Nonfiction texts

We are thinking a lot about nonfiction texts these days. Nonfiction books are true information books. What kind of call number would a nonfiction book have?

Today, we made a chart showing different features that many nonfiction books use to help teach you their information. We found these in books in our classroom. Look around your house. Can you find one of these features in a book, a magazine, or a newspaper? Can you find them in any other kind of text?

Science and Drawing

This past week, we have been doing a lot of drawing in our science lab. We practiced our scientific illustration skills by looking closely at plants, and then moved on to some mystery fossils.

A recent article in the Boston Globe highlighted the importance that drawing plays in professional scientific communities. Drawing is a chance to look closely, notice fine details, and work beyond the general symbol of a thing that exists in our heads to a more nuanced reflection of what is actually there. Drawing is also a way to communicate our ideas with our audience, and to show what we are thinking and imagining. When we draw, we refine our own understanding in order to make our idea clear to someone else. Gradually, our pictures of animals lose their smiley faces. In their place, we draw the compound eye and segmented body of a cricket. This closer attention changes our understanding of the world.

Happy Read Across America Day!

We love to read!

Happy Read Across America Day! from Stephen MacLellan on Vimeo.

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