Lessons & Units :: Genre Kindergarten Unit

Lesson 3: Nonfiction

Lesson Plan

Your Pet Dog | 730L

Your Pet Dog
Learning Goal
Identify and describe a nonfiction text.
Duration
Approximately 50 minutes
Necessary Materials
Provided: Independent Practice Worksheet
Not Provided: Your Pet Dog by Elaine Landau, nonfiction books from classroom library

  • Teacher Modeling

    will review what we learned about fiction stories and how to identify them. I will discuss how some books are true stories. I will explain that in true stories the author writes a story that really happened or writes a book that gives the reader information about something. These are called nonfiction books. I will show the cover of Your Pet Dog by Elaine Landau and discuss how the picture on the cover looks like a real dog. I will do a picture walk, stopping at page 22, and point out that the pictures are of real dogs and that I think that this book is nonfiction.

  • Think Check

    Ask: "How did I decide whether the book is nonfiction?" Students should respond that you looked at the pictures and thought about whether the things happening in the book are real or make-believe. If they are real, then the book is probably nonfiction.

  • Guided Practice

    will work together to do a picture walk of the rest of the book and discuss how each picture is of a real dog or real people working with a dog. We will read pages 22–23 and discuss the information we learn about doctors for dogs. We will discuss that this book is a nonfiction book.

  • Independent Practice

    will look at the cover and do a picture walk of several (nonfiction) books with your table group. You will identify one book that is nonfiction and explain why you think it is a nonfiction book. (Independent Practice Worksheet is provided.)

    TIP: For the Independent Practice, be sure to provide at least five examples of fiction and nonfiction books per student or group. At the end of the lesson, create a chart of all the nonfiction books the students found.

Build Student Vocabulary personality

Tier 2 Word: personality
Contextualize the word as it is used in the story Ask the breeder about the dog’s nature and personality. When you choose a dog to take home as a pet, choose one with a good personality.
Explain the meaning student-friendly definition) Personality is the actions or qualities of a person or animal that make him/her different from another person or animal. The author of the text says that dogs have different personalities. This means that they act differently from other dogs.
Students repeat the word Say the word personality with me: personality.
Teacher gives examples of the word in other contexts My brother has a quiet, or shy personality. He does not talk a lot. My sister has a fun-loving personality. She loves parties and is always making jokes. She has many friends.
Students provide examples Think about your personality. How would you describe yourself? Tell me about it by choosing a personality word from a small group I write on the board. Say my personality is ________________________________.” (quiet, fun-loving, nice, friendly)
Students repeat the word again. What word are we talking about? personality
Additional Vocabulary Words damp, fierce

Build Student Background Knowledge

Before teaching the lesson, explain that you are going to read a book about dogs. Dogs are thought to be the first wild animal that people have as pets. Dogs are descendents or relatives of the wolf family. Ask students if they think it would be easy to take care of a wolf. Then, explain that you are going to learn how to take care of a "domesticated" dog or a dog that can live with people.

Texts & Materials

Standards Alignment

(To see all of the ReadWorks lessons aligned to your standards, click here.)

User Comments