Fiction vs. Nonfiction

     I used two sets of great books this year to help 2nd students compare and contrast fiction and nonfiction books.  We read one of my favorites; Days with Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel-we read the first chapter (oh, and they loved the idea that this was a CHAPTER BOOK!!)  and compared it to Frogs and Tadpoles by Anita Ganeri and Anni Axworthy and Toads by Julie Murphy.  I didn't read but a few pages of the nonfiction titles but we looked at all the photos and talked about how nonfiction is set up different. 

Because second grade had some prior owl knowledge we did the same with Owl Babies by Martin Waddell (hmm, another of my longtime favs) and looked at Owls; Flat-Faced Flyers by Adele D. Richardson and Owls by Wayne Lynch.  Owl Babies is a great choice to use as a comparison because it gives some accurate information about owls-making it harder to decide for students.  The key element making it a fiction choice is that the owls "tell" the story to us. 

Caterpillars to Butterflies

     Kindergarten and first grade students listened to The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert.  Each book talks about the life cycle stages of a butterfly and each has bright, bold illustrations to capture a young audience's attention.  Ehlert's book is nonfiction, which gave us the opportunity to talk about nonfiction information and

compare it to Carle's fiction writing which gave the same information in a funny way.