Transcript

Teacher: Boys and girls, today Im going to read to you one of my favorite stories, by one of our favorite authors, Kevin Henkes, and this storys called Lillys Big Day. "One day, Lillys teacher Mr. Slinger announced to the class that he was going to marry Miss Shotwell, the school nurse. Lillys heart leaped. She always wanted to be a flower girl!"  

Teacher: So boys and girls, this story is fiction. What does fiction mean? [Students Name]. 

Student: Not real life. 

Teacher: Fiction means not real life. Its just pretend. I know that you knew that this story was fiction, because, could there really be a mouse that was dressed up the way Lilly is dressed up? 

Students: No. 

Teacher: Do mice really get married? 

Students: No. 

Teacher: But there are also some books that authors write about real things, that give us information, and those kinds of stories are called non-fiction. And I have story right here, called Mice. Now, if you look at the two cover pages, the author gives us a really big clue that these are going to be different stories. Ones going to be real and ones not going to be real. Put your hand up if you can tell me whats the clue. [Students Name]. 

Student: Ones a photograph, and someone drawed the other one. 

Teacher: Okay, so ones a photograph, and someone drew the other one. A photograph on the cover page is a hint that this story is going to be about real mice. When I open up the two books, theres also something different. What is different about the beginning pages of these two stories? [Students Name]. 

Student: Ones contents and ones not. 

Teacher: So which one has the contents? 

Student: That one? 

Teacher: This one has a contents! This one just starts the story right away. And contents tell us the names of the different chapters, sort of, thats going to be in this book. So it tells us what its going to be all about. We call them subtitles. And the contents also has page numbers. If I keep turning the pages of my non-fiction book, I notice the subtitle, right here, and theres something I notice right here. [Students Name], whats that called? 

Student: Theres diagrams! 

Teacher: This is a diagram! Its a drawing that has labels. Its teaching us all about a mouse. 

Teacher: Boys and girls, yesterday we talked about some differences between non-fiction stories, and fictional stories. Today you are going to have three minutes to look through your non-fiction book, and after three minutes youre going to put your hand up and let me know if you noticed any of those features of non-fiction texts.  

Teacher: Okay, so open up your books. Three, two and one. Can you raise your hand if you noticed one of the special features in non-fiction texts that your book has? [Students Name]. 

Student: My book has a glossary.  Teacher: Your book has a glossary! So [Students Name] has a glossary. It was near the end of her book. [Students Name], what did you notice in your non-fiction book? 

Student: I noticed a contents. 

Teacher: You have a contents in your non-fiction book. And Im going to put that right up by the front, or at the top of the list, because thats right on the first page. And, the contents, like we talked about, has two things. The contents has, tells us the subtitles, page numbers. Can everybody open their books, and look to see if you have a contents in the very front, and put your finger on your nose if you have a contents. Excellent, so a lot of non-fiction books have contents. Not all of them, but many of them. What else does your non-fiction book have? [Students Name]. 

Student: An index. 

Teacher: It has an index. An index is something else thats special in non-fiction, and well talk a little bit more about that later. Thats usually at the back of the book, and we know its the index because its subtitled "Index". [Students Name], what does yours have?  

Student: A photograph.  

Teacher: It has a photograph! And Im going to put that right on the very top, because a lot of the times photographs are on the cover pages too. Can everybody look through your book and look to see if you have any diagrams? Hold it up if you have a diagram. I see lots of diagrams. Excellent, and Im going to add diagram here. A diagram is a picture with labels. Now, I want you to look closely through your book and see if you have any print thats a little bit darker. Whats that called? 

Student: Blue print! 

Teacher: Its called bold print when its really dark. 

Teacher: [Students Name] told us that in her non-fiction text, she had a glossary. [Students Name], whats a glossary? 

Student: If theres something in bold print it tells us what it means.

Teacher: So if you find a word thats in bold print in your story, youre going to see it again in the glossary, and its going to tell us what that word means.  

Teacher: So you have all been great detectives. Youve discovered and learnt that non-fiction texts have cover pages...  

Student: Photographs.

Teacher: Photographs.  

Student: Contents.

Teacher: Contents, that tells us the subtitles and page numbers. Theres diagrams, which are pictures with labels. We have bold print words, and how can we explain whats a bold print word, what if someone doesnt know. [Students Name]? 

Student: Its a word that is very important. 

Teacher: So its a very important word. So I might show bold print by making this one... 

Student: Thats what I told you!

Teacher: That was a good idea, [Students Name], to make it look just like its bold print. And then a glossary has all of those bold print words, and it tells us what they mean, and the last one was an index.  

Teacher: Boys and girls, weve been talking a lot about the features of non-fiction text, and we made a list of some of those features right behind me. Today [Teachers Name] needs our help in the library. She gave me all of these books, and she want to sort them into two piles  either a fiction pile, or a non-fiction pile. So youre going to know if your book is non-fiction if you check with these features. So Im going to give you all one moment to look through your story, make a choice if you think its fiction or non-fiction. And then Im going to choose you to explain which pile youre going to put it in. [Students Name], what book do you have? 

Student: Fiction. 

Teacher: Why do you think this story is a fiction story? 

Student: Because theres no photographs. 

Teacher:  Theres no photographs, thats one way of knowing. So [Students Name], can you put it in our fiction pile? [Students Name], what book do you have?  

Student: Tyrannosaurus rex.

Teacher: Tyrannosaurus rex. And what do you think that is  fiction or non-fiction? 

Student: Non-fiction.

Teacher: Why do you think its non-fiction? 

Student: Because...Teacher: What are these? Student: Bold print.

Teacher: Bold print. For sure, I agree, that non-fiction. [Students Name] what story do you have? 

Student: Non-fiction.

Teacher: Why do you think yours is non-fiction? 

Student: Theres photographs...

Teacher: Photographs.  

Student: Contents.

Teacher: Contents. 

Student: Subtitles. 

Teacher: Subtitles, Excellent, so youve been checking with our list. Can you come and put it in this pile right here please?

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