Diving Deep Into Nonfiction, Grades 6-12

Transferable Tools for Reading ANY Nonfiction Text
Jeffrey D. Wilhelm - Boise State University, Idaho
Michael W. Smith - Temple University, USA
Corwin Literacy
Diving Deep Into Nonfiction, Grades 6-12
October 2016 | 264 pages | Corwin
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ISBN: 9781506344065
Available from January 0001
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ISBN: 9781483386058
Available from January 0001

Description

“General reading strategies and teacher-developed questions will only take our students so far—with our approach, students gain astounding independence because they engage directly with the nonfiction author, and with how that author used specific details (moves) and structures to communicate meanings and effects.”
—Wilhelm and Smith

All nonfiction is a conversation between the writer and the reader, an invitation to agree or disagree with compelling and often provocative ideas about some aspect of the world we live in. At the end of the day, it’s our responsibility to decide if the argument is sound. With Diving Deep Into Nonfiction, Jeffrey D. Wilhelm and Michael W. Smith deliver a revolutionary teaching framework that helps students read well by noticing the rules and conventions of this dynamic exchange.

The classroom-tested lessons include engaging short excerpts and teach students to be powerful readers who know both how authors signal what’s worth noticing in a text and how readers connect and make meaning of what they have noticed.

No matter what they are reading, students learn to be on high alert, and highly curious about how texts work and what they mean, as they learn to notice direct statements of principle, calls to attention, ruptures, and readers’ rules of notice:

  • Notice the topics and the textual conversation: Who is speaking and how might he or she be responding to another’s ideas? What is the idea that gives “heat” to this text?
  • Notice key details: What attracts my attention? How does the author signal both direct and implicit statements of meaning? How does the author use the unexpected? How can I interpret patterns of key details to see overall meanings?
  • Notice varied nonfiction genres: What are the essential features of this kind of text? How does the author employ them? What effects are they designed to have on the reader?
  • Notice text structure: How does the author structure the text to connect details and ideas? What patterns of thought does the author use along the way?

With Diving Deep Into Nonfiction, Wilhelm and Smith upend current practices, and it’s high time. Once your students engage with these lessons, you’ll never go back to the same old tired approach— and reading across content areas enters a whole new era.

Contents

LIST OF VIDEOS

LIST OF VIDEOS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  • 1. Reader’s Rules of Notice
  • What Skilled Readers Do
  • What This Noticing Means for Us as Teachers
  • Principles of Effective Instruction
  • The Current Educational Climate
  • How This Book Works
  • How to Use This Book
  • 2. Noticing the Conversation
  • Lesson 1. Noticing the Conversation: Reading Visual Texts
  • Handout 2.1. Beer Street and Gin Lane
  • Handout 2.2. Two Views of Children’s Play
  • Lesson 2. Noticing the Conversation: Thinking Aloud
  • Handout 2.3. Intelligence: A Brief History (Excerpt) by Anna T. Cianciolo and Robert J. Sternberg
  • Lesson 3. Noticing the Conversation: Practice in Miniature
  • Handout 2.4. Noticing the Conversation
  • Handout 2.5. More Practice Noticing the Conversation
  • Lesson 4. Noticing the Conversation: Questioning
  • Handout 2.6. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself (Excerpt)
  • Lesson 5. Noticing the Conversation: Writing and Responding
  • Lesson 6. Noticing the Conversation: Search and Find
  • Lesson 7. Noticing the Conversation: Putting It All Together
  • Handout 2.7. The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln
  • 3. Noticing Key Details
  • Lesson 1. Noticing Key Details: Reading Visual Texts
  • Lesson 2. Noticing Key Details: Thinking Aloud
  • Handout 3.1. The Great Fire (Excerpt) by Jim Murphy
  • Lesson 3. Noticing Key Details: Practice in Miniature
  • Handout 3.2. Movie Review: Avengers: Age of Ultron (Excerpt) by Cary Darling
  • Handout 3.3. Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself (Excerpts)
  • Lesson 4. Noticing Key Details: Questioning
  • Lesson 5. Noticing Key Details: Writing and Responding
  • Handout 3.4. Mentor Sentences Based on The Great Fire (Excerpt) by Jim Murphy
  • Lesson 6. Noticing Key Details: Search and Find
  • Lesson 7. Noticing Key Details: Putting It All Together
  • 4. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres
  • Lesson 1. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Reading Visual Texts
  • Handout 4.1. Thinking About Photographic Portrait Genres
  • Lesson 2. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Thinking Aloud
  • Handout 4.2. Sample Abstract: “Which AA Battery Maintains Its Voltage for the Longest Period of Time?” by Student Author
  • Lesson 3. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Practice in Miniature
  • Lesson 4. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Questioning
  • Handout 4.3. Letters to the Editor
  • Handout 4.4. Letters of Recommendation
  • Handout 4.5. Using Genre Knowledge to Evaluate a Text
  • Lesson 5. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Writing and Responding
  • Lesson 6. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Search and Find
  • Lesson 7. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Putting It All Together
  • Handout 4.6. Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address
  • Handout 4.7. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address
  • 5. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts
  • Lesson 1. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Reading Visual Texts
  • Lesson 2. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Thinking Aloud
  • Handout 5.1. Noticing Comparisons: Camping
  • Handout 5.2. Noticing Comparisons: Class Election
  • Handout 5.3. Noticing Comparisons: Spring Dance
  • Lesson 3. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Practice in Miniature
  • Handout 5.4. Noticing Comparisons: More Practice
  • Lesson 4. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Questioning
  • Lesson 5. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Writing and Responding
  • Handout 5.5. Cuing Comparisons
  • Lesson 6. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Search and Find
  • Lesson 7. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Putting It All Together
  • Handout 5.6. “Troposphere” (Excerpt) by Bill Bryson
  • Handout 5.7. Hillocks Hierarchy Questions
  • 6. Why This Method Works
  • Motivating Deep Learning
  • Developing Cultural, Critical, and Identity Literacies
  • A Final Word

