Genre 2nd Grade Unit

Lessons & Units

Genre 2nd Grade Unit

Lessons

Lesson 1: Comparing and Contrasting Fiction and Nonfiction Compare and contrast the features of fiction and nonfiction.

Lesson 2: Characteristics of Nonfiction Identify and describe the characteristics of a nonfiction book.

In the Wild: Leopards

Lesson 3: Encyclopedias Use guide words in an encyclopedia to locate a subject.Identify information learned about a subject in an encyclopedia.

Children's Illustrated Encyclopedia

Unit Extension Ideas

Discuss if books are fiction or nonfiction in read aloud sessions and reading groups. Have students explain how they determined the genre.
Have students sort books in the classroom library based on genre. If Classify and Categorize has been introduced, students can sort nonfiction books based on the nonfiction characteristics in the book.
If students have access to the Internet, you can teach them to access reference materials in an online encyclopedia or Yahooligans.
Create a fiction and nonfiction bulletin board to which students can add titles as they read books from each genre. (See Additional Activity A Poster in Teacher and Student Materials below.)
Students can complete the “Fiction or Nonfiction” worksheet. (See Additional Activity B below.)
Have students identify the genre of a book they are reading and complete the “I Think My Book Is …” worksheet. (See Additional Activity C below.)
Teach students how to use other features of nonfiction such as the Table of Contents, Index, and Glossary. Have students participate in treasure hunts for specific books to find information using the Table of Contents, Index, and Glossary.
Have students complete a treasure hunt to find information in an encyclopedia.
Have students identify whether their own stories are fiction or nonfiction. They can also exchange their stories with partners and have the partners identify the genre and explain how they know the story belongs to that genre.
Challenge students to write both fiction and nonfiction versions of an event. Students can then determine which version is fiction and why. Students can complete a Venn diagram, comparing the fiction and nonfiction versions.