Nonfiction Text for CCSS

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Blogger 6.30.2015

Common Core State Standards 1

The English Language Arts Common Core State Standards are divided into five different strands. This article will discuss the first two.

Reading Literature: This strand concerns the literary texts that students will read at each grade level. This includes a story, drama, and poetry. The Common Core State Standards stress that students should read a wide range of literary text as they go through high school.

Reading Informational Text: Informational text includes a broad range of literary nonfiction including exposition, argument, and functional text such as essays, speeches, and opinion pieces, memoirs, and historical and technical accounts. The Common Core State Standards stress that students will read a range of texts in increasing complexity.

One lesson that high school students have to learn is to analyze how complex characters interact with other characters and advance the plot. In this lesson, students complete various tasks. Students identify characteristics of different genres.

Students will learn to identify types of non-fiction texts. Students will learn to read and analyze different types of texts.

Nonfiction text is about real people, places, ideas, and experiences.

Some common forms are letters and journals, biographies and autobiographies, memoirs, media accounts, essays, and articles.

Although there are different types, they each have their style. When you are writing, it is important to use a style of writing that fits the subject.

When students are preparing to take their exams, it is important for them to know the different types of texts that they might have to read and analyze. Non-fiction text is a type or genre of writing. This type of writing is based on facts and real-life rather than made-up or fictional stories. My favorite type of text to write is non-fiction.

Once you know what kind of text that you are reading, you need to know the intended audience of the piece and the purpose of the piece. The audience is who the text is aimed at; the purpose is the reason. Some purposes will include informing or persuading your audience.

Often, the terms nonfiction and informational text are used interchangeably. They are not the same. Informational text is a type of nonfiction. Nonfiction includes any text that is factual. The informational text differs from other types of nonfiction in purpose, features, and formats.

By learning how to read and use nonfiction text, students will be prepared to use the multitude of information that is available to students. What are the characteristics of nonfiction text? There may be chapter titles and section headers that preview information. Each page will have words in a variety of fonts and type sizes. Bold or italicized fonts may be used to signify important words or phrases. Diacritical marks may be used to guide pronunciation. Maps, charts, diagrams and photographs are usually included to illustrate or summarize information. Captions or labels must be examined carefully for relevant information. There may be more words that are unfamiliar. Look for multi-syllabic words like “photosynthesis” that may be difficult to pronounce. In nonfiction, there is a great deal of information to be understood and remembered.