APPENDIX: GENERAL READER’S RULES OF NOTICE FOR NONFICTION

APPENDIX: GENERAL READER’S RULES OF NOTICE FOR NONFICTION

WORKS CITED

WORKS CITED

INDEX

INDEX

Resources

Video Clips

Description

“General reading strategies and teacher-developed questions will only take our students so far—with our approach, students gain astounding independence because they engage directly with the nonfiction author, and with how that author used specific details (moves) and structures to communicate meanings and effects.”
—Wilhelm and Smith

All nonfiction is a conversation between the writer and the reader, an invitation to agree or disagree with compelling and often provocative ideas about some aspect of the world we live in. At the end of the day, it’s our responsibility to decide if the argument is sound. With Diving Deep Into Nonfiction, Jeffrey D. Wilhelm and Michael W. Smith deliver a revolutionary teaching framework that helps students read well by noticing the rules and conventions of this dynamic exchange.

The classroom-tested lessons include engaging short excerpts and teach students to be powerful readers who know both how authors signal what’s worth noticing in a text and how readers connect and make meaning of what they have noticed.

No matter what they are reading, students learn to be on high alert, and highly curious about how texts work and what they mean, as they learn to notice direct statements of principle, calls to attention, ruptures, and readers’ rules of notice:

  • Notice the topics and the textual conversation: Who is speaking and how might he or she be responding to another’s ideas? What is the idea that gives “heat” to this text?
  • Notice key details: What attracts my attention? How does the author signal both direct and implicit statements of meaning? How does the author use the unexpected? How can I interpret patterns of key details to see overall meanings?
  • Notice varied nonfiction genres: What are the essential features of this kind of text? How does the author employ them? What effects are they designed to have on the reader?
  • Notice text structure: How does the author structure the text to connect details and ideas? What patterns of thought does the author use along the way?

With Diving Deep Into Nonfiction, Wilhelm and Smith upend current practices, and it’s high time. Once your students engage with these lessons, you’ll never go back to the same old tired approach— and reading across content areas enters a whole new era.

