Navigating Nonfiction ─ Grade 3

As students progress through the grades, more and more of their reading is done in nonfiction, or expository, materials?content area textbooks, reference books, periodicals, and informative articles on the Internet, for example. Because the main purpose for reading these texts is to acquire information, the reasons for teaching our students efficient and effective strategies for tackling this type of text are compelling. Students need explicit instruction in identifying and best utilizing the text features and text structures they encounter. If students learn to read the signposts that are guides to the organization of a particular piece of nonfiction, they will be better equipped to navigate their way through and comprehend the material.

As a complete nonfiction reading worktext program, Navigating Nonfiction will help students get the most out of this genre.

Student WorkText:

? contains 30 weeks of instruction: 10 scaffolded instructional units of 3 weeks each.

? provides step-by-step strategies for navigating nonfiction.

? follows a simple 3-step unit organization. Step 1: text feature taught in isolation. Step 2: text feature practiced in context. Step 3: text structure taught in context; text feature included. For use with Grade 3.