Introduction: We begin again
Part I: Issues to consider. Defining nonfiction ; Developmental demands ; Democratic requirements ; Research findings ; Invitations and intrusions ; Rigor and relevance ; Complexity and readability ; Classroom conversations ; Disciplinary literacy ; Challenge and change
Part II: The importance of stance. What surprised me? ; What did the author think I already knew? ; What challenged, changed, or confirmed what I already knew?
Part III: The power of signposts. Contrasts and contradictions ; Extreme or absolute language ; Numbers and stats ; Quoted words ; Word gaps
Part IV: The role of strategies. Possible sentences ; KWL 2.0 ; Somebody wanted but so ; Syntax surgery ; Sketch to stretch ; Genre reformulation ; Poster
Conclusion: And now you begin
Appendix A: Surveys. Teaching nonfiction, Grades 4-12 ; Let's talk about it survey
Appendix B: Teaching texts. "Hard at work" ; "Vampires prey on Panama" ; "The dung beetle as a weapon against global warning" ; "Garana's story ; Excerpt from George Washington's secret six ; Excerpt from Everything you need to know about American history homework ; Excerpt from Up before daybreak ; Model passages for teaching syntax surgery ; Model passages for sketch to stretch
Appendix C: Teaching resources and booklists. Magazines most often used ; Websites most often used ; Thirty of our favorite nonfiction books / compiled by Mary Lee Hahn and Franki Sibberson ; Forty of my favorite nonfiction picture books / compiled by Teri Lesene ; Signal words ; Thumbnails of online templates.