Contents

LIST OF VIDEOS

LIST OF VIDEOS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  • 1. Reader’s Rules of Notice
  • What Skilled Readers Do
  • What This Noticing Means for Us as Teachers
  • Principles of Effective Instruction
  • The Current Educational Climate
  • How This Book Works
  • How to Use This Book
  • 2. Noticing the Conversation
  • Lesson 1. Noticing the Conversation: Reading Visual Texts
  • Handout 2.1. Beer Street and Gin Lane
  • Handout 2.2. Two Views of Children’s Play
  • Lesson 2. Noticing the Conversation: Thinking Aloud
  • Handout 2.3. Intelligence: A Brief History (Excerpt) by Anna T. Cianciolo and Robert J. Sternberg
  • Lesson 3. Noticing the Conversation: Practice in Miniature
  • Handout 2.4. Noticing the Conversation
  • Handout 2.5. More Practice Noticing the Conversation
  • Lesson 4. Noticing the Conversation: Questioning
  • Handout 2.6. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself (Excerpt)
  • Lesson 5. Noticing the Conversation: Writing and Responding
  • Lesson 6. Noticing the Conversation: Search and Find
  • Lesson 7. Noticing the Conversation: Putting It All Together
  • Handout 2.7. The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln
  • 3. Noticing Key Details
  • Lesson 1. Noticing Key Details: Reading Visual Texts
  • Lesson 2. Noticing Key Details: Thinking Aloud
  • Handout 3.1. The Great Fire (Excerpt) by Jim Murphy
  • Lesson 3. Noticing Key Details: Practice in Miniature
  • Handout 3.2. Movie Review: Avengers: Age of Ultron (Excerpt) by Cary Darling
  • Handout 3.3. Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself (Excerpts)
  • Lesson 4. Noticing Key Details: Questioning
  • Lesson 5. Noticing Key Details: Writing and Responding
  • Handout 3.4. Mentor Sentences Based on The Great Fire (Excerpt) by Jim Murphy
  • Lesson 6. Noticing Key Details: Search and Find
  • Lesson 7. Noticing Key Details: Putting It All Together
  • 4. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres
  • Lesson 1. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Reading Visual Texts
  • Handout 4.1. Thinking About Photographic Portrait Genres
  • Lesson 2. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Thinking Aloud
  • Handout 4.2. Sample Abstract: “Which AA Battery Maintains Its Voltage for the Longest Period of Time?” by Student Author
  • Lesson 3. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Practice in Miniature
  • Lesson 4. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Questioning
  • Handout 4.3. Letters to the Editor
  • Handout 4.4. Letters of Recommendation
  • Handout 4.5. Using Genre Knowledge to Evaluate a Text
  • Lesson 5. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Writing and Responding
  • Lesson 6. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Search and Find
  • Lesson 7. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Putting It All Together
  • Handout 4.6. Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address
  • Handout 4.7. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address
  • 5. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts
  • Lesson 1. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Reading Visual Texts
  • Lesson 2. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Thinking Aloud
  • Handout 5.1. Noticing Comparisons: Camping
  • Handout 5.2. Noticing Comparisons: Class Election
  • Handout 5.3. Noticing Comparisons: Spring Dance
  • Lesson 3. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Practice in Miniature
  • Handout 5.4. Noticing Comparisons: More Practice
  • Lesson 4. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Questioning
  • Lesson 5. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Writing and Responding
  • Handout 5.5. Cuing Comparisons
  • Lesson 6. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Search and Find
  • Lesson 7. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Putting It All Together
  • Handout 5.6. “Troposphere” (Excerpt) by Bill Bryson
  • Handout 5.7. Hillocks Hierarchy Questions
  • 6. Why This Method Works
  • Motivating Deep Learning
  • Developing Cultural, Critical, and Identity Literacies
  • A Final Word

APPENDIX: GENERAL READER’S RULES OF NOTICE FOR NONFICTION

APPENDIX: GENERAL READER’S RULES OF NOTICE FOR NONFICTION

WORKS CITED

WORKS CITED

INDEX

INDEX

Resources

Video Clips

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Diving Deep Into Nonfiction, Grades 6-12

Transferable Tools for Reading ANY Nonfiction Text

Jeffrey D. Wilhelm , Michael W. Smith
Cancel Print

October 2016 | 264 pages | Corwin

Format Published Date ISBN Price
Paperback 01/01/2025 9781483386058 $40.95
Lifetime 01/01/2025 9781506344065 $37.00

“General reading strategies and teacher-developed questions will only take our students so far—with our approach, students gain astounding independence because they engage directly with the nonfiction author, and with how that author used specific details (moves) and structures to communicate meanings and effects.”
—Wilhelm and Smith

All nonfiction is a conversation between the writer and the reader, an invitation to agree or disagree with compelling and often provocative ideas about some aspect of the world we live in. At the end of the day, it’s our responsibility to decide if the argument is sound. With Diving Deep Into Nonfiction, Jeffrey D. Wilhelm and Michael W. Smith deliver a revolutionary teaching framework that helps students read well by noticing the rules and conventions of this dynamic exchange.

The classroom-tested lessons include engaging short excerpts and teach students to be powerful readers who know both how authors signal what’s worth noticing in a text and how readers connect and make meaning of what they have noticed.

No matter what they are reading, students learn to be on high alert, and highly curious about how texts work and what they mean, as they learn to notice direct statements of principle, calls to attention, ruptures, and readers’ rules of notice:

  • Notice the topics and the textual conversation: Who is speaking and how might he or she be responding to another’s ideas? What is the idea that gives “heat” to this text?
  • Notice key details: What attracts my attention? How does the author signal both direct and implicit statements of meaning? How does the author use the unexpected? How can I interpret patterns of key details to see overall meanings?
  • Notice varied nonfiction genres: What are the essential features of this kind of text? How does the author employ them? What effects are they designed to have on the reader?
  • Notice text structure: How does the author structure the text to connect details and ideas? What patterns of thought does the author use along the way?

