Q & A, cause & effect, problem—solution, or invent your own
• Probably expository writing style

Droughts

Happy Book Birthday, Droughts.

Welcome to the world!

 

When I began writing Droughts in early 2015, I thought:

"This book will be great for kids in the Western U.S. Drought is a big problem there."

 

But by the time I reviewed the sketches by Andre Ceolin in May 2016, there were hints that climate change was about to make drought a problem in other sections of the country too.

 

In July, officials in my small Massachusetts town announced a ban on all outdoor watering. As the weeks passed, soil dried out. Plants turned brown. Large tree branches started to sag. It was hard to believe.

 

As I reviewed the final art in October 2016, drought was affecting towns and cities in New Hampshire, Maine, New York, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, South Carolina, and more. It was unprecedented.

 

This summer couldn't be more different from last year where I live. It's cool and rainy. I'm grateful because the trees need time to recover. But I know that as Earth's continues to heat up, extreme weather is going to become more and more common. There will be more droughts and floods, hurricanes and tornadoes.

 

I'm glad that Droughts is available simultaneously in hardcover and paperback because, now more than ever, books on this topic are a much needed resource for early elementary readers across our country and around the world.

Predator Face-Off!

If you teach grades 1-3 and are looking for a high-interest mentor text for investigating text features, you may want to check out Predator Face-Off! Today is the book's official release date. Hooray!

Predator Face-Off! also has a strong compare-and-contrast text structure, so it's perfect for introducing the idea that writers can organize information in different ways, depending on their purpose.

I wish I could take credit for this book’s fun title, but it was the brain child of my editor—Shelby Alinsky. In early 2016, she shared the title, asked me to develop the idea, and make a pitch.

At the time, I was doing a week of school visits in upstate New York, so I asked the kids for their ideas. And boy, did they take my request seriously. They started brainstorming with gusto.

Thanks to those thoughtful young pre-writing wizards, the book compares three predators that belong to different animal groups (fish, mammal, reptile), live in different environments (ocean, savanna, forest), and hunt in different ways. I’m delighted to welcome this book to the world.

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

http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2016/09/tcrwp-handout-power-of-voice-in.html

http://www.melissa-stewart.com/sciclubhouse/teachhome/mini_lessons.html

Point of View

http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2017/05/in-classroom-point-of-view-in.html

http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2017/01/behind-books-whats-point-of-view.html

http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2015/02/behind-books-nonfiction-point-of-view_4.html

http://celebratescience.blogspot.com/2015/02/behind-books-nonfiction-point-of-view.html

 

If you’re writing a Life Story . . .

• Narrative writing style
• Probably sequence (chronological) structure
• Probably running text
• Voice reflect personality of subject
• Third-person narration (first-person controversial)

If you’re writing a Concept Book . . .

• Probably expository writing style
• Sequence, compare & contrast, Q & A, cause & effect, problem—solution, or invent your own
• Think carefully about text format
• Voice reflects topic and approach
• Third-, second-, or first-person narration