A toast to Cheryl Burton and her third grade students at River Oaks Elementary in Houston, Texas who published their Literary Non-Fiction books last week!
With all the hard work completed, it was time to bring the class together to enjoy reading their published books to others. Students knowing that their writing would have an audience was an important way for them to see the purpose and meaning in the writing they did. Parents, district and school administrators attended as the students shared their picture books and their learning process in small groups.
A.L.L. Director, Susan Radley Brown, partnered with Ms. Burton on implementing the A.L.L. Literary Non-Fiction Unit of Study. This unit helped students develop an understanding of how to analyze and write nonfiction texts. They began by selecting topics that they know a lot about – and then gathered more information by researching their topics. Students were immersed in a study of picture books where information is presented in a variety of ways including:
- Narrative/journal embedded with facts
- ABC books
- Question and Answer books
Students envisioned their material in each of the literary constructs and then decided which best fit their topic. Students wrote an initial draft, revised their writing and then studied the elements of picture books, such as illustration and formatting, a dedication, an about the author page and the book cover.
Congrats Third Graders– job well done!
