We Begin Again 1
P a r t I
Issues to Consider 10
1 Defining Nonfiction 17
2 Developmental Demands 23
3 Democratic Requirements 30
4 Research Findings 34
5 Invitations and Intrusions 39
6 Rigor and Relevance 42
7 Complexity and Readability 47
8 Classroom Conversations 56
9 Disciplinary Literacy 66
1 0 Challenge and Change 72
P a r t I I
The Importance of stance 76
1 What Surprised Me? 81
2 What Did the Author Think I Already Knew? 91
3 What Challenged, Changed,
or Confirmed What I Already Knew? 100
Classroom Close-Up: Experimenting with the
Three Questions in a Sixth-Grade Classroom 108
P a r t I I I
The power of signposts 112
1 Contrasts and Contradictions 123
2 Extreme or Absolute Language 136
3 Numbers and Stats 148
4 Quoted Words 158
5 Word Gaps 168
P a r t I V The role of strategies 180
1 Possible Sentences 185
2 KWL 2.0 193
3 Somebody Wanted but So 201
4 Syntax Surgery 209
Classroom Close-Up:
The Syntax of Science Texts 217
5 Sketch to Stretch 221
6 Genre Reformulation 230
7 Poster 240
C O N C L U S I O N
And Now You Begin 247
Appendix A Surveys 250
1 Teaching Nonfiction, Grades 4–12 251
2 Let’s Talk About It Survey 256
Appendix B Teaching Texts 258
1 “Hard at Work” 259
2 “Vampires Prey on Panama” 261
3 “The Dung Beetle as a Weapon Against
Global Warming” 263
4 “Garana’s Story” 265
5 Excerpt from George Washington’s Secret Six 268
6 Excerpt from Everything You Need to Know
about American History Homework 269
7 Excerpt from Up Before Daybreak 270
8 Model Passages for Teaching Syntax Surgery 271
9 Model Passages for Sketch to Stretch 272
Appendix C Teaching Resources and Booklists 273
1 Magazines Most Often Used 274
2 Websites Most Often Used 275
3 Thirty of Our Favorite Nonfiction Books 276
Compiled by Mary Lee Hahn and Franki Sibberson
4 Forty of My Favorite Nonfiction Picture Books 277
Compiled by Teri Lesesne
5 Signal Words 279
6 Thumbnails of Online Templates 281
Acknowledgments and Thanks 283
References 285
Trade Books and Articles for Kids 291
Index 295