Fiction and Nonfiction Texts

In order to compare and contrast fiction and nonfiction texts I had a reading group do a Venn diagram activity. This reading group is a combination of first and second graders. They recently read a nonfiction text about Jane Goodall and are now reading a fiction Magic Treehouse book about gorillas. I created a Venn diagram and a list of book elements. The students then used both texts and searched for the elements on their list. They cut and glued the pieces where they went on the Venn diagram.



Nonfiction texts have much more support for students than fiction. This is especially true as students begin to move out of picture books. The vocabulary in nonfiction is difficult for ELL students. It is helpful to them to have the glossary to support them on this. Fiction vocabulary can also be difficult for ELL students especially as they move up to texts with less pictures. My students struggle with this in chapter books and often do not know how to figure out the meaning of unknown words. Another thing which provides ELL students with support in nonfiction books is pictures and captions. In the second grade science text, nearly every page has some sort of graphic aid to demonstrate the concepts on that page. Students often struggle more with nonfiction books even with these supports. One reason for this is they often do not know how to use them or even that they are present in the book. For this reason, this proved to be a very useful activity with my reading group. As a group we looked through the books to find the elements, we discussed what they meant and how they help with comprehension. I think these students will be better prepared to read nonfiction texts as a result of this.