The goal of this lesson is to help students identify basic features of an informational text (words and pictures that give facts about a topic). Use the following checklist to assess each student’s progress toward the goal:

• Student can identify the author and title of a nonfiction (informational) book.
• Student can identify details and pictures from within the book to support the topic indicated on the cover of the book.

Focus Question: What can we learn about a nonfiction book from its cover?

Ask, “Have you ever read a book about something that is real? What was that book about?” (examples: trucks, firefighters, leaves) Say, “In those books, the author wants to tell you about something. The author writes facts. Facts give information. If the book is about leaves, the author might write that leaves grow on trees, leaves are different shapes, and people rake leaves when they fall off trees. These kinds of books are called nonfiction or informational text.”

Part 1

Show students a nonfiction book. Help them identify the title and the author. Explain that the author’s name is not always on the front cover of a nonfiction (informational) book. Sometimes it is on the inside or on the back cover of the book.

Explain that we can’t always know from the cover if a book is nonfiction, so we need to look on the inside. It is important to look at the beginning and the end of the book as well as the details presented in the text.

Model the process for students by going through the text, noting what is in the beginning and end, pointing out interesting photos and illustrations, and noting details. As a group, determine what the book is about.

Part 2

Say, “Today we are going to learn about a book that gives information. It is not a story that is made up. It is about something that is real. This kind of book is called nonfiction, or informational.” Hold up the book Money for students to see. Say, “Today we are going to talk about things we can learn about a nonfiction book before we read it.”  

Ask, “What do you see on the front cover of this book?” (pictures of money, a person sitting at a table, a stone with a drawing on it, a toy man sitting on a chair, a medal, words) “From the pictures on the cover, what do you predict this book might be about?” (money, weighing things, winning a medal) Say, “Let’s look at the word in red letters at the top of the book cover. This word says ‘Money.’ This is the title of the book. The title of a nonfiction, or informational, book helps you know the topic, or what the book is about.”

Say, “In this book, the author’s name is not on the front cover.” Open the book to the title page and help students identify the author. Ask, “What does the author do?” (writes the book). Say, “Let’s look at the details.” Read the beginning of the text and ask students to explain how the details give information about what is shown on the cover.

Flip through the pages of the book to show students the pictures. Then ask, “Why do you think these pictures are in this book?” (to give us more information on the topic) Read parts of the text and have students indicate how the pictures support the words.

Show students the back cover. Say, “This is the back cover. What do you see on this back cover?” (coins, a jug that might hold coins, different kinds of paper money, medals, round circles with numbers on them, the word “Money,” and other words) “Why do you think these pictures are on the back cover?” (These are kinds of money that the book is about.) Explain that the back cover gives more information about the topic.

Have students work with a partner to practice identifying parts of a nonfiction (informational) book. Give each student an informational book at his/her level. Have students identify the title and the author of the book and predict the topic. Then have them find two pictures or details that support the topic. As students are working, walk around the room and confirm that they understand where to find the title and author, how to predict the topic, and how to find pictures or details that support the topic.

Extension:

• Work with students who need additional practice identifying the topic of informational text. Guide them to look in a book to find the pictures that support the topic.
• Have students who are ready to move beyond the standard predict what a nonfiction book is about by looking at the cover. Then have them browse through the book to check whether their prediction is correct. Students should draw/write three facts from the text that support the topic. Students may record their answers on the Prediction Worksheet (L-K-2-2_Prediction Worksheet.docx).