The two books highlighted in the double bubble map, Shipwrecked and Chatter Strait Ferry, come from a Reading Safari Magazine that pairs up fiction and non-fiction books about the same topic so that students are exposed to different points of views and perspectives about the same topic. Students should see the differences between fiction and non-fiction clearly through this format, while at the same time being exposed to more in-depth instruction about the addressed topic, in this case, shipwrecks.
There are characteristics in fiction and non-fiction both that might make learning difficult for students still acquiring and perfecting their English. Because non-fiction is organized so differently than fiction and it is categorized into headings, subheadings, etc, students should be familiar with this organization. ELL students should be directly taught that the heading is the main idea and that the subheadings are supporting details that relate back to the big idea. Color coding a specific text into headings or subheadings based on how a text is organized would be helpful for students who may not understand how non-fiction text features are set up.
Non-fiction can also include very complex vocabulary, depending on the topic addressed. ELL students should be aware of this difficult vocabulary before they read the text. A strategy that might help with this new vocabulary is previewing the text before reading it or frontloading the vocabulary. The teacher could even bring in realia or a picture of each new word to illustrate the vocabulary before the students read, so that when they encounter the word in the text, they are familiar with its definition.
Because non-fiction is about true events and includes many real-life pictures, students are able to gain new knowledge and new understandings of the world around them. The real pictures in the non-fiction texts are a built-in support that help students understand this text. ELL students are exposed to concrete ideas, where they don't have to read between the lines to determine the facts, due to the fact that the facts are presented clearly throughout the article or text. The pictures provide the students with a deeper understanding of the events in the story since the pictures exactly match the events being described.
In fiction, something that is difficult for ELL students to understand is dialogue and how the dialogue changes as many characters talk in a conversation. Many times, students misread dialogue and dialogue cues, which cause them to be confused in a story when more than one character is speaking. Although each separate dialogue is on its own line, many students, especially when there is no direct cue to who is talking, such as "she said," become confused and lose meaning of what it happening in the story. To avoid this, teachers could directly teach dialogue rules. The students could also read this story aloud so that they also hear what the dialogue should sound like. They could also color code the spoken pieces of the fiction story so they know when new characters are talking.
Another aspect that is difficult about fiction is that it does have a beginning, middle, and end, and the events build on themselves. If a student is unclear about an event that happened in the beginning of the story and continues to read, they may find that this same event is brought up again in the middle or the end. This is very confusing to ELL students because they did not understand the event in the first place, which means they will still be unsure about the meaning of the text when the event resurfaces. A characteristic of fiction is that it has to be read in order, as these texts have a plot and a sequence. Teachers could practice reading stories in order with ELL students, jumbling the events up, and then discussing which versions of the stories made more sense. Teachers could also introduce ways to "patch-up" reading if students are lost or confused about the meaning of a story. Students should have the realization when dealing with fiction literature that the order in which they read the information does make a difference.
In fiction, students are given the opportunity to directly practice all of their reading strategies, which is a strength of fiction books. Because fiction books have such a clear plot and are filled with story elements, it is in fiction books where ELL students are able to practice skills such as making connections from one book to another, asking questions about the text they read, determining the most important idea, and making powerful inferences. Fiction books are where students are able to practice using the skills they learn about in reading class.
Similar to non-fiction books, pictures are a very important feature in fiction books for ELL students. Pictures provide clues about the events taking place in a text, as they relate directly to the content. Students rely heavily on these picture clues, especially if they are in the early stage of language development, and allowing students to use these clues is an important non-linguistic tool.
Fiction and non-fiction books are so prevalent in a learning environment, but the features of them need to be taught in a meaningful way where ELLs are supported and set up for success.
Non-fiction can also include very complex vocabulary, depending on the topic addressed. ELL students should be aware of this difficult vocabulary before they read the text. A strategy that might help with this new vocabulary is previewing the text before reading it or frontloading the vocabulary. The teacher could even bring in realia or a picture of each new word to illustrate the vocabulary before the students read, so that when they encounter the word in the text, they are familiar with its definition.
Because non-fiction is about true events and includes many real-life pictures, students are able to gain new knowledge and new understandings of the world around them. The real pictures in the non-fiction texts are a built-in support that help students understand this text. ELL students are exposed to concrete ideas, where they don't have to read between the lines to determine the facts, due to the fact that the facts are presented clearly throughout the article or text. The pictures provide the students with a deeper understanding of the events in the story since the pictures exactly match the events being described.
In fiction, something that is difficult for ELL students to understand is dialogue and how the dialogue changes as many characters talk in a conversation. Many times, students misread dialogue and dialogue cues, which cause them to be confused in a story when more than one character is speaking. Although each separate dialogue is on its own line, many students, especially when there is no direct cue to who is talking, such as "she said," become confused and lose meaning of what it happening in the story. To avoid this, teachers could directly teach dialogue rules. The students could also read this story aloud so that they also hear what the dialogue should sound like. They could also color code the spoken pieces of the fiction story so they know when new characters are talking.
Another aspect that is difficult about fiction is that it does have a beginning, middle, and end, and the events build on themselves. If a student is unclear about an event that happened in the beginning of the story and continues to read, they may find that this same event is brought up again in the middle or the end. This is very confusing to ELL students because they did not understand the event in the first place, which means they will still be unsure about the meaning of the text when the event resurfaces. A characteristic of fiction is that it has to be read in order, as these texts have a plot and a sequence. Teachers could practice reading stories in order with ELL students, jumbling the events up, and then discussing which versions of the stories made more sense. Teachers could also introduce ways to "patch-up" reading if students are lost or confused about the meaning of a story. Students should have the realization when dealing with fiction literature that the order in which they read the information does make a difference.
In fiction, students are given the opportunity to directly practice all of their reading strategies, which is a strength of fiction books. Because fiction books have such a clear plot and are filled with story elements, it is in fiction books where ELL students are able to practice skills such as making connections from one book to another, asking questions about the text they read, determining the most important idea, and making powerful inferences. Fiction books are where students are able to practice using the skills they learn about in reading class.
Similar to non-fiction books, pictures are a very important feature in fiction books for ELL students. Pictures provide clues about the events taking place in a text, as they relate directly to the content. Students rely heavily on these picture clues, especially if they are in the early stage of language development, and allowing students to use these clues is an important non-linguistic tool.
Fiction and non-fiction books are so prevalent in a learning environment, but the features of them need to be taught in a meaningful way where ELLs are supported and set up for success.