With Diving Deep Into Nonfiction, Wilhelm and Smith upend current practices, and it’s high time. Once your students engage with these lessons, you’ll never go back to the same old tired approach— and reading across content areas enters a whole new era.


Table Of Contents:

  • LIST OF VIDEOS
  • ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  • 1. Reader’s Rules of Notice
  • What Skilled Readers Do
  • What This Noticing Means for Us as Teachers
  • Principles of Effective Instruction
  • The Current Educational Climate
  • How This Book Works
  • How to Use This Book
  • 2. Noticing the Conversation
  • Lesson 1. Noticing the Conversation: Reading Visual Texts
  • Handout 2.1. Beer Street and Gin Lane
  • Handout 2.2. Two Views of Children’s Play
  • Lesson 2. Noticing the Conversation: Thinking Aloud
  • Handout 2.3. Intelligence: A Brief History (Excerpt) by Anna T. Cianciolo and Robert J. Sternberg
  • Lesson 3. Noticing the Conversation: Practice in Miniature
  • Handout 2.4. Noticing the Conversation
  • Handout 2.5. More Practice Noticing the Conversation
  • Lesson 4. Noticing the Conversation: Questioning
  • Handout 2.6. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself (Excerpt)
  • Lesson 5. Noticing the Conversation: Writing and Responding
  • Lesson 6. Noticing the Conversation: Search and Find
  • Lesson 7. Noticing the Conversation: Putting It All Together
  • Handout 2.7. The Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln
  • 3. Noticing Key Details
  • Lesson 1. Noticing Key Details: Reading Visual Texts
  • Lesson 2. Noticing Key Details: Thinking Aloud
  • Handout 3.1. The Great Fire (Excerpt) by Jim Murphy
  • Lesson 3. Noticing Key Details: Practice in Miniature
  • Handout 3.2. Movie Review: Avengers: Age of Ultron (Excerpt) by Cary Darling
  • Handout 3.3. Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad and Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself (Excerpts)
  • Lesson 4. Noticing Key Details: Questioning
  • Lesson 5. Noticing Key Details: Writing and Responding
  • Handout 3.4. Mentor Sentences Based on The Great Fire (Excerpt) by Jim Murphy
  • Lesson 6. Noticing Key Details: Search and Find
  • Lesson 7. Noticing Key Details: Putting It All Together
  • 4. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres
  • Lesson 1. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Reading Visual Texts
  • Handout 4.1. Thinking About Photographic Portrait Genres
  • Lesson 2. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Thinking Aloud
  • Handout 4.2. Sample Abstract: “Which AA Battery Maintains Its Voltage for the Longest Period of Time?” by Student Author
  • Lesson 3. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Practice in Miniature
  • Lesson 4. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Questioning
  • Handout 4.3. Letters to the Editor
  • Handout 4.4. Letters of Recommendation
  • Handout 4.5. Using Genre Knowledge to Evaluate a Text
  • Lesson 5. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Writing and Responding
  • Lesson 6. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Search and Find
  • Lesson 7. Noticing Varied Nonfiction Genres: Putting It All Together
  • Handout 4.6. Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address
  • Handout 4.7. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address
  • 5. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts
  • Lesson 1. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Reading Visual Texts
  • Lesson 2. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Thinking Aloud
  • Handout 5.1. Noticing Comparisons: Camping
  • Handout 5.2. Noticing Comparisons: Class Election
  • Handout 5.3. Noticing Comparisons: Spring Dance
  • Lesson 3. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Practice in Miniature
  • Handout 5.4. Noticing Comparisons: More Practice
  • Lesson 4. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Questioning
  • Lesson 5. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Writing and Responding
  • Handout 5.5. Cuing Comparisons
  • Lesson 6. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Search and Find
  • Lesson 7. Noticing the Text Structures in Nonfiction Texts: Putting It All Together
  • Handout 5.6. “Troposphere” (Excerpt) by Bill Bryson
  • Handout 5.7. Hillocks Hierarchy Questions
  • 6. Why This Method Works
  • Motivating Deep Learning
  • Developing Cultural, Critical, and Identity Literacies
  • A Final Word
  • APPENDIX: GENERAL READER’S RULES OF NOTICE FOR NONFICTION
  • WORKS CITED
  • INDEX

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