Nonfiction Reading Strategies and Text Structure

This website provides already made interactive graphic organizers as well as a link to create your own graphic organizers. Teachers can use this site to create organizers for students to use with nonfiction text to help them organize the information so that they can better understand the text. There are several other tools/resources within this site that would be helpful to teachers or students in learning how to use technology tools. These tools can be applied to any subject area; however, there are several such as the graphic organizers that would work well for teaching nonfiction reading comprehension strategies. While there are some free resources, there is a membership fee for those who want access to more detailed tools and resources.

This video explains how to preview a nonfiction text to get ready to read it. The teacher narrates common mistakes students make and then teaches what to do and how to do it correctly. The video uses print text examples and highlights text features as the teacher narrates. This video is not animated, but it is useful because it uses text examples that students will see in class, on standardized tests, and in real world experiences.

This website provides links to cross curricular nonfiction passages on a 5th grade level. Each passage has a related Lexile Level and comprehension questions. There are links to different grade levels as well as different skills such as spelling, grammar, graphic organizers, teaching tools, and themed worksheets.

This Go!Animate video presents nonfiction text features using an animated teacher who gives information and asks questions while using visual/graphic examples. The teacher gives "wait time" for students to mentally practice using or finding a text feature.

This animated video uses rap music to teach students about elements of nonfiction. The words are shown as children sing the rap. Visuals/graphics are also presented to help support understanding of nonfiction text features.

This website contains so many resources to help teachers teach strategies for reading and understanding nonfiction texts. The link, Comprehension 101, provides a chart to guide teachers to use different strategies. Examples of graphic organizers can be found within several links. Alternatives for just asking questions are linked as well. There are story modules and comprehension activities included, and each of these contain multimedia features such as full streaming video and audio, text read by Greg Lefevre, and video clips. Each story has activities such as vocabulary, word selection, multiple choice, sequencing, and conclusions. In order to have full access to the website, you can sign up for a 30 day free trial. Year long memberships are available for different pricing depending on the number of staff members joining. An individual membership rate is $50.00 per year.

This website lists twenty links to reading and thinking strategies for reading nonfiction texts. Each strategy is explained so that a teacher or student would know how to teach or practice the strategy. Some of the strategies include questions to use to help guide teachers or students in using the strategy.

This website is a PDF PowerPoint that use color, pictures, and words to show the differences in fiction and nonfiction as well as the different strategies for reading nonfiction. At the end of the presentation are practice questions. Students or teachers could refer to the reading comprehension strategies while practicing reading nonfiction.

Article 3 Comprehension Strategies for Reading Nonfiction As our Best Practices for Teaching Comprehension details, certain reading strategies are required to be an active constructor of meaning. Laura Robb presents several classroom-proven strategies that specifically enable students to construct meaning out of nonfiction in Teaching Reading in Social Studies, Science, and Math: Practical Ways to Weave Comprehension Strategies into Your Content Area Teaching .

This website contains several videos of different people explaining how to read types of nonfiction - campaign poster, glossary, maps, medicine labels, newspaper articles, atlas, etc...There are also links to web lessons and print downloads for practice using reading comprehension and test taking strategies.

This website provides strategies for teachers to help ELL students access expository texts. The strategies suggested would also be good for students with disabilities. There are several "hot" links that will provide teachers with more resources for teaching ELL students.

This video uses narration, print, and grahics/pictures to teach teachers and/or students how to use 3 comprehension strategies for reading nonfiction text.