Is That a Fact?

<p><em>The book you are about to read is destined to be the first middle and maybe even the last word on nonfiction writing for young young children. It is certainly a text that you will return to over and over again as you do with a beloved cookbook.</em><br>—from the Foreword by Tomie dePaola</p><p>Over eighty- five percent of the reading and writing we do as adults is nonfiction yet most of the reading and writing in K–3 classrooms is fiction or personal narrative. In <em>Is That a Fact? Teaching Nonfiction Writing K-3</em> Tony Stead shows you how to open the door to the rich world of nonfiction writing that goes beyond what I did narratives and animal reports. And he convincingly demonstrates the importance of introducing nonfiction writing in the primary grades.</p><p>Nonfiction inspires enthusiasm in young children because they can choose topics that are of interest to them personally. <em>Is That a Fact?</em> explores a variety of authentic purposes for writing nonfiction such as describing explaining instructing persuading retelling and exploring relationships with others. You will learn how to introduce each purpose using a variety of forms including letters reports poetry captions directions and interviews.</p><p>Part One provides a complete overview of teaching nonfiction writing in the primary grades and includes:</p><p>practical ways for organizing nonfiction resources within the classroom;how to assist children in collecting information for research;ideas for helping children keep their sense of voice when writing nonfiction;a chapter on spelling with examples of how to guide students at each stage of spelling development;strategies for assessment and evaluation that guide teaching and learning engagements.</p><p>Part Two provides five different explorations that were implemented in actual K–3 classrooms. Each focuses on a specific purpose for writing nonfiction and features:examples of whole-class small-group and independent instructional engagements;a comprehensive assessment rubric that will help teachers tailor instruction to the needs of all learners;an extensive resource section that includes lists of books in the exploration grouped by readability levels;answers to the most commonly asked questions about teaching nonfiction writing. </p><p>The appendixes include a self-assessment questionnaire reproducible pages for exploring specific writing forms and letters to parents.</p><p>Children need to be introduced to the different purposes of nonfiction writing. They need to know how to plan compose revise and publish nonfiction beyond narrative. <em>Is That a Fact?</em> guides you in achieving these goals with your students.</p>